Macabre finds in a reservoir near Las Vegas: Due to the extremely low water level, human skeletons have repeatedly come to light at Lake Mead.
In the Lake Mead reservoir near the US metropolis Las Vegas, human remains have come to light for the fourth time since May this year.
After an emergency call, parts of a human skeleton were found on Saturday on a beach in the recreation area of the lake, the water level of which has fallen sharply as a result of the drought, said the national park administration NPS. Police divers recovered the remains. The coroner is now trying to determine the cause of death. The skeletal remains of a human were discovered in the same area on July 25.
Lake Mead, located on the border of the states of Nevada and Arizona, is one of the most important reservoirs in the world USA and supplies around 40 million people. However, given the ongoing severe drought in the west of the country, water levels have fallen sharply. The water level has dropped by almost 52 meters since 1983, local media reported. The lake is currently only filled to around 27 percent of its maximum capacity, citing satellite images from the space agency Nasa.
The first human remains in the reservoir were discovered on May 1: the body showed a gunshot wound and had been dumped in a barrel in the lake, believed to be between the mid-1970s and early 1980s. It was without a doubt a murder, the broadcaster CNN quoted an investigator as saying. According to the current status of the investigation, it is pure speculation that the mafia could have been involved, he emphasized.
More remains were found on May 7 and matched to a 23 to 37 year old individual. The other dead are probably people who drowned in the lake years ago, a spokeswoman for the national park administration told the broadcaster.
(dpa)
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