Corpses Surfacing In Lake Mead Could Be Connected To Chicago Mob

A drought drying up precious natural resources around Las Vegas is beginning to reveal more than just cracked, crumbling Earth. According to ABC7, bodies are surfacing as Lake Mead water levels drop, and a few of them could be connected to Chicago mob activity from decades past. A total of six bodies have been pulled from the well-known lake that exists as a source of drinking water for 25 million people.

ABC7 mentioned that one of the bodies that surfaced from the lake had a bullet hole in its skull. Clothing still present on the deceased individual's body is suspected to have been popular 50 years ago. Chicago gangsters of the 70's and 80's used to control gambling in many locations across the Las Vegas strip. It was also around this time that a handful of "mob-linked" men disappeared when business on the strip got stressful.

Author John L. Smith noted that Johnnie Pappas was one of the mob members that vanished. He worked an "outfit-run" casino right beside Lake Mead up until his mysterious disappearance in 1976. University of Nevada Las Vegas history professor, Michael Green detailed the crucial role that the drought is playing in uncovering these unsolved murders.

"They would have boats on the lake for celebrities, high rollers, people are willing to pay for it. So there was always this connection with Lake Mead as a recreation area, and then eventually Lake Mead as the water supply. And now the water supply is dropping so the bodies are bobbing up," Green explained to ABC7.

Despite authorities omitting to discuss the identities of the bodies surfacing in Lake Mead, many continue to speculate the corpses' connection to Chicago mob outfits.