Human remains found days after body uncovered from barrel at Lake Mead

A second set of human remains were discovered at Lake Mead in Nevada this week (Pictures: EPA / Lindsey and Lynette Melvin / AFP)

More human remains were found at Lake Mead days after the body of a person murdered decades ago was discovered hidden in a barrel submerged underwater.

Human skeletal remains were discovered on Saturday at America’s largest reservoir, the National Park Service said in a release. Park rangers responded to a call around 2pm about the remains in Callville Bay within the Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

The Clark County Medical Examiner said it will determine the cause of death, according to the park service, which added that there were no updates on the investigation at this time.

The unsettling discovery comes almost a week after remains were found hidden in a barrel that had been submerged in the lake. The barrel had been washed to shore as water levels dropped due to a severe drought.

The second set of remains was reported on Saturday afternoon (Picture: Lindsey and Lynette Melvin)

The first body, discovered in the lake on May 1, was likely a murder victim, according to investigators.

The victim likely died from a gunshot wound in the 70s or 80s, based on the type of clothing and footwear they were found with, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police.

When the barrel containing the body was dropped in Lake Mead, the site was likely hundreds of yards from the beach, according to CNN. The area that is now a beach would have been several dozen feet underwater in the 1980s.

‘The lake has drained dramatically over the last 15 years,’ Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Homicide Lieutenant Ray Spencer said last week.

Police officials had said it was likely that additional human remains would be found as the water dropped (Picture: Lindsey and Lynette Melvin)

Spencer added that it would be ‘likely that we find additional bodies that have been dumped in Lake Mead’ as the water level continues to drop.

On Monday, the lake’s water level was around 1,052 feet above sea level, which is about 162 feet below its 2000 level, where it’s considered full.

Water levels at Lake Mead have been steadily receding since the early 2000s, and most recently hit a record level low since it was filled in the 1930s.

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