More human bodies were found as the dry Lake Mead abandoned the fourth body

At Lake Mead, more human remains were discovered as the drought-stricken reservoir receded further.

The most recent body was the fourth found on the shores of Lake Mead in May, with gunshot wounds in barrels.

Lake Mead is a man-made reservoir created by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River. More than a decade of near-constant drought due tohuman-inducedclimate change has depleted this critical water source in states in the southwestern United States

Meade When a series of human remains were discovered on the dry shores of , officials warned that as water levels continued to drop, more bodies were likely to follow - and they were right.

Around 11:00 am on Saturday, park rangers were called to a reservoir between Nevada and Arizona, where human bones were found on Swim Beach. I was.

Rangers and a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department diving team headed to retrieve the body.

The Clark County coroner's office is working through investigators' records of missing persons to determine when and how they died, according to National Park Service officials.

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CNN reportsthat the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Homicide Division is not currently working on the case, but is investigating the first body washed up in a barrel on May 1.

"Anytime there's a body in the barrel, it's clear someone was involved," Lt. Jason Johansson told CNN.

Because of the location where the body was found, the coroner's office named it Hemenway Harbourdough. Police believe the victim was a man who died between the mid-1970s and the early 1980s.

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Less than a week after Hemenway Harbourdough was found, another skeleton was found in Calville Bay

A third body, a partial skeleton, was found at Boulder Beach on July 25. was sometimes discovered.

Given Lake Meade's proximity to Las Vegas, the discovery of these bodies suggests they may have been victims of mob attacks carried out during the early stages of Casino Town's development. prompted the theory. drive from the lake.

However, the National Park Service said that Lake Mead is a major National Recreation Siteand the first such site created in the United States, so one of the corpses One explanation is believed to be accidental drowning. actually.

Since the reservoir was filled in 1983, the lake level has dropped more than 170 feet, creating a white "lake." As the retreats, the "bathtub rings" appear on the rocks surrounding the lake.

In July, the surface elevation of Lake Mead hit its lowest point since the lake was filled in the 1930s. was: 1,040.92 ft

Water levels are so low that the reservoir is now considered an "inactive pool" by the Rehabilitation Authority andWe have been warned that the Hoover Dam will stop being used. If the reservoir elevation is below 950 feet, it can generate electricity.

At 895 feet, Lake Mead is considered "Deadpool".

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Demand for water from the depleted Lake Mead has increased only in recent years as its water levels have fallen. The Colorado River serves the water needs of an estimated 33 million people in the southwestern United States.

Last year, the US government announced the closure of rivers in response to the region's water crisis. States using Colorado.

— Using Associated Press files

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