Caution urged around swift water after deaths of two teens in separate incidents

Provo, Utah – With the warmer weather, the Utah County Sheriff’s Office is reminding residents to use caution when around water bodies, particularly during periods of high runoff.

“We fail to recognize or fully appreciate exactly how powerful those rivers are when they’re running high like this,” said Sgt. Spencer Cannon, spokesperson for the sheriff’s office.

Cannon cited two instances of drowning that occurred over the weekend in swift-moving, high rivers.

A 12-year-old child fell into the Provo River on Saturday. Nearly two hours later, search and rescue personnel retrieved him from the water at a distance of four kilometers. At the hospital, the youngster was declared deceased.

A 19-year-old lady was reported missing on Friday near Alpine’s Horsetails Falls Trail.
Overnight, the search and rescue teams searched for the woman. They discovered her body on Saturday.

Because of the swift-moving seas during both occurrences, Cannon noted that the recovery efforts were also hazardous.

“You’ve got the danger of the unseen rocks below that can cause trauma, and you have the speed of the river – and just so many factors to combine to make it absolutely treacherous – so you cannot exercise enough caution,” said Cannon.