Body in barrel found near Las Vegas in drought-shrunken Lake Mead

Investigators suspect the individual was killed in the 1980s based on personal items found with the barrel and only anticipate finding more bodies

A worsening drought has revealed a four-decade-old body dumped in a US lake, police said, warning that falling water levels would lead to the uncovering of more corpses. AFP

Boaters on Lake Mead near Las Vegas discovered a corroded barrel with its sinister contents during a weekend pleasure trip. AFP

Detectives probing the mystery say the contents of the container point to its having been in the huge reservoir since the 1980s. (Southern Nevada Water Authority / AP

The Hoover dam is seen from Lake Mead, the nation's largest reservoir which has reached its lowest water levels on record since it was created by damming the Colorado River in the 1930s. Reuters

The sun sets on the shrinking Lake Mead. Reuters

A person looks at the white ring of mineralized stone indicating the drop in water levels near the Hoover Dam at Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Boulder City, Nevada. EPA

A view of the Hoover Dam, near Boulder City, Arizona. EPA

Low water levels due to drought are seen in the Hoover Dam reservoir of Lake Mead near Las Vegas, Nevada. Reuters

Hydroelectric power generation equipment at the bottom of the Hoover Dam during the western drought. AFP

The Lake Mead reservoir formed by the Hoover Dam on the Nevada-Arizona border provides water to the Southwest, including nearby Las Vegas as well as Arizona and California, but has remained below full capacity since 1983 due to increased water demand and drought. AFP

A barrel containing human remains was found in the receding shoreline of Lake Mead near Las Vegas, Nevada and more bodies are likely to be exposed in the giant reservoir as drought continues to send the water level to record lows, police said on Monday.

The heavily corroded barrel, resembling an industrial storage drum as pictured in a photograph posted online by local CBS News affiliate KLAS-TV, was spotted by boaters on Sunday, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said.

Investigators suspect the individual whose remains were inside the container was killed in the 1980s based on personal items found with the barrel, police homicide detective Lieutenant Ray Spencer said.

"I would say there is a very good chance as the water level drops that we are going to find additional human remains" at the bottom of the reservoir, Mr Spencer said in an interview with KLAS.

Spencer told KLAS that police would seek assistance from experts at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, "because we're going to need scientists to weigh in and kind of give us some estimate on how long that person has actually been in the barrel”.

"It's going to take an extensive amount of work," he said.

The remains were discovered on the grounds of Lake Mead National Recreation Area, administered by the National Park Service, and the Clark County Medical Examiner was contacted to determine the cause of death, the agency said in a release.

The barrel in question was found partially buried in a portion of the lake bed newly laid bare by receding waters of the reservoir, the largest in the US, formed in the 1930s by construction of the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River at the Nevada-Arizona border.