LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Nevada county officials have identified skeletal remains found at Lake Mead as a person who died there nearly 49 years ago.
According to officials from Clark County, the skeletal remains found in the area of Callville Bay on Oct. 17, 2022, belong to Donald Smith, of North Las Vegas. Officials said Smith drowned in April 1974. He was 39 years old at the time.
The identification comes after DNA analysis, and officials have ruled Smith’s death accidental.
The discovery of Smith’s remains in October was the fourth such find at Lake Mead. The initial set, reported first by NewsNation affiliate KLAS in Las Vegas, was found on May 1 when a body was discovered in a barrel near Hemenway Harbor.
Additional human remains were found at Callville Bay less than a week later. The third set of remains was found on July 25, when a person at Swim Beach near Boulder Beach reported human remains to the National Park Service.