Mobsters who fall in love with fishes end up being mobsters and are rarely seen again.
Climate change can cause havoc even with the mafia. A watery grave outside Las Vegas is beginning to reveal Sin City’s worst secrets.
Lake Mead can be reached by taking a short trip in a trunk car, with your feet bound. It is currently in a long, grueling drought.
Its receding waters have left behind the usual flotsam, jetsam, and other debris of a lake popular with weekend boaters.
The receding waters also reveal bodies.
Mob-watchers were particularly interested in one particular find: the skeletal remains a man that had been shot in his head, put in a barrel, and tossed into the lake forty years ago.
Geoff Schumacher, of The Mob Museum, Las Vegas, stated that the mob had a tendency to place people in barrels. That’s number 1. Number two, the victim was shot in the head. This is typical mob style. We know this because it was in the late 1970s and early 1980s when the mob was prominent in Las Vegas.
The body was found in a Lake Mead barrel by Las Vegas police officers. AFP inquires only revealed that they are continuing to investigate the matter. The FBI confirmed last month to the Las Vegas Review-Journal its involvement in the investigation into the death.
According to the Las Vegas Justice League, it donated $5,000 to a laboratory in an effort to identify him through DNA testing.
Schumacher has theories about the identity and fate of the dead man.
One possibility is that he may have been Jay Vandermark, who was Jay’s co-worker at Stardust Hotel. This operation was run by Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal for the Chicago Mob.
Rosenthal, who was played in the movie “Casino”, was funneling money back to his bosses until the scheme caught the attention of local authorities.
Vandermark vanished shortly afterwards.
Schumacher stated that Harry Pappas, a man also associated with the Chicago Mob, was a more likely candidate to be the body in the barrel.
Schumacher stated that one of the perks for Las Vegas visitors was the opportunity to go on the boat at Lake Mead. The Stardust had a boat there, and Harry Pappas was responsible for that operation. He told his wife that he was going out to lunch with someone interested in purchasing his boat right before he vanished. Harry Pappas has never been seen again.”
In the desert of Nevada, a surprising oasis of casinos, hotels and vice grew in the 20th Century.
Although Las Vegas was founded in 1905 by the Sin City Indians, its population exploded when work began on the Hoover Dam in nearby Los Angeles in the 1930s.
The influx of single men into construction created a demand for entertainment. This was fulfilled by sex workers and showgirls, as well as legalized gambling.
Organized crime lurks behind the scenes, where there are casinos and booze.
Schumacher stated that the mob played an important role in Las Vegas’ development from the 1940s to the 1980s.
“There was a lot going on behind the scenes. The mob controlled the management of the casino, as well as building and expanding the casinos using, in many cases, Teamsters Union money.”
In the post-World War II boom, the city became the global capital for gambling and became rich.
A mafia boss in Chicago, New York wanted to take $100 for every $100 a tourist lost at the blackjack table under the influence of free booze.
“These guys were not only cold-blooded murderers, but they were also thieves,” Schumacher said. Schumacher stated that if you crossed the mob in any way, there were certain consequences.
The Hoover Dam created Lake Mead, a huge reservoir on the Colorado River. It is currently only a quarter full due to a drought and rising temperatures caused by man-made climate changes.
Two sisters from Henderson discovered a human jaw and teeth while paddleboarding on a lake near a former marina resort in May. They called the National Park Service, who confirmed that the bones were human.
Schumacher said that as the shoreline recedes, more of the lake bed will be revealed, it could yield more mob secrets.
He said, “I don’t know if there is another body in a barrel but I have to believe there could be a second victim of murder out there.”
At least one ex-official with long-standing ties to Vegas has spoken out.
Oscar Goodman, former mayor of Las Vegas, stated in May that “there’s no telling what’ll be found in Lake Mead.” It’s a good place to dispose of a body.
Goodman was a lawyer who represented mob figures, including the ill-fated Anthony Spilotro. He then served three terms as a martini toting mayor, making public appearances with a showgirl each arm.
He laughed and said, “I’m fairly certain it wasn’t Jimmy Hoffa.” He added that many of his clients had been interested in climate control — mob talk for keeping the water level high and their bodies in their watery graves.
