OMM Newsroom
Nevada police have identified the remains of a man found in a corroded barrel at Lake Mead in May 2022, according to the BBC.
The man was Edward “Buddy” Lelburian Jackson. Investigators recently located his relatives through DNA, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said.
Jackson had a gunshot wound to the head. Homicide Detective Robert Price said investigators believe he was shot in the 1980s and was probably in his mid-to-late 50s when he died.
Price said there was no evidence to support public speculation that the killing was connected to organised crime. The bullet was not recovered, and police found nothing else in the barrel apart from the clothing Jackson was wearing.
Originally from Arkansas, Jackson had lived in California and Utah and was known to travel across the western United States. He had previously been arrested in Salt Lake City, but had no known ties to Las Vegas and had never been reported missing, police said.
His relatives in Arkansas told investigators that he moved around frequently. Police are still trying to identify his killer and establish a motive. Price said Jackson was not known to be a gambler and that finding any surviving associates could prove difficult.
Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States, supplies drinking water to 20 million people from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. Its water levels have fallen since 2000, with drought conditions worsening in recent years; scientists say climate change is exacerbating the situation.
Three other people found in the reservoir have been identified. Two are believed to have died by drowning, while the cause of the third person’s death remains unexplained.
Police had created a 3D rendering of Jackson’s skull as part of their effort to identify him. Authorities had previously warned that more bodies could be exposed as the reservoir receded.
Falling water levels have also revealed remains and wartime objects in other locations. In Budapest, the bodies of two German soldiers from World War Two were recovered from the Danube earlier this year, alongside a largely intact German army Wehrmacht motorcycle. Other World War Two remnants, including a broken-up hull, have recently appeared near Prahovo in Serbia.
