News Briefs

Police seek help finding person of interest in murder case

Metropolitan Police Department is seeking the public’s help to find a person of interest in the death of 61-year-old Kathleen Ploutz of Las Vegas, whose body was found near the special events beach at Boulder Basin in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area on July 18.

Her body was found with obvious signs of trauma and were consistent with homicide cases.

The motive behind the homicide is not known, but appears to be an isolated incident, according to Metro.

Detectives are attempting to identify and locate a person of interest who was seen with the victim the night before she was found dead. He can only be described as an adult male and was seen around 9 p.m. at Ploutz’s residence, an apartment at 499 Sierra Vista Drive, police said. He was driving an SUV, but the make or model are not known.

The victim can been seen walking with the person of interest in a video that can be viewed at https://youtu.be/eLG3z-kFINo.

Detectives are asking anyone who has information on the whereabouts of Ploutz during the days leading up to the discovery of her body, or any information about the identity or whereabouts of the person of interest seen in the video, to contact the department’s homicide section at 702-828-3521 or email homicide@lvmpd.com.

To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers by phone at 702-385-5555, on the internet at ww.crimestoppersofnv.com, or text CRIMENV plus tip information to 274637 (CRIMES).

Diver and snorkeler die in separate incidents at Lake Mead

A man, 48, was killed at Lake Mead National Recreation Area on Aug. 27 about 1:35 p.m. in a diving accident.

Emergency officials responded to a call stating that the diver emerged from the B29 area of the lake unconscious. The man could not be revived and was pronounced dead about 2:40 p.m.

Las Vegas resident Bonnie B. Wong, 63 emerged from the Lake unconscious while she was visiting the lake for a snorkeling trip.

She was pronounced dead on Tuesday about 2:35 p.m.

The Clark County coroner’s office said Wong died of hypertensive heart disease.