FRESHWATER COUNTY – The body of a 7-year-old boy who had been missing at Flaming Gorge Reservoir since Friday following an ATV accident with his father over the weekend was found around 7 p.m. tonight, according to the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office.
After nearly twelve hours of side sonar scans by experts on Sublette County’s Tip Top Search and Rescue Team and multiple follow-up attempts by Sweetwater County Dive Team volunteers, the body was recovered in the Big Firehole Canyon area of the Green River and Flaming Gorge Reservoir, Jason Mower said , Public Information Officer of the Sheriff’s Office.
At around 7:00 p.m. on Friday, August 7, the sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of two missing people near Firehole Canyon and the Sage Creek area of the Green River and Flaming Gorge Reservoir.
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In the course of the investigation, MPs learned that a 34-year-old man from Rock Springs and his seven-year-old son last reported on Thursday evening the 6th. An eyewitness later reported that the couple had never returned to the camp.
After MPs searched the night, around 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, August 8, an oil spill and debris was discovered floating on the surface of the water under an estimated two hundred and fifty meter high cliff.
Search and rescue and diving teams were deployed to assist the alternates in their rescue efforts. On Saturday around noon, divers found a sunk SUV in the water in the immediate vicinity of the surface debris. The MPs recovered the body of an adult man from the vehicle
matching the description of the missing father.
After a water search by their marine unit Monday morning with negative results, the sheriff’s office enlisted the help of side scan sonar experts from Sublette County’s Tip Top Search and Rescue team.
“Early Tuesday morning we deployed maritime resources from Tip Top and our marine unit, volunteers from our dive team, and several on-site communications and support elements from the sheriff’s office,” said Jason Mower, spokesman for the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office. “During the day the wind and diving conditions were sometimes not ideal, but everyone was focused on the same thing. It is a tragic situation, but we are just grateful to have found this child. ”
Sheriff John Grossnickle said, “Sometimes terrible and inexplicable things happen to otherwise good people who are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Our hearts ache for this family, but we find some comfort in giving them the degree they deserve. This would not have been possible without the help and cooperation of all those involved. “
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