More skeletal remains found at Lake Mead as water levels hit historic lows

Another set of skeletal remains had been found this week at Lake Mead, the big and once-abundant reservoir at the border of Nevada and Arizona the place water levels have plummeted amid an ongoing drought within the western U.S.

Authorities responded to a brand new report of human skeletal remains found in a portion of Lake Mead Recreational Area known as Swim Beach, which is a vacationer vacation spot positioned within the reservoir’s boulder basin space about 30 miles exterior of Las Vegas, in keeping with the National Park Service.

Swim Beach, typically referred to as Boulder Swim Beach, is one among Lake Mead’s well-liked vacationer locations. Human remains have been found there a number of occasions for the reason that spring, with the latest occasion occurring simply over every week in the past. At the time, the NPS mentioned human bones found within the lake’s Swim Beach part might have belonged to a different set of skeletal remains found at the top of July. 

The newest discovery marked the fifth time that skeletal remains have surfaced at Lake Mead since early May. Park rangers responded to the brand new report round 8 p.m. native time on Monday night, and subsequently positioned a barrier across the Swim Beach space as officers surveyed it for extra findings, the NPS mentioned. 

Personnel from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s dive workforce assisted with the operation, the company added, noting that the Clark County Medical Examiner was contacted as effectively. An investigation into the remains was nonetheless ongoing when the NPS issued a news launch concerning the incident on Tuesday. Authorities mentioned they don’t plan to launch extra information concerning the discovery at this time.

A sample of remains resurfacing in Lake Mead emerged this yr as the reservoir’s water levels sunk to record-low levels, interrupting the world’s interconnected water programs and threatening water and energy shortages all through the area. 

The recurring discoveries of skeletal remains started with an incident within the spring the place boaters noticed a barrel with a physique within it at Hemenway Harbor, close to Swim Beach. Police later linked the remains to a taking pictures sufferer who was probably killed between three and 4 many years in the past. Outside of the Boulder Basin space, human skeletal remains have been found in Lake Mead’s Callville Bay, which is about 25 miles north of Swim Beach.