BOULDER CITY, Nev. (KLAS) — Since Lake Mead’s filling in the 1930s, 300 people have drowned in its waters, park service officials told the 8 News Now I-Team.
The decade with the most drownings is the 1990s, records showed.
One person has drowned in the reservoir so far this year, park officials said. The number for 2021 is also one death. In 2020, eight people drowned.
In 2017, Outside Magazine ranked Lake Mead as the top deadliest national park in America.
As the I-Team first reported earlier this month, a Las Vegas native believes skeletal remains found at the lake in May could be his father who died in the 1950s. Between 1939 and 1959, 10 people drowned at the lake, park officials said.
Daniel Kolod was 22 when he drowned in Callville Bay in 1958. His body was never recovered. In May, kayakers discovered the skeletal remains not far from where Daniel Kolod is believed to have drowned. Police and park officials determined the person’s death was not suspicious, indicating it could be a drowning victim.
Experts predict Lake Mead will drop nearly 30 feet from its current level by September 2023. The lake is like a big bowl with areas on the shoreline receding more quickly since there is more volume of water in deeper areas.
A new forecast shows Lake Mead rising in only three of the next 15 months.
The I-Team was first to report the discovery of a body in a barrel at the lake in May. Since the person is believed to have been murdered, the case is not among the 300 drownings. Investigators suspect there are more victims in the lake.
