Lake Mead Human Remains Found In Receding Lake Identified As Man Who Allegedly Drowned Two Decades Ago Officials Say

The 42-year-old from Las Vegas reportedly drowned on Aug. 2, 2002, authorities said, although the official cause and manner of death were unclear Wednesday. Erndt’s remains are one of at least three sets of human remains discovered since May in the lake, where water levels have plummeted to record lows as the drought crisis continues in the West. Other remains found include a body in a corroded barrel with a gunshot wound, officials previously said. The case is being investigated as a homicide. Those remains, named the Hemenway Harbor Doe by the medical examiner’s office, belonged to someone who died in the mid-70s to early 80s, according to police. Most recently, authorities discovered some human remains at Lake Mead’s Boulder Swim Beach in mid-August. It was the third time officials have found remains in that area, though it’s unclear if the three discoveries at Boulder Swim Beach are all from one person or separate individuals. The Clark County medical examiner is working to determine if the first two discoveries in that area, both of which were partial remains, came from the same person, a county spokesman told CNN. The process of identifying human remains found in the lake has been difficult due to the advanced stages of decomposition, which makes it difficult to extract DNA for identification. The Clark County Coroner’s Office uses X-rays, fingerprints, forensic dentistry and analysis by forensic anthropologists to learn about a body, Clark County Police and Coroner Melanie Rouse told CNN. Lake Mead is the nation’s largest reservoir that straddles the Nevada-Arizona border and serves approximately 25 million people in Arizona, Nevada, California, and Mexico. Recently, lake levels fell to record lows amid a major drought fueled by the effects of human-induced climate change. At its peak in 1983, Lake Mead was 1,225 feet above sea level. But as of this summer, the level was about 1,040 feet, about 27 percent of its full capacity. Falling water levels have revealed other things in the lake, including a World War II-era sunken ship and the original 1971 reservoir inlet valve Elsewhere, falling water levels have led to the discovery of dinosaur tracks from around 113 million years ago in a Texas park after parts of a riverbed completely dried up as the state experienced extreme drought and heat this summer. CNN’s Elizabeth Wolfe, Kaylene Chassie, Rachel Ramirez and Jenn Selva contributed to this report.