Authorities found more human remains in the Lake Mead recreation area east of Las Vegas, where the waters have receded due to a drought gripping the region, it was reported Sunday.
It is the fourth time that human remains have been discovered in the area, at a time when the drought affecting the western United States is lowering the waters in the Colorado River behind Hoover Dam.
Ranger Service officials were summoned to the scene on the Nevada-Arizona border around 11 am Saturday when skeletal remains were discovered at Swim Beach. Shortly after, a police and rescue team went to extract the remains.
Authorities said they will try to establish the cause of death, while at the same time sifting through records on missing persons.
On May 1, a barrel containing human remains was found near Hemenway Harbor. The police hypothesize that it is a man who was shot to death and whose body was dumped there between the mid-1970s and early 1980s.
A few days later skeletal remains were found in Calville Bay. And then, on July 25, more human remains were found on Boulder Beach.
Police have speculated that as the waters recede further, more debris will be discovered.
The findings have sparked theories about old cases of missing or murdered people, perhaps linked to organized crime and the founding of the city of Las Vegas, which is just a 30-minute drive from the lake.
The lake’s waters have fallen more than 170 feet (52 meters) since the reservoir was last full, in 1983.
The falling waters come at a time when a growing number of scientific studies suggest the planet is warming, mainly due to rising levels of carbon dioxide and other gases trapped in the atmosphere.
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