Man dies after boat capsizes in Utah Lake

UTAH LAKE, Utah County — A South Jordan man is dead after police say his fishing boat capsized on Utah Lake.

Police got a call at around 9:52 a.m. Friday from the man's 16-year-old grandson saying he and his grandfather, 69, had been setting a fishing line on the lake when their small, aluminum fishing boat capsized on the west side of the lake near "the Knolls," said Lt. Dave Bennett with the Utah County Sheriff's Office. Bennett said police believe the man stood up to set the line, lost his balance, fell and capsized the boat.

When the boat flipped, the grandson was the only one wearing a life jacket, Bennett said. He threw his grandfather a flotation device and swam 200 yards to shore to find help. The boy ran half a mile before he found a fisherman, called 911 and went back for his grandfather, Bennett said.

"He got (the flotation device) around his arm, but when the grandson had to leave, he was having difficulty breathing," Bennett said. "It wasn't something he could get around his chest."

By the time rescue workers and the fisherman's boat arrived on scene, as well as help from a rescue plane, they found the man face down, floating in the water with his arm through the flotation device, Bennett said. Bennett said with the delay of the grandson swimming to shore, finding help and then returning to the scene, the man was in the water for at least half an hour.

Rescue workers started CPR immediately and transferred the man to the Saratoga Springs boat harbor before flying him to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at about 12:30 p.m., Bennett said.

Bennett said it is unclear if the man succumbed to hypothermia in the cold water or drowned, or a combination of the two. Either way, he said because of the cold water conditions the grandson did the right thing leaving to try and get help.

"For him to try and bring his grandfather in on his own, it could have resulted in two people drowning," Bennett said.

Contributing: Laura Hancock

e-mail: ashaha@desnews.com