Govind Tekale
Las Vegas police have identified the man whose remains were discovered inside a corroded barrel on the shore of Lake Mead in May 2022. After a years-long investigation, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department confirmed the victim’s name as Edward “Buddy” Lelburian Jackson. Investigators believe he was killed by a single gunshot wound to the head sometime in the 1980s — meaning his remains lay submerged for roughly four decades before a prolonged drought gradually drew the reservoir’s surface low enough to bring the barrel into view.
Jackson was originally from Arkansas and was known to travel widely across the western United States. He had previously lived in California and Utah and had a prior arrest in Salt Lake City. He had no known ties to Las Vegas and was never reported missing. Detective Robert Price of the LVMPD homicide unit said Jackson was not known to be a gambler. His extended relatives in Arkansas described a man who was constantly on the move. “He would travel the country. He would show up when he showed up,” Price said at a news conference, relaying what relatives told police. Price acknowledged that locating any of Jackson’s living associates from four decades ago would be challenging.
Price said Jackson was probably in his mid-to-late 50s at the time of his death. Nothing was found in the barrel besides the clothing he was wearing. The bullet that killed him has not been recovered.
How the identification was made
The identification took years. Police had constructed a three-dimensional rendering of Jackson’s skull in an effort to identify his remains. The eventual breakthrough came through DNA testing: investigators matched genetic material from the remains to extended family members in Arkansas. Authorities have not released new photographs of Jackson.
Much of the public speculation following the 2022 discovery focused on organized crime. Price addressed those theories directly at the news conference. “At this point in our investigation, we don’t have information to support those theories,” he said, adding that no evidence links the death to any known criminal group. The killer and any motive remain unknown. The investigation is open.
Jackson’s is one of four deaths involving remains recovered from inside Lake Mead since water levels began declining sharply. Two of those deaths have been attributed to drowning, and a third remains unexplained. Jackson’s case is now the only confirmed homicide among the four. The largest reservoir in the United States, Lake Mead supplies drinking water to approximately 20 million people, serving communities from Las Vegas to Los Angeles.
The reservoir’s water levels have been falling since 2000, a trend that worsened in recent years. Scientists say climate change is exacerbating the drought conditions driving that decline, though available reporting does not name specific researchers or cite a particular study. Police had previously warned publicly that more remains could emerge as the lake continues to recede. Receding river levels caused by persistent hot summer weather have exposed unexpected discoveries elsewhere as well. Earlier this year, hot, dry conditions in Hungary led to the recovery of two World War Two German soldiers from the Danube River in Budapest, along with what was reported to be a largely intact military motorcycle.
Police are still working to identify Jackson’s killer and any motive in the shooting. The investigation remains active.
