Clark County Coroner Melanie Rouse confirmed Thursday that remains found in a barrel at Lake Mead in 2022 belong to Edward Lelburian Jackson, a man believed to be from Hot Springs, Arkansas, according to The Associated Press. The Lake Mead barrel body identification closes a four-year mystery over whose remains were pulled from the receding shoreline, though the killing itself remains unsolved.
“We were able to confirm that the remains were in fact Edward Jackson,” Rouse said, according to the AP.
The Latest On The Lake Mead Barrel Body Identification
Jackson was in his mid- to late 50s when he died, authorities said, according to CBS News. He was shot in the head, and investigators believe he was killed in the early 1980s based on the style of shoes and clothing remnants found with his body, NBC News reported.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Homicide Lt. Robert Price said the case remains open despite the identification. “It’s an unsolved case. It’ll never be closed until we solve it,” Price said, according to NBC News.
Case Background
The remains were discovered May 1, 2022, inside a 50-gallon drum on the shore of Lake Mead as water levels dropped, NBC News reported. Jackson, who also went by the name “Buddy,” had no known children, according to the outlet.
Records show Jackson had a brief criminal history in the early 1980s in Salt Lake City, Utah, that included a charge of aggravated arson and conspiracy to commit fraud, CBS News reported. He had lived in California with his wife in the early 1970s. His family last saw him in Arkansas in the early 1980s, and it remains unclear why he traveled to Las Vegas, according to CBS News.
Investigators said Jackson traveled frequently around the country and had no known ties to Las Vegas. There is no information indicating he gambled, Price said, according to NBC News.
What Officials Have Said
CBS News reported that the case carries “earmarks of a mob hit,” but Price pushed back on framing the killing as confirmed organized-crime activity. “At this point in our investigation, we don’t have any information to support those theories,” he said, according to CBS News. No suspects have been named, and police have not released additional details about the circumstances of Jackson’s death.
What’s Next
Authorities are asking anyone with information about Jackson’s killing to come forward, CBS News reported. No court dates or arrests have been announced, and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has not said whether new leads have emerged since the identification was confirmed.
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