LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – The family of a missing boater has told FOX5 that the body discovered at Lake Mead on Wednesday was 58-year-old Gregory Bell.
The National Park Service revealed on Tuesday that Bell was paddleboarding with a group of friends near the Boulder Islands on Saturday around 8:30 p.m. His daughter Marisa Hearne said Bell was with his wife Serena and two other couples.
“They started trying to paddle back to shore, and then that’s when the storm kind of hit, and they all started getting separated and flipped off,” she said. “My mom got flipped off her board, and she said at that point she was just screaming for help.”
The other five paddleboarders were able to make their way to shore, but Greg was the only one who did not return.
Rescue crews have been out at Lake Mead searching by land, water and air, and Greg’s wife Serena has been right there with them — only leaving at night, and leaving their car in the same spot, lights on, in case he comes back.
On Wednesday, NPS announced that a body was recovered from Lake Mead around 3:42 p.m. north of Boulder Harbor.
While the Clark County Coroner has not yet confirmed the identity of the body, Bell’s family says they have been informed that it is him.
“It is crushing, but I know the meaning of closure…” said Serena Wanigasekera Bell, Greg’s wife, in a Facebook post. “There is something to be said for it.”
FOX5 has reached out to NPS and the coroner’s office to confirm the identity of the body but has yet to hear back.
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