Years of drought, causing critically low water levels at Lake Powell, have revealed a submerged pickup truck containing human remains near the Arizona-Utah border.
The vehicle belonged to a 54-year-old man missing since December 2023; the identity of the remains is yet to be confirmed as the death is investigated. The truck was spotted just below the waterline at Lone Rock Beach, Utah, over the Labor Day weekend, prompting its recovery by authorities on Wednesday.
As the lake has suffered from a yearslong drought, its water level has fallen about 20 feet (6 meters) since when the man was reported missing, Lt. Alan Alldredge of the Kane County Sheriff’s Office in Utah said.
“We have had several bad years,” Alldredge said of the lake’s water levels.
The truck’s owner was last seen at a store in Kanab, Utah, on Dec. 1, 2023.
Human remains also have been discovered in recent years at another drought-stricken lake on the Colorado River system.
Several sets of human remains were also found in 2022 at Lake Mead, located at the Arizona-Nevada border, over 300 miles (482.8 kilometers) west of Lake Powell.
Human remains of a man who died from a gunshot wound also were found in a rusted barrel at a harbor area at Lake Mead. Authorities haven’t been able to identify the remains.
