Divers Find More Human Remains At Lake Mead

LAS VEGAS, NV — A Lake Mead National Recreation Area diver found what appeared to be a human bone in the Callville Bay area on October 17, Lake Mead National Recreational Area Public Affairs told Patch.

A National Park Service dive team conducted a full search of the area the following day and found human skeletal remains, the unit added.

The remains were found on the Nevada side of the Colorado River reservoir behind Hoover Dam, according to the Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

No foul play is suspected and Clark County coroner’s office has been contacted to confirm the identity of the deceased, according to Lake Mead National Recreational Area Public Affairs.

The discovery marked at least the sixth time since early May that human remains have been discovered in shallow water or on the dramatically receding shore of the lake. The water level has dropped more than 180 feet (55 meters) since the lake was full in 1983, putting it at less than 27% full today.

A man’s body found stuffed in a barrel near Hemenway Harbor on May 1 has not been identified, but Las Vegas police said he had been shot, probably between the mid-1970s and the early 1980s, and his death is being investigated as a homicide.

Remains found May 7 at Callville Bay were identified in August as Thomas Erndt, a 42-year-old Las Vegas man believed to have drowned during a family boat outing in 2002. Callville Bay is one of several lake marina and resort areas.

Several more sets of partial human skeletal remains have been found since then — including on July 25, August 6 and August 16 — generally near a swimming area at the lake. They were not in barrels.

Seven states in the U.S. West and Mexico draw water from the Colorado River. Scientists attribute the drop in lake water levels to a warmer and drier climate affected by atmospheric warming, mainly due to rising levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.