The Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office provided an update Monday on the search for the missing 34-year-old Rock Springs man and his seven-year-old son. The pair were last seen leaving their campsite near Flaming Gorge Reservoir in an all-terrain vehicle at around 11:30pm on August 6th. “After deputies searched through the night, at approximately 6:30am, on Saturday, August 8th, an oil slick and debris was discovered floating on the surface of the water below a 200 foot cliff…At around midday on Saturday, divers located and recovered from the water a submerged all-terrain vehicle in the immediate area of the surface debris. Deputies also recovered the body of the adult male from inside of the vehicle. The child remains missing as search and rescue efforts continue.” Officials announced Monday that an expert in side-scan sonar would be coming in to help with the continued efforts. Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Deputy Jason Mower cautioned against private search groups at this time, especially near the cliffs. “We appreciate everyone’s intentions and efforts but we generally discourage people from taking matters into their own hands,” shared Mower. “We would hate for some other accident to occur or someone else to get hurt. We are also bringing in a lot of different people and equipment so it’s important that our team has the room needed to safely operate that equipment. We’re incredibly sensitive to just how tragic this entire situation is for everyone involved. Our hearts hurt for this family. We are and will continue to do everything we possibly can to locate this child.”
