We’ve all seen the Sopranos—unless you’re me, because I have taste—but we’ve all seen the Sopranos. We all know that sometimes you have to get your hands dirty. Sometimes you need to remove someone from the equation, permanently. The best way to do this, of course, is Lake Mead.
Is it federally protected land owned by the government and designated as the country’s first recreational area? Yes. Is it a good spot for dumping your enemies’ bodies? Apparently.
Located 30 miles southeast of the Colorado River in the states of Nevada and Arizona, Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam is the largest reservoir in the United States. Entering the region’s 25th year of drought, the water levels have dropped to hazardous lows. The rocky terrain surrounding the lake has now begun to reveal a startling stripe of white stone, a result of the sediment left on the rocks that were once covered by the lake’s water.
But the “bathtub ring” along the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead’s surrounding shorelines isn’t the only thing to be revealed following the rapidly dropping water levels.
A dozen sunken boats, once lost to the lake’s depths, now rest on desert-dry land, hundreds of yards from the shoreline. A World War II era Higgins amphibious craft is now half-visible above the surface, although it’s still trapped in the silt at the bottom of the lake. A B-29 plane that crashed into the lake in 1948 was also discovered, as well as the honestly unsettling site of a wrecked houseboat, still partially intact.
On May 1, 2022, a horrific discovery was made: the decayed body of a man, stuffed inside a steel barrel.
The man was confirmed to have died from a gunshot wound to the head. Based on his clothing and footwear, authorities have also estimated that he was killed somewhere from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s, which is around the same time as the Chicago Outfit (a branch of the Italian-American Mafia unassociated with La Cosa Nostra) began to sink their teeth into Las Vegas’ late-night gambling scene. His identity remains unknown, but all evidence points to a mob-related murder.
The first of the numerous sets of remains found that were positively identified were those of Thomas Ernst, a 42 year old father who drowned in 2002. However, still yet to be identified is the decomposed torso of a man, whose limbs and head appear to have been “cleanly removed”, according to investigators.
After more human remains were found and reported by three separate park visitors, on three separate dates—July 25th, August 6th, and August 16th of 2022—medical examiners eventually confirmed that “the three sets of remains belonged to the same person.” DNA analysis identified the remains as being of 52 year old Claude Russell Pensinger, who disappeared in 1998 while on a boating outing with his brother, who later described him as “a strong swimmer”. The cause and manner of his death is still unknown.
The fourth and final set of human remains found on October 17th were identified by DNA analysis to be Donald Smith, a 39 year old resident of Las Vegas who drowned in Lake Mead in 1974. The death was ruled accidental.
So what’s up with Lake Mead? Is it just a regular reservoir, or does it have more sinister mob mysteries? New findings are sure to surface this summer as the lake continues to dry up, but for now, the Mafia’s relationship with the lake might be a secret taken to yet another victim’s watery grave.
