Human remains from 40 years ago found in rusty barrel in Lake Mead that dropped to record low due to drought

Photo: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

A barrel containing human remains was discovered in Nevada’s Lake Mead over the weekend

as a historic drought grips the West.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police fear finding more bodies, officials told a local news station.

#BREAKING: The body found in a barrel at Lake Mead may have been underwater for as long as four decades and more bodies are likely to appear as the lake recedes due to severe drought, Las Vegas Metro police tell the @8NewsNow I-Team. https://t.co/LhYkciIJDO #8NN— David Charns (@davidcharns) May 2, 2022

The receding waters in Lake Mead, the nation’s largest man-made reservoir, have dropped to record lows.

The levels are so low that a barrel containing skeletal remains was found submerged in mud on Sunday, reports KLAS-TV in Las Vegas. .

Based on personal items found in the barrel, police believe it has been at the bottom of the lake since the 1980.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Lt. Ray Spencer told the news station the person was likely killed four decades ago and was found around 3 pm Sunday by boaters.

He did not give more details about the identity of the person or how the remains ended up in a barrel at the bottom of Lake Mead.

“It’s going to take a lot of work,” he said Spencer about trying to identify the person. “I would say there is a very good chance that as the water level goes down, we will find more human remains.”

The lake, an aquifer reservoir for 25 millions of people and millions of acres of farmland in California, Arizona, Nevada and Mexico have been edging closer to crisis amid record temperatures and less snow melt.

The rising “bathtub ring” of the lake, formed by mineral deposits, marks the rocky slopes of the desert more than 100 feet above the coast in descent.

“I think anyone can understand that there are probably more bodies dumped in Lake Mead, it’s just a question of whether we can get them back,” Spencer said.

The water level has receded hundreds of feet over the years, Spencer told the Los Angeles Times, ago 40 years, the current coastline would have been under 100 feet of water.

“Most of the body was completely intact and we have recovered the entire body,” Spencer said. “We are going to communicate with some experts regarding corrosion in the barrel and the rate of growth of aquatic life on the surface of the barrel to narrow down the timeline.”

Shawna Hollister and her husband They were docking their boat in the port of Hemenway, on the southwest shore of the lake, when they saw the barrel and the body.

“I was shocked ; I didn’t think so,” Hollister said. “You could clearly tell it was a body.”

The legs were separated from the rest of the body, Hollister said, and it was clear the person he was wearing a shirt.

A photo of the skeleton in a partially exposed barrel was shared with the news station.

An official with the Clark County coroner’s office said the department could not comment on the investigation.

Police said they would contact experts. including the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, to help identify the remains.

Last month, water levels in Lake Mead dropped so much that an original water valve was exposed that not seen since 1971.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority told CNN that the valve could no longer draw water due to l low water levels.

“The Colorado River Basin is experiencing the worst drought in recorded history,” said the water agency in a statement posted on its website. “Since the year 2000, snowfall and runoff in the watershed have been well below normal. These conditions have resulted in a significant lowering of the water level in the main reservoirs of the system, including Lake Mead and Lake Powell.”

The worsening of the megadrought is causing water districts to restrict use.

In California, approximately 6 million people will need to reduce their water use by 35%. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California says this will equate to about 80 gallons per day per person. “The approximate figure that we are seeing is reaching the consumption of around 80 gallons per person per day ”, said Adel Hagekhalil, general manager of the district. “We’re trying to preserve as much as we can.”

Read more Potential Colorado River water outage: Lake Mead at Hoover Dam to Reach Lowest Water Level in Decades

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