Authorities in Las Vegas believe they have a positive ID for a body discovered inside a barrel after it floated to the surface of Lake Mead more than four years ago, according to officials familiar with the investigation.
At the time the body was found by boaters on May 1, 2022, officials said one thing was immediately clear: this was no accident. The body was an apparent homicide victim believed to have died of a gunshot wound around 40 to 50 years ago, the Clark County Coroner said at the time.
Officials identified the body as Edward “Buddy” Lelburian Jackson, who was believed to be in his mid-50s at the time of his death.
They were able to take a bone sample and, through meticulous DNA profiling, finally found a family match earlier this year.
The investigation is active and ongoing and authorities urge the public to come forward with any information.
The discovery garnered a flood of national attention as a macabre symbol of Sin City’s dark history and mafia past.
Both the clothing on the body and manner of death fueled the belief that the killing was carried out by someone in the Vegas underworld, from an era when the Mob controlled America’s desert playground.
The so-called “body in the barrel” was sent out for lengthy DNA testing, and Vegas law enforcement have maintained dogged optimism they’d one day figure out who it was. Investigators also found other clues inside the 55-gallon oil drum that contained the corpse: a watch, Kmart clothes and sneakers that put the time of the murder from around 1975 to 1985.
The body was one in a growing roster of human remains found at Lake Mead as water levels of the mammoth reservoir plummeted to historic lows due to prolonged drought — exposing what once was hidden in its depths.
ABC News has chronicled the secrets of Lake Mead over the years and featured the mystery of the body in the barrel in a 2023 episode of “20/20.”
“Somebody out there is sweating, because they know that we’ve got the body, we’ve got the evidence, and it’s only a matter of time before we find out who it is. And once we find out who it is, it’ll kick into high gear,” Phil Ramos, a detective among those working on the homicide case, told “20/20” at the time.
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