89°F
weather icon Partly Cloudy

More human remains found at Lake Mead

More human remains have been found at Lake Mead, according to officials at the national recreation area.

The National Park Service stated that human skeletal remains were spotted at 11:15 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 6, in the Swim Beach area of the lake and were recovered with assistance from the dive team from Metropolitan Police Department in Las Vegas.

This is the second set of remains found at the same area in the park in two weeks.

On Tuesday, Aug. 9, the Clark County coroner’s office said that the human remains found Saturday might be from the same set of bones discovered July 25.

“At this time, the investigation into these remains includes working to determine whether the two sets of remains are from the same person or not,” the coroner’s office said.

This is the fourth body found at Lake Mead this summer. On May 1, a body was found in a barrel near Hemenway Harbor. On May 7, another body was found in Callville Bay; those remains are from a male between the ages of 23 and 38. The cause and manner of death is undetermined.

These bodies have added fuel to many conspiracies surrounding the history of the Las Vegas Valley and its connection to organized crime. Police believe the body found in the barrel was a man who died from a gunshot wound in the 1970s or 1980s based on the clothing and shoes on the body.

Las Vegas police Lt. David Valenta said Tuesday, Aug. 9, authorities continued to examine missing persons reports from Southern Nevada, many of them from the 1970s when the body was likely dumped, in an effort to solve the mystery of the body in the barrel.

“We are testing and doing all sorts of DNA stuff,” Valenta said. “Old missing person cases. We are looking for familial DNA from multiple (people.) We don’t have anyone positive that we think, ‘This is the person.’ Right now it is a wide net.”

After the July discovery, the National Park Service issued a statement noting that the sets of remains could have ended up in the lake a variety of ways.

“Lake Mead NRA has a storied history in its 90 years as a National Park Unit with a variety of cultural and historical artifacts: from plane crashes and Hoover Dam construction equipment, to Native American artifacts that tell the story of the Southwest,” the park service said. “As water levels recede and fluctuate, it is possible that artifacts that we do and don’t know about may emerge; including human remains from previous missing person reports.”

The park service said that when Lake Mead was at its highest elevations in the mid-1980s through early 1990s, recovery efforts for bodies may have been unsuccessful because of diving depth limitations for search and rescue teams.

“However, lowering water levels may help to answer old missing person cases and give families some closure,” it said.

Lake Mead National Recreation Area stated that visitors are prohibited from independently searching for human remains and if they find them, to call the park’s dispatch and not disturb the body.

Bodies aren’t the only thing being found at Lake Mead. Ships such as a World War II-era landing craft have been found less than a mile from Lake Mead Marina and Hemenway Harbor.

Review-Journal staff writer Glenn Puit contributed to this report.

Contact reporter Owen Krepps at okrepps@bouldercityreview.com or at 702-586-9401. Follow him on Twitter @OKrepps85.

MOST READ
LISTEN TO THE TOP FIVE HERE
THE LATEST
Kicking Off the New Year

Boulder City High School held its traditional back-to-school assembly this past Friday. School spirit and enthusiasm filled the gym as classes competed against one another to hold the coveted Spirit Stick. Aside from games, members of the fall sports teams performed to songs.

BC Electric’s Medo makes accusations about e-bike/scooter law

While the great majority of public comment surrounding the issues of unsafe usage — often by juveniles — of e-bikes and electric scooters was firmly on the side of the city “doing something,” not everyone is onboard.

So where does that RDA money come from?

It wasn’t all about donuts or whether super bright pink is an appropriate color for a building in the historic district. In addition to donuts it was about, well, dollars.

King to participate in essay contest

Last week, it was announced that fourth graders throughout the state are invited to participate in an essay contest, with the winner receiving the honor of lighting the 2025 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree in Washington, D.C.

Really better buy that helmet

With a couple of significant amendments, the city council voted unanimously to pass an ordinance regulating the use of e-bikes and e-scooters in Boulder City. The ordinance passed unanimously Tuesday and will take effect on Sept. 18.

Nevada Way to go Pink … and pay for the privilege

The main topic of discussion was color. As in color of a building when the board of the Boulder City Redevelopment Agency (aka the city council) met two weeks ago.

It’s Been Too Long

Photos by Ron Eland/Boulder City Review

City to nix admin services dept. in favor of deputy city manager

In a move that is really little more than “cleanup” (i.e., bringing official city code into sync with decisions made by the city council more than a year ago), the council voted to approve changes to city code related to the created-but-not-yet-filled position of deputy city manager.