Apparent human remains including jawbone found at Lake Mead as drought drives water to record low

Potential human skeletal remains, including what appears to be a human jawbone with teeth still attached, have been recovered from Boulder Beach on Lake Mead, Nevada, as an ongoing drought causes water levels to drop to a record low at the largest reservoir in the United States.

The US National Park Service said it received reports of apparent skeletal remains on 16 August. Park rangers and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department responded to the scene; the incident remains under investigation.

A woman and her friend discovered the bones while visiting the Nevada side of the reservoir, which sits on the border with Arizona. Dianelis Molina Cruz told CBS affiliate KLAS: "My friend was playing with the rocks in the lake, and then he grabbed the jaw. And when he looked, he saw the teeth and everything." Her friend Noel De Leon noted: "The water looks very low compared to where it should be. As the water goes down, the skeletons come up."

The US Bureau of Reclamation said water levels at Lake Mead dropped to 1,040ft (316m) above sea level last week — considerably below the previous record low set in July 2022. The reservoir is in Clark County, most of which is in moderate drought according to the US Drought Monitor. Water levels at Lake Mead have been declining since 2000.

Scientists say worsening droughts are being driven by climate change. Drought discoveries have also brought unexpected finds elsewhere: in Hungary this month, the bodies of two World War Two German soldiers emerged from the Danube River; and in the UK, low water levels at a Rutland reservoir uncovered the submerged village of Nether Hambleton.