Local
Lake Mead barrel victim died of gunshot wound, coroner’s report says
Toxicology testing found no alcohol or common drugs in samples from Edward Jackson, whose remains were discovered near Hemenway Harbor in 2022. The coroner ruled his death a homicide caused by a gunshot wound to the head.
Toxicology tests found no ethanol or common drugs or medications of abuse in samples from Edward Jackson, whose remains were found inside a barrel at Lake Mead, according to a Clark County coroner’s autopsy report.
The 2022 report lists Jackson’s cause of death as a gunshot wound to the head and classifies the death as a homicide. Laboratory results showed no positive toxicology findings in the specimens tested.
Jackson’s remains were discovered May 1, 2022, near Hemenway Harbor. The body was fragmented and partly skeletonized, limiting the examiner’s ability to assess several organs. A plastic bag and rope were also found beside the barrel, the report says.
DNA analysis and forensic investigative genealogy later identified Jackson. Investigators believe he was killed in the early 1980s, citing clothing consistent with fashions from the late 1970s and early ’80s and relatives’ accounts that he was last seen visiting family in Arkansas during that period.
The investigation remains open.