A World War II-era boat has surfaced in the receding Lake Mead months after several bodies were found as water levels plummeted due to an ongoing drought.
“The Higgins landing craft that has long been 185 feet (56 meters) below the surface is now nearly halfway out of the water at Lake Mead,” the Associated Press reported. “It was used to survey the Colorado River decades ago, sold to the marina and then sunk, according to dive tours company Las Vegas Scuba.”
World War II-era boat emerges from shrinking Lake Mead https://t.co/jU0itxF8cY
— FOX 5 DC (@fox5dc) July 2, 2022
Similar boats were used by American forces during the invasion of Normandy during World War II, and Higgins, a New Orleans based company, manufactured the crafts from about 1942-1945.
The boat surfaced near Hemingway Harbor and the Lake Mead Marina, and the National Park Service (NPS) hopes that its emergence will have educational purposes.
“There are relatively few working or museum examples of the LCVP Higgins craft like the one currently emerging from Lake Mead,” NPS said, according to the Las Vegas Review Journal.
“As water levels continue to fluctuate and decline, we know that this boat may come to the attention of park visitors both new and returning. Lake Mead hopes everyone has the opportunity to learn more about its history and ask that as visitors enjoy the site, they leave it as they found it to avoid damaging the boat,” it continued.
The park service also explained more about the history of craft, and its connection to the World War II era, explaining that a thin half inch armor still protected the boat.
“The surplus nature of the craft highlights an earlier era of the Lake when Las Vegas and Lake Mead were much more remote and removed from much of the United States, where relatively inexpensive WWII surplus could be pressed into duty for new peaceful purposes in the park,” it explained.
Last month, skeletal remains washed up at the lake, leaving questions about the circumstances and who dumped the bodies in the lake.
One body, found in a barrel that had washed up onto the muddy shore of Lake Mead, was found by a group of boaters Sunday afternoon around Hemenway Harbor. According to authorities, it is believed that the body dates back to the 1980s, but it has not yet been disclosed how the body ended up in the barrel or in the lake.
“It’s going to be a very difficult case,” Las Vegas Metro police homicide Lt. Ray Spencer told the 8 News Now investigation team. “I would say there is a very good chance as the water level drops that we are going to find additional human remains.”
Source: Dailywire
