How Many More Bodies are In Lake Mead?
Third body found in Lake Mead in less than three months was discovered on Monday.
Only because of a prolonged drought that has reduced water levels in the nation’s largest reservoir to its lowest levels since it was first filled 85 years ago have the terrible findings, one of which appears to be decades old, been unearthed.
Lake Mead’s water levels have dropped to their lowest level since 1937 near the Arizona-Nevada border. Human remains, as well as artefacts dating back decades, have been found as levels have fallen.
According to a press release, park rangers arrived and found the corpses.
No one has been identified or the cause of death has been revealed yet, but the Clark County Medical Examiner is looking into it.
In the beginning of May, archaeologists found the remains of two more people. On May 4, a person was discovered inside a barrel, filled with clothing. Paddleboarders found another one a week later on the shoreline.
According to the findings of the investigation, the person found inside the barrel appeared to have been shot at some point between the mid-1970s and the early 1980s. Lake Mead was nearly full at the time, therefore the depth of the water was at least 20 to 30 feet more.
As the water level decreased, trash, baby carriages, and scores of sunken boats were discovered. One of the historic artefacts that is now more accessible to researchers is a World War II-era B-29 that went down in 1948.
The river is now dotted with abandoned cities and Native American enclaves. When Lake Mead began to fill in the 1930s, many regions were submerged.
One example is St. Thomas, a Mormon settlement that served as a major rest stop for travellers travelling from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles in the early 1900s. It was 60 feet above the town’s highest structures when the lake was full, but today the entire settlement is exposed.
The Pueblo Grande de Nevada, also known as the Lost City, is still submerged. Native Americans collected salt from caverns to preserve food.
The largest reservoir in the United States is Lake Mead. The Hoover Dam halted the Colorado River, and it began to fill in 1934. It provides water and power to 25 million people in the Southwest.
According to NASA, the lake has been draining for a long time and is now only 27% full.