BOULDER CITY, Nevada -National Park Service rangers and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Search and Rescue divers are in the process of recovering a 17-year-old North Las Vegas boy who was last seen swimming in Lake Mohave near Morning Star Cove.
Around 5:20 p.m. June 30, the Lake Mead National Recreation Area Interagency Communication Center received a call from a witness who reported that the teen went underwater while swimming across the cove. The witness said the teen didn't resurface.
The boy was with a group of friends who were cliff jumping in the Placer Cove area. They decided to try to swim across Morning Star Cove to another cliff about 50 yards away. The teen started having difficulties. Two other friends took turns trying to help him to safety, but they could not hold on, and he went underwater.
National Park Service rangers responded to the scene and conducted a search until nightfall. July 1, rangers and Metro's search and rescue dive team resumed the search. Recovery efforts are underway.
The Clark County Medical Examiner will confirm the victim's identity and determine his cause of death. The incident is under investigation.
This is the third cliff jumping related fatality at Lake Mead National Recreation area in 2015, and the second incident at Morning Star Cove. Another teen presumably drowned while trying to swim across the same cove, June 4.
-NPS-
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
