Drowning In Lake Mohave

The park received an emergency call via marine band radio on the afternoon of July 7th in which a woman reported that her husband had disappeared while swimming in Lake Mohave. Rangers were on scene in about six minutes. The operators of at least four private vessels who heard the emergency call over the radio also responded to the area to help locate the man. About an hour after the initial call for help came in, the victim’s body was located by one of the private citizens assisting with the search. Rangers on the NPS dive team and a diver from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department recovered his body at about 8 p.m. The man’s wife reported that a group of family members and their pet dog had been boating and were swimming in the water. The couple had brought along four nieces and nephews from Los Angeles on their trip. They decided to head back to shore when the wind increased, creating two- to three-foot wavers. When she reached shore, her husband was no longer swimming behind her. Although the children were all wearing life jackets and made it safely to shore, he did not have one on. About 99 percent of the drownings that have occurred in the park could have been prevented if the victims had been wearing life jackets.