Several bodies have been recovered and boats, sunken and lost decades ago, have now been found. Lake Mead's receding waters revealed long-lost bodies. But who are they For some, the larger environmental problem of a major lake drying up is more significant than a body count, but for law enforcement identifying victims, motives and killers is the only focus. The remains have been spotted since May in three parts of the sprawling lakes western corner, but nearly everything else about them is a mystery. Six skeletons have surfaced so far and so have stories of missing mob victims from. Nestled by the Black Mountains and the Red Mountains, Boulder City began as a federal company town in 1931 to house workers employed to build the Hoover Dam, then known as the Boulder Dam. Rangers said they received a report in 2002 of a man struggling to swim without a life jacket near Callville Bay, and he was never spotted again. It was created by the construction of the Hoover Dam in the 1930s and includes more than 750 miles of shoreline. While DNA samples were taken from the Callville Bay remains, Kolod says hes eager to give a DNA sample himself to reveal if his theory is true. Lake Mead Has Hundreds of Bodies Waiting to Be Found - MSN As the nations largest reservoir has dipped to record low levels amid a worsening drought, Lake Meads receding waters have revealed a grim series of discoveries several sets of human remains. Officials: Remains found in Nevada's Lake Mead identified as 42-year Its ribbed frame rises from the surface like the washed-up skeleton of a prehistoric fish. Jay Vandermark being one. With the help of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department's dive team, park rangers responded and set up a perimeter to retrieve the body, the NPS said. Every few years, the mysterious disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa resurfaces in the headlines, and . More human remains discovered at Lake Mead days after body is found in Human remains found in barrel as Lake Mead drops to historic low amid The newest discovery comes on the heels of a man, Todd Kolod, claiming he believes the second set of remains belong to his father, according to the Daily Mail. Smith met the I-Team at Lake Mead recently, about 30 miles from the infamous gambling strip that was controlled by Chicago gangsters in the 1970s and 1980s, right when several mob-linked men vanished. The NPS said bones found on May 7 are believed to belong to Thomas Erndt, a 42-year-old man who reportedly drowned on August 2, 2002. Asian American workers were the only race explicitly barred from working on the site, yet the dam could not have been built without Tomiyasu. "There are a couple of people who have disappeared at a very crucial time and a very stressful time for the Outfit in Las Vegas," said John L. Smith. Coroner reveals new details on 3 bodies found at Lake Mead in - KTNV If you take the tour through the dam, you will meet at the visitor center at the very top of the structure. "The lake has drained dramatically over the last 15 years," Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Homicide Lieutenant Ray Spencer said at the time, noting "it's likely that we will find additional. READ MORE: Are there Chicago Outfit ties to 5th skeleton found in Lake Mead's potential watery mob graveyard? Although the reservoir wasn't known as a place where organized crime figures disposed of bodies, some local experts have said the killing bears the hallmarks of a mob execution. On busy days, wait times can last hours as cars clog the road to the water with boats and trailers in tow. According to data obtained through a public records request, 101 people drowned at Lake Mead between 2007 and last year, a number that surpassed any other cause of death at the park. A body found in a barrel in Lake Mead in Nevada amid record low water levels due to a drought. The long craft has been partially gutted, its engine removed. In the reservoirs northern Overton Arm, the heavy frame of a bomber plane has rested on the lakes floor for 74 years after a critical miscalculation of the planes altitude sent the B-29 Superfortress crashing into the surface and sinking to the lakebed. The National Park Service confirmed on Wednesday that a human bone discovered by a diver directed a park dive team to an area where the skeletal remains were found. It wasn't clear how many of the remains may belong to people who have drowned at the recreation area. Both disappeared in 1976 when the water level was normal. People do, and its a long way down. People could have gone missing upriver and then their bodies were initially deposited as their final resting place within the lake, Byrnes said. "I feel really bad looking out and seeing that, knowing how many people from our community were out enjoying not only the lake but the adjacent shoreline, ONeill says, recalling the park buzzing with activity. Then investigators still have to try to determine what happened to the people whose remains were found. A couple who were boating came across a body inside a barrel near a harbor. Though ONeill is quick to point out that the 1.5-million-acre park still offers abundant land-based recreation across its vast mountains, valleys and canyons, he believes the visitor experience at the lake has been significantly disrupted by the closure of facilities like launch ramps and marinas. Lake Mead: Shrinking reservoir reveals more human remains LAKE MEAD, NEVADA Along a lonely stretch of Lake Meads southwestern shore, a rattlesnake huddles amidst a cluster of rocks, just feet away from the wreck of an abandoned houseboat that has been baked under the desert sun. More Local News to Love Start today for 50% off Expires 3/6/23. UPDATE, Aug. 19, 2022, 10:39 a.m. More human remains have been uncovered at Lake Mead - Deseret News A National Park Service spokesperson told CNN a possible explanation for some of the remains is that they could be people who drowned in the lake when the water levels were higher in the 1980s. August 8, 2022 / 6:12 AM / CBS/AP. And while the sight is striking at ground level, the change is also noticeable enough that NASA has captured it using satellites in space. This was the third skeleton to be found in this area of the. Decades of soaking in the lakes depths have left the planes aluminum body quilted with colonies of invasive mussels. Zachary Smith is the data reporter for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. But Kolod believes the skeleton could be his fathers since it includes missing teeth and a partial denture which his father wore after he lost his front teeth in a car accident, the outlet reported. News of the discoveries, as well as the exposure of artifacts such as a World War II-era landing craft, have catapulted the reservoirs water shortage to national attention and attracted a motley collection of amateur treasure hunters, YouTube explorers and intrigued visitors hoping to spot the relics that now litter the drying lakebed. RELATED: Could the bodies found in Lake Mead be connected to the Chicago mob? California will likely soon follow. The Hoover Dam Visitor Center in Boulder City is open daily 9 a.m.-5 p.m. A second world war-era boat, half emerged B-29 plane and five other bodies have so far been found in the receding waters. People have been dumping stuff into Lake Mead for years, and with the dropping waters, some of those secrets are coming to the surface. Shes hopeful the lake will avoid reaching crisis levels, but she doubts it will ever live up to the lively scene she remembers. Copyright 2023 Green Matters. Lake Mead, formed by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, supplies drinking water to millions of people in California, Arizona, Nevada and part of Mexico. UPDATE, August 8, 2022, 11:25 a.m. The agency described the remains as skeletal. "A barrel has a signature of a mob hit," Geoff Schumacher, vice president of The Mob Museum in downtown Las Vegas, told the Associated Press. The true scale of water loss is visible from almost every vantage point at the reservoir. A fifth body has been exposed in Lake Mead as a severe drought continues to shrink the lake. What happened in Lake Mead? CHICAGO (WLS) -- It's one of the most famous slogans of any American city: "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." "Nobody's really connected all the dots yet and all these missing figures from that era. So far, investigators have not linked the cases and caution that they do not know how many people the six sets of remains belong to. Not enough attention is being paid to the fact that this symbolizes the lake has dropped precipitously and dangerously.. Lake Mead bodies found as water level drops: What else is hidden? On Twitter, Las Vegas police said a journalist discovered the weapon. Firearms are often found at the lake, a police spokesman said, and it wasn't clear if the gun is connected to the remains found on May 1. Less than a week later, two sisters on paddleboards found. Declining water levels due to climate change and 20 years of ongoing drought have reshaped the parks shorelines, the agency said on an information page. Human skeletal remains were discovered on Saturday in the reservoir, which is experiencing record-low water levels, according to park guards. A handful appear untouched as their glossy paints glint in the sun, seemingly unscathed by years of soaking underwater. All Rights Reserved. Reportedly 5 Bodies We Found Since May Near Lake Mead In Michigan - MSN As the water level of the nation's largest man-made reservoir keeps receding due to drought, human bodies keep emerging. Mysteries of Lake Mead: Multiple Sets of Human Remains Found - People But after water levels at the site fell around 100 feet, the park restricted diving there altogether this year while it determines how to preserve the historic relic in increasingly shallow waters. ABC7 Investigative Reporter Chuck Goudie goes inside a Chicago mob story that is, literally, just surfacing. But nearly everything else about them is a mystery. It provides water to 20 million people and farmland in Arizona, California, Nevada and some of Mexico. UPDATE, Aug. 19, 2022, 10:39 a.m. The office is investigating at least five other cases of human remains found in or around the lake since May. Copyright 2023 WLS-TV. redistributed. Everybody is convinced that Lake Mead is this big mud puddle, and that's not the case, he says, emphasizing that even at low capacity, the reservoir remains one of the nations largest. A rusted metal barrel, near the location of where a different barrel was found containing a human body, sits exposed on shore during low water levels due to the western drought at the Lake Mead . Investigating further, they came across a corroded metal barrel stuck in the mud near a popular boat ramp. The barrel was discovered in the mud along a shoreline that appeared to have been previously submerged, NBC affiliate KSNV of Las Vegas reported. The most recent discovery was found in the same general area as the May 7 human remains, near a marina and camping resort. However, maximum capacity hasnt been seen since 1983, according to the Bureau of Reclamation, and the overlook is the first place where this is clear.