Good Samaritan act ends in two fatalities

Monday, Aug. 14, 2000 | 9:40 a.m.

Authorities are investigating a Good Samaritan act that turned fatal early this morning at Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

A man with two children in a Jeep plunged about 40 feet over an embankment and into the lake a little after midnight, said Elizabeth Dupree, spokeswoman for the National Park Service's recreation area.

Authorities at the scene say those in the Jeep were trying to help a motorist stuck in the sand in a primitive camping area off North Shore Road, eight miles from the Lake Mead Drive intersection.

Authorities say a rope being used in an attempt to pull the car out of the sand snapped sending the Jeep over the embankment.

The victims were a father and son, Dupree said. Another boy escaped harm.

Names of the victims are being withheld pending notification of relatives.

archive