The second set was discovered by Lake Mead reservoir’s human remains over the weekend. It comes days after one man’s corpse was exposed to the elements in a dry barrel.
Lindsey and Lynette Melvin reportedly found the skeletal remains at Callville Bay within the Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Nevada around 2 p.m. Saturday, KTNV reported.
Photographs of the horrifying discovery reveal a skull complete with teeth, found in the dirt and sand at the shore. At different angles, you can also see other bones sticking out from the sand.
The receding waters may have led to the discovery of remains.
However, police warn that additional bodies may be discovered after remains of a male victim were discovered last week in a steel barrel that had been left exposed to the elements during an ongoing drought.
Lake Mead is now at a level that has fallen so low, it has made visible the water intake valve for Las Vegas.
Park rangers responded to the scene on Saturday and recovered the human remains, the National Park Service said in a statement. According to the Clark County Medical Examiner, the cause of death is being investigated. According to officials, the investigation continues. Officials did not provide any further information.
The grisly discovery was captured in photos that show the skull with its teeth buried under the dirt and sand close to the shore of Lake Superior.
Lindsey Melvin and Lynette Mead reportedly discovered the bones at Callville Bay in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area on Saturday around 2:45 p.m.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Lt. Jason Johansson, Metropolitan Police Department, stated Saturday night that ‘homicide isn’t responding’. “The coroner is in charge.”
This grisly discovery is almost a week after the remains of an infant were discovered in a barrel of metal on May 1. It was located at the Nevada-Arizona border, on the shores of the nation’s largest reservoir.
Photos taken by Lindsey and Lynnette Melvin show a close up shot of human teeth found as part of a skull that was discovered on the show of Callville Bay at Lake Mead
Although it is unknown if Saturday’s finds were due to receding water, police have warned of more potential bodies after the discovery of a body in an iron barrel that had been exposed by the fall in water level last week.
On Saturday, more human remains were found at Callville Bay in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area (pictured), less than one week after a body of a man was discovered inside a barrel.
Officials stated that the dropping levels of water in the lake led to the detection of a metal barrel.
‘The water level has dropped so much over the last 30 to 40 years that, where the person was located, if a person were to drop the barrel in the water and it sinks, you are never going to find it unless the water level drops,’ Homicide Lt. Ray Spencer of the Las Vergas Metropolitan Police said in an interview Monday.
“The barrel is visible because the water level dropped.” The barrel did not move….It was not like the barrel washed up.’
Lake Powell and Lake Mead upstream form the U.S.’s largest man-made reservoirs. They are part of an irrigation system which supplies water for more than 40,000,000 people and industries in Arizona, California and Nevada.
Through a corrosion-marked opening in the barrel of rusted steel, the remains of the victim’s body could be seen. The shirt and belt of the victim were still attached to their bones.
The barrel was located in mud on Lake Mead’s shoreline. According to police, more bodies are likely to be found as the water level continues to fall.
Last week, people discovered the barrel that contained the remains as they walked along the shore of Lake Mead.
Police believe the man was a gunshot from victim and that the killing probably happened between the mid-1970s and the early 1980s because the victim was wearing shoes that were manufactured during that period, Lt. Spencer said.
The death-by-gunshot announcement bolsters Spencer’s earlier comments to the New York Times that investigators would ‘definitely not rule out’ the possibility that the skeleton in the barrel was the victim of a mob related murder.
Las Vegas’ strip was famously dominated from late ’40s until the early ’80s by mob-run casino.
“It’s truly odd that the lake has never receded,” Lt. Spencer stated.
Park rangers roped off the area where the barrel was located after park-goers found it on May 1.
This image was taken in March 2022. It shows the US’ largest reservoir at its lowest level, with only 30% capacity.
Bystanders found the abandoned barrel with in-mud on the shoreline. When they looked into an open that was corroded, they saw the body of a human being.
Shawna Hollister who was there witnessed it and shared her story with KLAS-TV. “My husband went over and found it. We could only see his shirt and belt over the bones.
Spencer said that investigators have already set to work identifying the victim, and will be combing through missing persons cases from the 1970s and ’80s, but that the process could take years as they are starting ‘at square one.’
Spencer explained that in 1980, there weren’t any DNA databases. Spencer also stated that the genealogical work needed to identify the victim’s identity will take a lot of time if DNA can be extracted from the bones.
Spencer stated that it’s not impossible for more people to be exposed if the drought continues and the lake waters recede.
Lake Mead has seen its water levels drop to the lowest point since 1971. This reservoir provides water that is safe for water consumption and power supply to approximately 40 million households.
A lot of Lake Mead’s issues stem from drought conditions in the region. The Colorado River basin has become very low due to this.
‘I would say that as the water level drops there is a very good chance that we are going to find additional human remains,’ he told KLAS.
Lake Mead is the US’s biggest reservoir. It was formed by the Hoover Dam River. The lake lies approximately 24 miles south of Las Vegas.
Since the megadrought of the southwest US in 2012, and growing water demands, levels have fallen over the years.
Now, the water level in the reservoir sits at 1,055 feet above sea-level, which is far below its maximum capacity of 1,229ft and very close to the 1,050ft threshold for pumping water to more than 40 million people.
Record low water levels were caused by the worst drought in history, and climate change made it worse 72 percent of all time, according to studies.
Experts predict that the reservoir will never be filled again, as weather patterns are predicted to worsen.