Man’s body found in water near Lake Mead Marina
A body matching the description of a 22-year-old Las Vegas man who went missing at the Lake Mead Recreation Area Friday was found Thursday morning, National Park Service officials said.
Search operations started at 8 a.m. using a remote-operated underwater vehicle provided by Earth Resource Group, officials said, and the body was located shortly after operations began. Rangers found the body in 75 feet of water near Lake Mead Marina.
The missing man, Wilmer Dante Morales, was last seen in the marina, where he was trying to retrieve a raft from the water. The Clark County coroner will confirm the identity of the dead man and determine the cause of death.
Morales’ friends called the Lake Mead National Recreation Area Interagency Communication Center about 4:30 p.m. Friday to report him missing, according to a statement from the National Park Service.
In the days that followed, Park Service rangers, Nevada Department of Wildlife game wardens, the Metropolitan Police Department search and rescue dive team and Earth Resource Group helped with the search.
A pastor at Central Church in Henderson, where Morales worked as an intern in the junior high ministry, offered prayers for Morales over the weekend.
The day after Morales went missing, a 22-year-old was reported dead at Lake Mead’s Sail Beach. The man was later identified as Illinois resident Dylan Robbins, according to the Clark County coroner’s office.
Outside magazine has ranked Lake Mead as America’s deadliest national park, based on a recent analysis of fatalities over the past 10 years.
From 2006 through 2016, 275 people lost their lives at the 1.5 million-acre park east of Las Vegas. That’s about 100 more than at second-deadliest Yosemite National Park and 120 more than third-deadliest Grand Canyon National Park, according to Outside.
Contact Lawren Linehan at llinehan@reviewjournal.com or at 702-383-0381. Follow @lawrenlinehan on Twitter.
