A new set of human remains was uncovered Saturday at Lake Mead, Nevada, as water levels continue to reach historic lows.
The remains were discovered Aug. 6 in Swim Beach, Nevada, part of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, according to a news release from the National Parks Service. The identity of the individual and cause of death are currently under investigation, the New York Post reported.
🚨 ALERT: National Park Service rangers received an emergency call reporting the discovery of human skeletal remains at Swim Beach at Lake Mead on Saturday, August 6.
Read the full news release here: https://t.co/XoGXPxeXgf
📸: NPS/CJohnston pic.twitter.com/6MtvfrNg8d
— Lake Mead (@lakemeadnps) August 7, 2022
The discovery marks the fourth time remains have been found near Lake Mead, where water levels have dropped significantly amidst severe drought conditions in the western U.S., according to the Daily Mail. The first body was found inside of a decaying barrel May 1 near Hemenway Harbor.
A second body was found less than a week later on a newly-surfaced sand bar in the Callville Bay area, the Daily Mail continued. An American ex-pat living in Spain, Todd Kolod, suspects the second body is of his father, Daniel Kolod, who is believed to have drowned in the area in 1958, the outlet reported.
Kolod was on a speed boat with a friend when both were thrown from the craft after hitting a wake, with only his friend surviving, the outlet continued. The former’s body was never recovered, but dental records of the second body appear to match those of Kolod, the outlet noted.
A third body was found by an individual July 26 in the same area as the most recent discovery, the Daily Mail reported. (RELATED: Body In Barrel Found In Lake Mead)
“There’s no telling what we’ll find in Lake Mead,” former Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman said in May, according to the Post, “It’s not a bad place to dump a body.” The lake is only 30 minutes from the Las Vegas Strip, an area built from organized crime, the outlet reported.
Water levels are the lowest they’ve been since 1937, dropping more than 170 feet since 1983, according to the Post. Along with the four bodies found thus far, the lake has revealed a sunken World War II ship, the outlet reported.
