The body of 42-year-old Sean Silva was discovered Nov. 1 in the creek south of the Eagle Valley Resort.
Silva, a resident at the resort, was reported missing Oct. 21 and had not been seen since Oct. 19.
Lincoln County Sheriff Kerry Lee said Silva had been a resident of Caliente, but at the time was living at the resort and doing work in the local area.
Lee said since the man was last seen there had been no record on his cell phone and no credit card use. “We interviewed a lot of people who knew of him,” Lee said. “But no one had any idea where he might be.”
On Oct. 23 the county search and rescue team was called out, “but not knowing even where to begin to look,” said Lee. “He didn’t have a vehicle. But we did search some of the areas, canyons and out-of-the-way places he was known to frequent occasionally and came up with nothing.”
On Oct. 27 search and rescue was called out a second time and asked to search the creek from Eagle Valley Resort to the reservoir, but again, found nothing.
On Nov. 1 hikers reported to the sheriff’s department seeing what might be a body in Eagle Valley creek, just a little south of the resort.
Lee said Search and Rescue had searched north of there. Officers were dispatched to remove the body, suspected to be Silva, and taken to the Clark County Coroner’s office where positive identification was made through fingerprint and dental records, plus some of his tattoos.
Cause of death has not yet been determined, Lee said. “There was no evidence of foul play or self-inflicted injuries, or accident.” He said they are still waiting on the toxicology report to see if drugs or alcohol might have been involved. But the body had been in the water so long, it was difficult to determine if drowning or hypothermia was the cause of death. Also, the time of death was undetermined.
Search and rescue also searched the creek from the site to the Eagle Valley fire station, looking for any evidence that might point to the cause of death, but found nothing.
Lee said a funeral for Silva was held in Caliente.
