BOULDER CITY, Nev. (KTNV) — When the Melvin sisters found the second set of human remains at lake mead, they were hoping to learn the story of what happened to this person – and now we know!
By September 2002, eight people had drowned or gone missing at Lake Mead, with seven of those drownings happening in just four weeks.
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That August, volunteer searcher Gene Ralston and his wife Sandy trekked from Boise, Idaho to Lake Mead to use their underwater sonar equipment. The couple was hopeful they could help locate some of the missing people.
“It seemed like people were drowning at the same time while we were there searching for others who have drowned!” Volunteer searcher Gene Ralston said. “It got pretty hectic there for a while I think we actually had I'm trying to remember if we had five searches and we recovered four bodies during that trip.”
Like an ultrasound machine, their sonar takes photos and uses sound to create images. In 2002, 13 Action News was there when the Ralstons were searching for bodies, and met another family waiting for answers, the Erndt Family.
“I distinctly remember that particular search — as I do most of them — because the area navigation was near old anchors and cables from prior buoys at that location that we kept getting tangled up in. The search very difficult,” Ralson said.
Erndt’s family told Action 13 News back in 2002, they last saw Thomas jump from the back of their boat to take a swim. They heard calls for help but couldn’t find him. The Ralstons search also proved unsuccessful. But 20 years later, the Melvin sisters out at the lake found Thomas Erndt.
“A lot of people go their entire lives without recovering their son, daughter, father or mother and never get this kind of resolution,” Ralston said.
The Ralstons have spent 22 years, helping families across the country find loved ones.
13 Action News’ Paulina Bucka asked, “You have uncovered 129 bodies. When I hear that number, that's a lot of families that want people you've recovered does it ever get easier?”
Ralston replied, “No, it actually gets harder because we all get older and my wife and I realize someday – hopefully not too soon – but someday, we won't be able to do this anymore and that's the part that gets harder.”
