The identity of a man murdered more than four decades ago and whose body was concealed in a barrel before being dumped into Lake Mead, in the United States, has finally been established.
The victim was identified as Edward Lelburian Jackson, an Arkansas man believed to have been in his mid-to-late 50s when he was killed. Las Vegas authorities confirmed his identity on Thursday, nearly four years after his remains were discovered in May 2022.
A boater found Jackson’s remains inside a rusty barrel on the lake’s shoreline as falling water levels exposed areas that had been submerged for decades.
Investigators believe Jackson was murdered in the late 1970s or early 1980s, but the person responsible for his death has yet to be identified.
Clark County Coroner Melanie Rouse said the identification was made through genetic genealogy. Investigators submitted bone samples for DNA analysis and also relied on facial reconstruction and an examination of the clothing found with the remains.
When discovered, Jackson was wearing a short-sleeved collared shirt, light blue jeans, white-and-blue tennis shoes and a silver-coloured watch.
Lieutenant Robert Price of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s homicide unit said Jackson’s family had never reported him missing.
According to Price, Jackson was known to travel frequently and would sometimes disappear for extended periods.
Investigators also uncovered records showing that Jackson had lived in California with his wife in the early 1970s and had a criminal record in Utah in the early 1980s.
The discovery has fuelled speculation about whether his murder was connected to organised crime during Las Vegas’ rapid growth as a gambling hub. However, police stressed that there was currently no evidence linking Jackson’s death to organised crime groups.
Geoff Schumacher, vice-president of research, collections and programmes at The Mob Museum, said concealing a body in a barrel bore similarities to several murders associated with organised crime.
He compared the case with the 1976 murder of John Roselli, a member of the Mafia whose body was found inside a barrel near Miami Beach.
Authorities have not established any connection between the two cases or confirmed that Jackson was a victim of organised crime.
Lake Mead, one of the largest reservoirs in the US, has experienced falling water levels due to prolonged drought and heavy water consumption. The retreating shoreline exposed areas that had remained underwater for decades, including sites where several sets of human remains were discovered in 2022.
Some of those remains were identified as victims of drowning, while Jackson’s death was classified as a homicide.
Although his identity has finally been established, the motive for his murder and the person responsible remain unknown. Police have urged anyone with information about the case to come forward.
