Dropping Water Levels At Lake Mead Unveils Many Discoveries

A boat from the World War II-era has officially surfaced due to the drought-induced dropping waterline at Lake Mead just a few months after bodies were discovered.

“The Higgins landing craft that has long been 185 feet (56 meters) below the surface is now nearly halfway out of the water at Lake Mead,” read a report from the Associated Press. “It was used to survey the Colorado River decades ago, sold to the marina and then sunk, according to dive tours company Las Vegas Scuba.”

Boats of this style were used by American forces as part of the Invasion of Normandy during World War II, and as a company based out of New Orleans, Higgins built the boats from a period of 1942-1945.

This particular boat broke the surface next to the Hemingway Harbor and the Marina from Lake Mead, and the National Park Service (NPS) is currently wanting its discovery to be used for educational purposes.

“There are relatively few working or museum examples of the LCVP Higgins craft like the one currently emerging from Lake Mead,” stated NPS, as reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“As water levels continue to fluctuate and decline, we know that this boat may come to the attention of park visitors both new and returning. Lake Mead hopes everyone has the opportunity to learn more about its history and ask that as visitors enjoy the site, they leave it as they found it to avoid damaging the boat,” it went on.

The park service also went on to explain a bit more about the boat’s history, and its uses from the World War II era, explaining that a quite thin, just half-inch armor plate still protected the boat.

“The surplus nature of the craft highlights an earlier era of the Lake when Las Vegas and Lake Mead were much more remote and removed from much of the United States, where relatively inexpensive WWII surplus could be pressed into duty for new peaceful purposes in the park,” it stated.

Just last month, skeletal remains ended up washing onto the shore of the lake, sparking quite a few questions concerning the circumstances and just who tossed the bodies into the lake.

One body, discovered inside a barrel that ended up washing onto the muddy shores of Lake Mead, was discovered by a group of people out boating next to Hemenway Harbor. As reported by local authorities, it is currently thought that the body could be from as far back as the 1980s, but currently, no information has been officially given about how the body managed to find its way into a barrel in the lake.

“It’s going to be a very difficult case,” stated homicide Lt. Ray Spencer, with Las Vegas Metro PD, to the 8 News Now investigation team. “I would say there is a very good chance as the water level drops that we are going to find additional human remains.”

 

 

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