First Lake Mead fatality of year reported

Stephen Curran and Mary Manning

Monday, Jan. 24, 2005 | 10:47 a.m.

Las Vegas native David Revis likely died doing what he loved in a place he loved, his sister said this morning.

An avid swimmer, amateur artist and woodcarver, the 31-year-old native Nevadan relished his trips to his family's houseboat docked at the Callville Bay Marina at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, his younger sister, Misty Gray, remembered.

He had been staying at his stepfather's houseboat, supervising a series of remodeling projects planned for the structure, last weekend and, although he was technically there for business purposes, Gray said he enjoyed the freedom to barbecue and listen to music the lake's relative quiet afforded him.

"He was out there looking over the guys doing the work," she said. "He would be out there for a few days at a time."

It was at the houseboat where a National Park Service volunteer, walking along the dock at 9:45 a.m. Sunday, discovered the home, its lights still burning, the radio blaring and food on a table, but no one on board, Roxanne Dey, a spokeswoman for the Lake Mead Recreation Area, said.

Divers recovered Revis' body in the lake near the houseboat about three hours later. He was the first person to die at Lake Mead this year, Dey said. Twenty-three people died at the lake last year.

The food on the table and music coming from the radio provided Gray a unique kind of comfort.

"What he was doing in his final moments is what made him the happiest," she said. "He was totally happy. I don't think it could have been more perfect."

National Park Service rangers are investigating Revis' death this morning.

Revis was last seen at about 6:30 p.m. Saturday on a houseboat docked at the Callville Bay Marina on Lake Mead.

His distraught family learned of the death Sunday afternoon.

Revis' father, David, said, "He was big and strong, had blond hair and blue eyes and was an excellent swimmer."

Laura Revis, wife of the elder Revis, said, "Davey was always so full of life. He was a loner, but he was very kind, very soft, very gentle."

His sister, 26, remembered a soft-spoken man with a unique sense of humor.

"He was very talented," Gray said. "He was quick with the phrases. He wasn't like a stand-up comedian but he always had the quick one-liners."

Revis' mother, Terri Montana, and stepfather, Nick Montana, were unavailable for comment this morning.

Gray, who answered the phone at their Las Vegas home, said she, her husband and her brother were particularly close, and that Revis was a fixture at the family's home.

His presence was so frequent the young couple's 3-year-old son Rick asked for him by name.

"He was his (Rick's) favorite," she said, her voice faintly audible through tears. "He would always ask, 'Where's Uncle Dave?' "

Revis was born June 11, 1973, in Las Vegas. He graduated from Bonanza High School in 1991 and later studied architecture at UNLV for two years, Gray said.

He was unmarried and had no children, his sister said.

At the time of his death, Revis was working several jobs for his stepfather, who owns several small Las Vegas-area business.

"He just decided he wanted to work," Gray said. "He loved doing what he was doing. School wasn't for him at the time, I guess, but he could do anything you asked him to do better than anyone else."