ATV accidents claim two Utah lives over Easter holiday

Two boys were killed within days of each other while riding all-terrain vehicles over Easter weekend.

Russell Anderson, 17, was riding an ATV near some sand dunes in Washington County with other people when they lost track of him briefly and he rolled the ATV while coming over a dune around 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, said Laura Melling, Sand Hollow State Park complex manager.

Family members took the teenage boy to park rangers for transport to Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George. He was then flown to a hospital in Las Vegas, where he passed away.

Anderson was a member of the Bingham High basketball team and enjoyed weight lifting, camping and being outdoors, according to his obituary on Wednesday. He was a priest in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was preparing to serve a full-time mission once he turned 19.

Just two days later in Emery County, 11-year-old Zachary Westbrook was riding an ATV with his cousin when the ATV rolled and pinned the Carbon County boy to the ground, said Emery County Sheriff LaMar Guymon.

Family and later medical personnel attempted to resuscitate the boy for more than an hour before he was pronounced dead.

— Lana Groves