Murder victim believed to have died in late 70s, early-to-mid 80s, police say

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Clothing and shoes removed from the body of a man found deceased inside a barrel at Lake Mead could help identify him two years after his discovery.

On May 1, 2022, boaters discovered the man’s body concealed in a barrel near Hemenway Harbor. County officials said the man died from a gunshot wound, with the manner of his death being homicide. The 8 News Now Investigators first reported the discovery.

Photos of the man’s clothing and shoes removed during autospy were recently added to the national directory NamUs, which includes information about missing and unidentified people.

As the 8 News Now Investigators reported, Las Vegas Metro police suspect the man was killed in the 1980s based on personal items in the barrel. The victim was wearing clothing and shoes sold at Kmart stores in the mid-to-late 1970s, police said.

The man was wearing a 2X Idletime button-down short-sleeve shirt and jeans with a Vidal Sasson-style design on the pocket, according to NamUs. The jeans have a 46-inch waist and are 30 inches long.

The person also had size 11 Trax tennis shoes and a silver Timex digital watch.

Last year, Clark County officials released a digital composite of what they believe the man looked like.

Homicide detectives had requested DNA from multiple families to help solve the case of the body in the barrel, Metro police previously told the 8 News Now Investigators. The families were chosen from several unsolved missing person cases from that time.

There is no timeline nor a deadline for when the remains could be identified. The coroner’s office works with an outside agency to test for DNA, Rouse previously said. While DNA can be pulled from bone, the quality of a decedent’s remains plays a part in the identification process, the Clark County coroner previously told 8 News Now.

The coroner’s office has identified three other sets of remains discovered since the barrel’s surfacing.

Tips can be submitted anonymously through Crime Stoppers by calling 702-385-5555 or at crimestoppersofnv.com/report-a-crime. Information can also be sent via text by sending “CRIMENV” and then your message to “CRIMES” (274637). Crime Stoppers offers a reward for information that leads to an arrest.

The coroner’s office can be reached by calling 702-455-3210.

To reach investigative reporter David Charns with any tips or information, email dcharns@8newsnow.com.