Vegas authorities have identified body found in barrel in Lake Mead
The body was found by a Lake Mead visitor back in 2022 -Credit:AP Photo/John Locher (AP Photo/John Locher)
Las Vegas law enforcement officials believe they have identified a body discovered inside a barrel floating on the surface of Lake Mead more than four years ago. The body was initially found by people sailing on the lake back in 2022, when officials immediately suspected there had been foul play in the death.
The body, found on May 1 four years ago, was an apparent homicide victim who was believed to have been shot dead around 40 or 50 years ago, according to the Clark County Coroner speaking at the time.
Law enforcement officials identified the body to be Edward ‘Buddy’ Lelburian Jackson, who is understood to have been in his mid 50s at the time of his fatal shooting.
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Jackson had faced criminal charges in Utah and was last seen visiting family in Arkansas in the early 1980s, according to police. The investigation revealed he had no ties to Las Vegas.
They were able to find out the identity of the corpse through bone samples and meticulous DNA profiling, finally finding a match for the body years after it was first discovered, and decades after his murder.
The victim's sneakers date from the mid 1970s to early 1980s, investigators believe -Credit:Las Vegas Metropolitan Police vi
The investigation is still ongoing and law enforcement authorities are urging the public to come forward with any information they may have on the case.
The update has shed more light on the case that gripped the nation, dubbed the ‘body in a barrel’, and has stirred a flurry of theories from the public about mob ties in Nevada.
Investigators have, however, repeatedly dismissed the theories and said in a press conference on Thursday there is no evidence to support the claims.
“I know there’s been speculation in the past that the homicide had ties to an organized crime group,” Vegas Metropolitan Police Homicide Lieutenant Robert Price said. “However, at this point of our investigation, we won’t have any information to support those theories.”
The body was discovered by a woman visiting Lake Mead, finding it in a metal barrel so badly eroded she could see the decomposed remains of a man sealed inside, according to authorities.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Homicide Lt. Robert Price said there is no evidence to mob ties -Credit:AP Photo/Jessica Hill
The bones in the barrel were found still wearing battered light blue jeans with a Vidal Sassoon-style design on the pocket, a 2X striped short sleeved button down shirt, size 11 velcro sneakers and a Timex watch.
Based on the clothing and footwear on the body, Las Vegas police estimated in 2022 he was killed sometime in the mid 1970s to early 1980s.
When the body and barrel were discarded, it was likely done in a location that back then was hundreds of yards offshore, when Lake Mead was fuller, according to Las Vegas Police Lt. Ray Spencer.
“If you were to go back 40 years ago, where the victim was found was probably about half a mile to a mile offshore,” Spencer said back in 2022. “That area is now considered the shoreline.”
The 2022 discovery was one of four sets of human remains found in the Lake in 2022. Investigators were able to use DNA analysis and investigative work to identify three of the other sets of remains found at the lake in 2022, but the body in the barrel has proved much more difficult.
A body discovered soaking in water after decades makes genetic genealogy difficult, and at the time the time of the victim’s believed death, his DNA would not have been on file because it was not widely collected back then.
Source: Crime