Las Vegas police, coroner release composite of body found in barrel in Lake Mead
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Police and officials with the Clark County coroner’s office released images Wednesday in an attempt to identify a man found deceased in a barrel in Lake Mead last year.
On May 1, 2022, boaters discovered the unidentified 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.
More than a year later, DNA testing had yet to reveal the man’s identity.
Police and the coroner’s office released three images of a composite face the FBI created.
As the 8 News Now Investigators reported last year, 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 earlier this year.
“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 said. While DNA can be pulled from bone, the quality of a decedent’s remains plays a part in the identification process, Rouse said.
Police believe the barrel was fully intact when it was dropped into the lake.
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 or emailing coroner@clarkcountynv.gov.
The coroner’s office has identified three other sets of remains discovered at the lake after the barrel’s discovery.
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