LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – A man raised in Las Vegas man believes skeletal remains found at Lake Mead last month could be those of his father, who died more than six decades ago.
Daniel Kolod was 22 when he drowned in Callville Bay, on the northwest shore of the lake, in 1958. His body was never recovered.
Water levels at Lake Mead have dropped drastically since their peak in the 1940s, and then again in the 1980s. On Thursday, the lake dropped below 1,044 feet in elevation (lake levels are expressed in altitude, not depth) which is nearly 200 feet below Lake Mead’s highest levels, which can reach nearly 1,230 feet.
“After he drowned, I was told that he ‘went away,’” Todd Kolod, Daniel Kolod’s son, told KLAS from his home in Spain.
“He went out [fishing] regularly,” Todd Kolod said. “He ran out of people to give fish to.”
Todd Kolod was 3 years old when his father drowned. Daniel Kolod was on a speed boat with a friend when they hit a wake. Both men flipped and fell into the water. Only one survived.
Witnesses found the boat circling on its own about a mile from the drowning site near Swallow Bay, documents reviewed by KLAS said. Onlookers said they saw Kolod drown in Callville Bay. Crews, including divers and a helicopter, never found his body.
But as the lake recedes, more of its secrets are revealed. What once was a popular spot for swimmers and boaters in Callville Bay is now sand littered with debris, including boats, propellers and chairs. Relics from the good times in the lake’s past are now visible on its newly exposed shore.
Since the lake’s filling in the 1930s, 300 people have drowned in its waters, park service officials said. The number does not reflect the people whose bodies have not been recovered.
In May, kayakers discovered the skeletal remains not far from where Daniel Kolod is believed to have drowned. Police and park officials determined the death was not suspicious.
“When I saw Callville Bay, my eyes bulged wide open,” Todd Kolod said.
Todd Kolod, watching the news reports from across the Atlantic Ocean, thinks the remains could be his father.
One clue concerns Daniel Kolod’s teeth. He was in a car crash a few years before he drowned and lost his front teeth, Todd Kolod said, adding that his father wore a partial denture.
KLAS brought photos of the remains and Daniel Kolod’s story to Dr. Deborah Staten, owner and dentist at Desert Hills Dental in Las Vegas. Staten is certified in helping identify remains from dental records, as oftentimes, teeth are the last resort in trying to identify the victim of a crime.
The area of Callville Bay as seen in June 2022. The 2021 water line in this picture is several hundred yards from the lake’s receding shore. (KLAS)
“Bone and teeth are solid, which is why they become this gold standard for identification because they don’t change,” Staten said. “If it just sat there undisturbed, it’s probably how it arrived there.”
When shown photos of the remains, Staten observed only four teeth. She believes the skeleton is missing its front teeth, and that this person was missing other teeth before their death.
“I feel like those front ones were freshly removed,” she said.
Simply based on the photos, Staten could not provide further information. The key, she said, is finding Daniel Kolod’s dental records, but it is almost certain they were destroyed.
There was no DNA testing in 1958. Getting a sample from Todd Kolod today and matching it with the remains is the only way to potentially solve this mystery.
“My grandfather, he did everything he could to find the body,” Todd Kolod said. “I just assumed finding the body was an impossibility.”
For a son who does not remember his father, what was once impossible could now be possible with time.
“This could be my dad, or my dad could be the next discovery,” he said.
A speedboat appears on land as Lake Mead recedes. This part of the lake was under water until 2021. (KLAS)
In an unrelated case, Metro police and the FBI are working to identify the body found in a barrel in May. The person, believed to be a man, is suspected to have been murdered in the late-1970s or 1980s, investigators said.
The Vegas Justice League, a group of entrepreneurs that have given money to Las Vegas Metro police to help solve cold cases, has offered to pay for the processing of the DNA in that case, league member Justin Woo told KLAS.
Lake Mead was a popular dumping site for murderers. Police said they suspect they will find more barrels with bodies as the lake recedes. Lake Mead will drop nearly 30 feet from its current level by September of 2023 if forecasts released Thursday are accurate.
Tips can be submitted anonymously through Crime Stoppers by calling 702-385-5555 or at crimestoppersofnv.com/report-a-crime. Information can also be sent via text by sending “CRIMENV” and then your message to “CRIMES” (274637). Crime Stoppers offers a reward for information that leads to an arrest.
