Las Vegas' Lake Mead Reveals a Barrel of Body Due to Drought

Lake Mead in Las Vegas has shown a barrel containing human remains over the weekend due to the historic drought spreading in the West.

Officials told a local news station that Las Vegas Metro Police is scared that they will find more bodies, according to a Los Angeles Times report. Police think the barrel has been at the bottom of the lake since the 1980s based on personal items found in the barrel.

Lt. Ray Spencer with the Las Vegas Metro Police said that the person was probably killed four decades ago. It was found around 3 p.m. on Sunday by boaters.

Meanwhile, Spencer did not add details about the person's identity or how the remains ended up in a barrel at the bottom of Lake Mead. Spencer said that it will take an extensive amount of work, adding that there is a good chance that they would find additional remains as the water level drops.

Barrel of Body in Lake Mead

The National Park Service said in a statement that rangers searched an area near Hemenway Harbor and found the barrel with skeletal remains, adding that they are working with Las Vegas police. Meanwhile, the Clark County coroner's office will determine the person's identity, according to a USA Today News report.

Spencer said that it will be a very difficult case. He added that investigators are examining growth on the barrel, hoping to trace when it was placed in the lake and started to erode.

One resident, Shawna Hollister, and her husband said they were docking their boat when they heard a woman scream. They then saw the body, which also had a shirt and belt visible. The barrel was partially lodged in the mud.

Las Vegas' Lake Mead Drought

Lake Mead and Lake Powell upstream are the largest human-made reservoirs in the U.S., which is part of a system that provides water to more than 40 million people, tribes, agriculture, and industry in several states. These states are Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, and across the southern border in Mexico, according to an Associated Press News report.

The lake's level has dropped significantly, resulting in the uppermost water intake at drought-stricken Lake Mead becoming visible last week.

Water levels at Lake Mead have dropped to an elevation of 1,055 feet, the lowest level since 1937, a year after Hoover Dam became operational and created the reservoir.

Metropolitan Water District of Southern California spokesperson Rebecca Kimitch said that they do not have enough water supplies right now to meet normal demand, Fox 10 Phoenix News reported.

The agency has advised some six million people in Los Angeles, Ventura, and Bernardino counties to decrease their outdoor watering to one day a week, effective on June 1, or they could face stiff lines.

In March, the surface level of Lake Powell dipped below a critical threshold, which caused concerns about whether Glen Canyon Dam can generate power for around five million customers across the U.S. West.

This article is owned by Latin Post

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Barrel containing human remains discovered in Lake Mead - from FOX 10 Phoenix