Lake Mead

Las Vegas (KSNV) — New developments have been provided by Clark County in the four sets of human remains found at Lake Mead back in 2022.

Additional remains were found on [July 25](https://news3lv.com/newsletter-daily/human-remains-found-near-swim-beach-in-lake-mead) and [August 6](https://news3lv.com/news/local/fourth-set-of-human-remains-discovered-at-lake-mead-this-year) in the same area and were determined to belong to the same decedent. [August 16](https://news3lv.com/news/local/remains-found-at-lake-mead-in-latest-incidents-might-be-from-same-person-clark-county-coroners-office-southern-nevada-las-vegas-bodies-found-nps-national-park-service#), park visitors found more remains near the shoreline of Boulder Beach. The decedent has been identified as a male who died as a result of a gunshot wound.

Clark County is releasing new details about human remains that have been found at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area over the last year.

15](https://www.ktnv.com/news/officials-discover-another-set-of-skeletal-remains-at-lake-mead). 6](https://www.ktnv.com/news/more-human-remains-discovered-as-drought-dries-lake-mead), and [Aug. [July 25](https://www.ktnv.com/news/third-set-of-remains-found-at-lake-mead-since-discovery-of-remains-in-barrel-public-affairs-confirms), [Aug. [discovered skeletal remains](https://www.ktnv.com/news/sisters-find-human-remains-while-paddleboarding-at-lake-mead) near Callville Bay. [containing human remains](https://www.ktnv.com/news/crime/police-man-found-dead-in-barrel-at-lake-mead-died-from-gunshot-wound-in-1970s-or-80s) was located at Hemenway Harbor. Clark County officials said those are the remains of 42-year-old Thomas Erndt [from Las Vegas](https://www.ktnv.com/news/remains-found-at-callville-bay-in-lake-mead-identified-as-42-year-old-clark-county-official-says), who had reportedly drowned on Aug.

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Nevada county officials have identified skeletal remains found at Lake Mead as a person who died there nearly 49 years ago.

The Clark County coroner's office has identified a man who drowned nearly 40 years ago in Lake Mead. Donald Smith, 39, was reported missing in April 1974 ...

Follow [@sabrina_schnur](https://twitter.com/@sabrina_schnur) on Twitter. 17 ](https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-nevada/human-remains-found-by-divers-at-lake-mead-2665166/)and Oct. [Thomas Erndt](https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/human-remains-found-at-lake-mead-days-after-similar-discovery-2573030/), a 42-year-old Las Vegas man who drowned in 2002. ](https://www.reviewjournal.com?p=2742977&utm_campaign=widget&utm_medium=parsely_related&utm_source=lvrj) [ [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) or 702-383-0278. The coroner’s office is still working to identify the remains of a person whose remains were found on Boulder Beach on July 25, Aug.

Spring is here, events are happening, and many of our concessionaires are re-opening facilities that have been closed for the season! These updates are intended ...

– 4 p.m. – 5 p.m. - If there is an emergency, call the Lake Mead emergency dispatch number: 702-293-8932. - Temple Bar Marina – Temple Bar has installed a portable Mobi-Mat for boat launching which is being managed by the marina. - Echo Bay – The office, store, and gas station are open 8 a.m. Land-based fuel is available, and the store is open daily 8 a.m. The recreation center, bathrooms, showers, and laundry room in the Echo Bay RV Park are open 24/7 for our guests. - Fuel and the store on the water are open seven days per week from 8 a.m. (land shuttle). The restrooms and showers are open for the temporary RV customers. Please contact the marina at 702-565-8958 for more information. Spring is here, events are happening, and many of our concessionaires are re-opening facilities that have been closed for the season!

Human remains discovered in Lake Mead in October have been identified as a 39-year-old man who is believed to have drowned in the reservoir nearly five ...

[has also revealed](https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2022/12/us/lake-mead-drought-shoreline-discoveries-climate-ctpr/index.html#:~:text=As%20the%20result%20of%20a,huge%20swaths%20of%20dry%20lakebed.) handfuls of previously submerged boats, a historic World War II-era vessel and one of the reservoir’s original water intake valves. “If you think about what the age of who your witnesses or anybody related to this case would be, many of them are getting older every day. It also includes the first set found on May 1, tucked inside an eroded barrel with an obvious gunshot wound. “The cause and manner of Mr. Though a recent [spate of rain and snow](https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/23/us/atmospheric-river-winter-california-drought-climate/index.html) across the West have modestly raised the lake level, experts say the incremental improvement will have little long-term impact on the [dire water crisis](https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/14/us/west-megadrought-climate-wastewater-recycling/index.html) the West is facing. “The identification was based on DNA analysis and reports from the original incident,” the release said.

Donald P. Smith was 39 when he was reported missing in the waters of the Colorado River reservoir behind Hoover Dam, the Clark County Coroner's Office said.

In October, a diver discovered what looked like a human bone near a Lake Mead marina. Officials have now linked the remains to a Las Vegas man.

[identified](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lake-mead-human-remains-identified-thomas-erndt-coroner/) by the Clark County coroner as belonging to Thomas Erndt, a former Las Vegas resident who officials believe drowned in 2002, when he was 42 years old. Alongside viral satellite photos shared by NASA, which gave a stark side-by-side comparison of the reservoir's shrinking shorelines over the course of two decades, came a number of others that showed exposed ["bathtub rings,"](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lake-mead-drought-water-crisis-climate-change/) and ancient volcanic rock. The park service confirmed the first discovery of [human skeletal remains](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lake-mead-human-remains-body-found/) found in Callville Bay, about 25 miles from the harbor, soon after that. The discovery of Smith's remains marked at least the sixth of its kind in Lake Mead's recreational areas just last year. The park service then sent a team of divers to conduct a wider search of the bay and verified "the finding of human skeletal remains," the spokesperson said, adding that authorities even then did not suspect foul play. While diving in Callville Bay — a frequented tourist spot along the stretch of Lake Mead closest to Las Vegas, which has a campground nearby as well as a marina offering boat rentals — the operator reportedly came across an object that looked like a human bone, a spokesperson for the National Park Service said in a statement released at the time.

One of the many sets of human remains found within Lake Mead has been identified, bring the mystery to a close.

It is believed the person died in the mid to late 1970s, which is the time when the shoes found with the body were manufactured. The criminal organization was present in Nevada—mainly in Las Vegas—until the late 1970s, and used casinos and resorts for money laundering purposes. [discovered a long-lost boat](https://www.newsweek.com/lake-mead-drought-exposes-creepy-long-lost-boat-loaded-artifacts-1728050) while exploring the lake's shores. Lake Mead's water levels are falling because of the drought gripping the western U.S. These include those of a man that were found concealed within a barrel in May 2022 who died by gunshot. When his remains were first discovered it was not clear who they belonged to but an identification was made possible through DNA analysis.

Donald P. Smith of North Las Vegas was 39 when he was reported missing in the waters of the Colorado River reservoir behind Hoover Dam.

Erndt’s family said he drowned while going for a late-night swim as the family was boating on the lake with friends. A diver found Smith’s remains in Lake Mead’s National Recreation Area’s Callville Bay on Oct. Smith of North Las Vegas was 39 when he was reported missing in the Colorado River reservoir behind Hoover Dam, the Clark County coroner’s office said in a statement.

Donald P. Smith's remains were discovered after a diver came across a human bone in Lake Mead's National Recreation Area's Callville Bay on October 17.

May 7: A set of human remains was found in the Callville Bay area of Lake Mead. People are pictured at Swim Beach in Lake Mead on August 7 - the day after the fourth set was found. The body was found in a barrel near Hemenway Harbor. The discovery was made by two paddleboarders who said they noticed what appeared to be a rock at first glance. County officials said the man died in a homicide from a gunshot wound. A day later divers found more 'human skeletal remains'. The first body was discovered in a barrel (pictured). Ray Spencer with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said at the time. A couple of days after the discovery, Homicide Lt. It experienced a rapidly falling water level in 2022. The identification was made through DNA, and his death has been ruled accidental. Divers were seen in August searching Lake Mead for remains after reports had come in that a fifth set of bones were found in the Swim Beach area

Coroners in Las Vegas say DNA analysis shows bone belonged to Donald Smith, 39, who drowned in 1974.

Lake Mead, the largest US reservoir and a key water source for 25 million people, was just 26% full. His remains were found on the popular Boulder Beach last summer. One other set of remains has been identified. Intact clothing helped officials determine those remains dated back to the late 1970s or early 1980s. Officials ruled the death accidental. [came across](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/02/lake-mead-barrel-human-remains-nevada) a barrel with a body in it.

Donald P. Smith was 39 when he was reported missing in the waters of the Colorado River reservoir behind Hoover Dam, the Clark County Coroner's Office said.

Donald P. Smith was 39 when he was reported missing Lake Mead in April 1974. The identification was made through DNA; his death was ruled accidental.

Coroner's investigators are still trying to identify other remains found last year while the lake recedes because of drought, county spokeswoman Stacey Welling said. Authorities are still trying to link a name with those remains. Smith was 39 when he was reported missing in the waters of the Colorado River reservoir behind Hoover Dam, the Clark County coroner’s office said in a statement.

The remains found in October were identified as those of Donald P. Smith, who officials said died by accidental drowning.

[according to the Bureau of Reclamation](https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g4000/weekly.pdf), which manages water and power in the West. Two months later, Arizona and Nevada [faced a fresh round of restrictions](https://nytimes.com/2022/08/16/climate/colorado-river-lake-mead-water-drought.html) on the amount of water they could pump out of the river. [found last May in a metal barrel](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/02/us/las-vegas-body-barrel-lake-mead.html) on the shore, which led to speculation in Las Vegas that the person might have been a victim of organized crime. [declared a water shortage](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/16/climate/colorado-river-water-cuts.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article) at Lake Mead for the first time. Then in July, [more remains were discovered at Swim Beach](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/26/us/lake-mead-human-remains.html), on the western edge of the lake. In 2021, the federal government A subsequent search turned up more remains that belonged to the same person. It was unclear whether the authorities in the area had any missing persons records or open investigations tied to that name. Smith’s death was ruled accidental from drowning, the authorities said. [near-constant stream of wet weather](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/21/us/california-atmospheric-river-photos.html) across much of the West since December, water levels at Lake Mead remain relatively low. [those of a man](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/25/us/human-remains-lake-mead-nv.html) last seen swimming in the lake with his daughter more than 20 years ago. He was identified through DNA analysis and reports from April 1974, when he drowned.