LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – A decades-old murder victim discovered in a barrel is yet to be identified more than two years after washing up at Lake Mead.
The Clark County Coroner confirmed they have leads in the case on Thursday.
As lake levels dropped, in May 2022 a decaying barrel washed onto shore. Inside that barrel was a man that investigators believe was shot to death in the late 70s or early 80s.
For the last two years, the coroner, along with investigators, worked to identify that man and bring closure to a family that’s likely still searching for answers.
In November 2023 Clark County shared renderings of what that man’s face could’ve looked like when he was alive.
Then in June 2024, they uploaded photos of items belonging to that man in a missing person’s database.
“We felt in this case it would be helpful to put the clothing and hope that maybe someone might recognize them,” Clark County Coroner Melanie Rouse says.
No one has recognized them yet, she says, but they are still following up on other leads after people came forward.
“It’s really difficult to say what exactly prompted those people to come forward, and I would hate to speak on their behalf as to what triggered them to contact us,” Rouse says.
She says when people do come forward, they look for consistencies between what that person is saying, and the unidentified victim. For example, she says they’ll ask when and where the person was seen alive last, what they were wearing, and any physical descriptions like scars, marks or tattoos.
“We’re going to follow up on any potential leads that could possibly be this individual because we do want to get them identified,” she says.
Rouse was not able to get into specifics about the information that has come forward because the case is still open.
As for their next steps, she says they’ll ask their genealogy experts to review the man’s DNA again to see if they can find relatives in any databases.
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