Man found in barrel in drought-hit Lake Mead identified after four years
Las Vegas investigators have identified a man whose remains were found in a barrel in Lake Mead in 2022 as Edward Lelburian Jackson from Arkansas. The investigation into his killing is set to continue.
Police in Las Vegas, in the US state of Nevada, have identified a homicide victim whose remains were found stuffed in a barrel in drought-stricken Lake Mead in 2022, four years after the discovery. At a press conference on Thursday, Clark County coroner Melanie Rouse named him as Edward Lelburian Jackson, who also went by "Buddy". Investigators believe he was in his mid to late 50s.
The discovery
Boaters found the remains in shallow water near Hemenway Harbor, in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. An initial autopsy showed he had been killed by a single shot to the head. Based on the style of his clothing, investigators concluded he was probably killed between the mid-1970s and early 1980s, a period when organized crime was widespread in Las Vegas.
Authorities later said he had worn a short-sleeved button-down shirt, light blue jeans, a silver wristwatch and blue-and-white tennis shoes, and released composite images of his possible appearance. Behind the scenes, they searched crime databases for his DNA, entered his description into a national missing persons database and sent bone samples to a lab for a genealogy profile.
The breakthrough
The case moved forward this year, when a forensics team at Oklahoma State University, working with investigators, received a strong lead. Comparing DNA from Jackson and a person believed to be a relative confirmed the identity, Rouse said.
Las Vegas Metropolitan police department Lt Robert Price said Jackson was from Arkansas and that detectives have found nothing linking him to the Las Vegas area. His family last saw him in the early 1980s. Records place him in California, where he briefly lived with his wife, and in Utah, where he faced charges of aggravated arson and conspiracy fraud.
Price said earlier speculation had tied the killing to an organized criminal group, but investigators currently have no information supporting that. With the victim identified, the inquiry into what happened and who was responsible can continue.
Other finds at the lake
Other remains have emerged from Lake Mead as its water level hit historic lows because of overuse, long-running drought and rising temperatures. A few days after the barrel was found, a KLAS-TV news crew discovered a second, empty barrel nearby. Paddleboarders then found human remains on a newly exposed sand bar, with no evidence of foul play. More remains were found in August, and police again saw no sign of foul play.
