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More human remains found at Lake Mead

The National Park Service did not say how long the deceased person reported Monday at Swim Beach was believed to have been there.
Image: US-ENVIRONMENT-CLIMATE-DROUGHT-LAKEMEAD-WATER-HYDROPOWER
An aerial view shows the "bathtub ring," a white band of mineral deposits showing previous water levels, of Lake Mead on June 28 at the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River at the Nevada and Arizona state border.Patrick T. Fallon / AFP - Getty Images

Human remains were found Monday at a beach at Lake Mead in Nevada, the National Park Service said.

The suspected age of the remains, which were found at Swim Beach at Lake Mead National Recreation Area around 4:30 p.m., was not released in a statement.

The Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office, which will determine the cause of death, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It was not clear if low water levels at Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir, played any role in the discovery.

Water levels at the lake, which straddles the Nevada and Arizona state line, have hit historic lows this year.

Lake Mead is at its lowest levels since 1937 — which was when it was being filled for the first time, NASA said recently as it released satellite images that show its change. Last week, the reservoir was at just 27% of capacity.

As the water level has dropped amid a drought gripping the Western United States and climate change, in May a body in a barrel was found after it was exposed, officials have said.

Those remains are believed to date back to the 1970s or 1980s, Las Vegas police said, and the person was fatally shot.

Monday’s discovery is the second time human remains were found at Lake Mead this month.

On July 6, the body of a woman was found near the Boulder Islands, where a woman went missing after falling off a jet ski on June 30, Lake Mead officials said at the time.

The Clark County medical examiner later confirmed it was the woman who went missing, NBC affiliate KSNV of Las Vegas reported.

Lake Mead was created by the construction of the Hoover Dam, which was finished in 1935.