One of the bodies connected to a string of brutal Mafia murders found after a drought -stricken lake dried up has been identified.
The skeletal remains discovered at the bottom of Lake Mead, located on the border of Nevada and Arizona, USA, have been traced to belong to a 42-year-old man who was thought to have drowned two decades ago.
As climates have shifted the lake began to dry up to historic lows, revealing the bodies of suspected Mafia murder victims who had been dumped there.
Since May this year several grisly discoveries have been made and law officials have been met with a glut of new evidence.
But authorities have now taken the next step and the Clark County coroner/medical examiner have named one of the bodies, found May 7, as Thomas Erndt.
The Mirror previously reported how the bodies of these victims were “rising” from the lake as levels dropped.
Erndt was reported to have drowned on August 2, 2002, county spokesman Dan Kulin reportedly said.
He added: “The identification was based on investigative information, DNA analysis and reports from the original incident.
"The cause and manner of Mr. Erndt’s death is undetermined.”
However, according to Erndt’s death notice published in the Las Vegas Review-Journal he jumped from a boat and was presumed drowned.
A further obituary published 11 days after his dead said he died in an accident at the lake and was a father to two kids.
The bodies are being revealed as western US suffers a 23-year long drought in what has been branded a crisis by federal officials.
The first remains were found on May 1, with a body of someone who was fatally shot before being stuffed into a barrel.
Las Vegas police estimated they were killed as far back as the 1970s or 1980s based on clothing and footwear.
Further remains were found on August 15, and partial remains were discovered on August 6 and July 25 - it currently isn’t known if they are the same person.
