Lake Mead body: 2 years later, barrel murder victim remains unidentified
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Two years after boaters discovered a murder victim’s body concealed in a barrel at Lake Mead – the man’s identity remains unknown and it is unclear how close investigators may be at identifying him.
On May 1, 2022, boaters discovered the man’s body concealed in a barrel near Hemenway Harbor. County officials said the man died from a gunshot wound, with the manner of his death being homicide. The 8 News Now Investigators first reported the discovery.
Last November, Las Vegas Metro police and the coroner’s office released three images of a composite face the FBI created.
As the 8 News Now Investigators reported, Metro police suspect the man was killed in the 1980s based on personal items in the barrel. The victim was wearing clothing and shoes sold at Kmart stores in the mid-to-late 1970s.
Homicide detectives had requested DNA from multiple families to help solve the case of the body in the barrel, Metro police previously told the 8 News Now Investigators. The families were chosen from several unsolved missing person cases from that time.
Investigators at the coroner’s office can only use the information they have, Clark County Coroner Melanie Rouse told the 8 News Now Investigators last year, indicating when there is match – there is a match.
The FBI’s national DNA database – CODIS – did not exist in its current form until the late 1990s.
“Sometimes remains may never be able to be identified,” she said. “If the information doesn’t exist for comparison, there’s not a magic tool out there for us to say this is who the person is.”
There is no timeline nor a deadline for when the remains could be identified. The coroner’s office works with an outside agency to test for DNA, Rouse previously said. While DNA can be pulled from bone, the quality of a decedent’s remains plays a part in the identification process, Rouse said.
The coroner’s office has identified three other sets of remains discovered since the barrel’s surfacing.
The coroner’s office identified the remains found in Callville Bay in May 2022 as Thomas Erndr, of Las Vegas. Erndt was 42 years old when he drowned on Aug. 2, 2002.
On July 25, 2022, swimmers found Claude Pensigner’s remains floating near Boulder Beach. Portions of the remains found on Aug. 6 and Aug. 16 were confirmed to also belong to Pensigner who disappeared in 1998.
Skeletal remains found near Calville Bay on Oct. 17, 2022 belong to Donald Smith, of North Las Vegas. Officials said Smith drowned in April 1974. He was 39 at the time.
After years of water levels increasing, the lake was experiencing an expected 19-foot drop for the first half of 2014.
Tips can be submitted anonymously through Crime Stoppers by calling 702-385-5555 or at crimestoppersofnv.com/report-a-crime. Information can also be sent via text by sending “CRIMENV” and then your message to “CRIMES” (274637). Crime Stoppers offers a reward for information that leads to an arrest.
The coroner’s office can be reached by calling 702-455-3210.
To reach investigative reporter David Charns with any tips or information, email dcharns@8newsnow.com.
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