The victim with a young family member. Credit: Clark County, Nevada
The Clark County Office of the Coroner/Medical Examiner (CCOCME), in conjunction with the LVMPD (the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department) Homicide Section, have identified the victim whose remains were discovered in a barrel at Hemenway Har bor at Lake Mead on May 1, 2022, as Edward “Buddy” Lelburian Jackson. He is believed to have been in his mid to late 50’s when he was killed.
The identification followed years of work with LVMPD, the FBI, DNA Labs International, and the Forensic Science department at Oklahoma State University.
In May 2022, Lake Mead's evel has dropped so much that the uppermost water intake at drought-stricken Lake Mead became visible. Boaters spotted the barrel one day, which contained a body. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department knew it was a homicide as a result of a gunshot wound, but did not know Jackson's identity at the time. In 2022, police said items found inside the barrel indicated the victim died in the 1980s—which indeed appears to be the case.
Jackson's family told investigators that he liked to travel and detectives found records of him in California, where he lived with his wife in the early '70s. His family said they last saw him in Arkansas in the early '80s. Jackson was never reported missing. Authorities estimate he was killed in the early 1980s. The barrel was discovered as water levels have fallen at Lake Mead.
Because Jackson died of a gunshot to the back of the head, LVMPD Homicide says there has been speculation this homicide had ties to organized crime. However at this point in the investigation, there is not information to support those theories.
Previous coverage:
May 4, 2022: Body in Barrel Exposed as Level of Nevada’s Lake Mead Drops
May 9, 2022: Investigators Work to ID 2nd Set of Remains from Lake Mead
July 29, 2022: Body Near Lake Mead 3rd to Surface Since May
March 29, 2023: Coroner: Lake Mead Body Found in 2022 was 1974 Drowning
Data from Clark County, Nevada