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Even more human remains found at Lake Mead days after two sets found in the same area

Yet another set of human remains were discovered at Lake Mead, marking the third discovery at a swimming beach and the fifth overall.

The National Park Service received a report of human skeletal remains at Lake Mead National Recreation Area on Monday, Aug. 15. They were found at Swim Beach.

“Park rangers have set a perimeter to recover the remains with the support from Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s dive team,” the National Park Service said in a Tuesday, Aug. 16, news release. “The Clark County Medical Examiner has also been contacted.”

The remains are the fifth set of human remains found in Lake Mead. At least two other sets have been discovered at Swim Beach.

Two sets of human remains found at Lake Mead might be from same person, officials say

The discoveries started May 1 when boaters found a crumbling barrel after hearing a woman scream from the side of the beach. They realized a body was inside.

At the time, officials told news outlets the remains were likely the first of many to be revealed as water levels continue to drop at the reservoir.

“I think anybody can understand there are probably more bodies that have been dumped in Lake Mead,” Las Vegas police Lt. Ray Spencer told KLAS in May. “It’s just a matter of, are we able to recover those?”

Days later, a second set of human remains were discovered by paddleboarders at Lake Mead’s Callville Bay.

Then, two sets of human remains were found weeks apart at Swim Beach.

Officials began investigating each set of human remains as they’ve been discovered. The coroner’s office told news outlets it’s possible human remains found on July 25 and Aug. 6 belonged to the same person, McClatchy News previously reported.

The process for identifying the remains, however, could take some time. Officials need to collect DNA samples, which could be complicated by the amount of time the remains were in Lake Mead.

So far, the coroner’s office has determined that human remains found May 7 belonged to a man between the ages of 23 and 38, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. The person’s cause and manner of death is still under investigation.

Lake Mead is the country’s largest reservoir, according to the National Park Service. It was created by the construction of the Hoover Dam in the 1930s and includes more than 750 miles of shoreline.

The reservoir supplies water to more than 40 million people in seven states and Mexico, according to NASA. It provides water to people in some of the largest cities in the U.S., including San Diego, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Los Angeles.

In recent years, however, it’s been shrinking due to a 22-year megadrought.

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