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Lake Mead barrel victim identified after four years, officials say
Clark County’s coroner and Las Vegas police say they have identified the man whose remains were found near Hemenway Harbor in 2022. Officials have not yet released his name or details of the investigation; a news conference is planned for Thursday.
Las Vegas police and the Clark County coroner’s office said Wednesday they had identified a man whose remains were found inside a barrel at Lake Mead more than four years ago. His name and other details were not immediately released.
Boaters found the barrel near Hemenway Harbor on May 1, 2022. County officials said the man died of a gunshot wound and that his death was a homicide. Officials plan to discuss the case at a news conference Thursday.
Police have said evidence found with the remains suggested the killing may have happened in the 1980s. The man was wearing clothing and shoes sold at Kmart in the mid-to-late 1970s, and investigators believed the barrel was intact when it was put in the lake.
Authorities released computer-generated facial images in 2023 as they sought to identify the victim. DNA testing had not established his identity more than a year after the remains were discovered, and detectives had sought DNA samples from families connected to several unsolved missing-person cases from that period.
The national missing-persons database listed the man’s estimated age as 27 to 61. The upcoming briefing is expected to provide the first public details about the identification and the status of the homicide investigation.