Rollover in Farmington Canyon leaves one dead, two others injured

FARMINGTON — Three people were thrown from an SUV after it crashed and rolled in Farmington Canyon Monday night. One of the men was dead when rescue workers found him, officials said.

Another man was found on a rock slide with superficial injuries and had to be carried out of the deep ravine by paramedics. He was in a place called Halfway Creek.

The third man, who was found on the canyon road, was taken by medical helicopter to McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden with cuts on his head. A broken bone in his leg was exposed, police said.

The three men were hurt after the small SUV they were in hurtled off the edge of a cliff in the canyon. The vehicle was found 500 feet from the road.

Davis County Sheriff's Lt. Brad Wilcox said the road there is right next to the cliff. No guard rails or warning signs protect motorists from the danger.

"When you get up there, you either need to know where you're going or use a lot of caution," he said.

Police were called about 9 p.m. Monday after a woman driving down the canyon beyond the scene of the crash found the driver in the road.

The man, who had been driving the SUV, stopped his fall by grabbing onto a tree branch, he told police. He then pulled himself back onto the road.

The search and rescue operation lasted for several hours. Meanwhile, the canyon was closed.

None of the crash victim's names had been released by midnight Monday. Police still had not determined where the men were from or why they were in the canyon when the fatal crash occurred.

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