The body of the 7-year-old ATV crash victim was recovered from Flaming Gorge Reservoir on Tuesday. The Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office shared the following: After nearly twelve hours of side-sonar scanning by experts with Sublette County’s Tip Top Search and Rescue team and several follow-up dive attempts by volunteers from the Sweetwater County Dive Team, a body matching the description of the 7-year-old ATV crash victim, who was reported missing along with his father on late Friday night, has been recovered in the Big Firehole Canyon area of the Green River and Flaming Gorge Reservoir, according to Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office. On Friday, August 7th, approximately 7 pm, sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of two missing persons near the Firehole Canyon and Sage Creek area of the Green River and Flaming Gorge Reservoir. Through the course of investigation, deputies learned that a 34-year-old Rock Springs man and his seven-year-old son were last seen leaving their campsite in an all-terrain vehicle at around 11:30 pm on Thursday night…After deputies searched through the night, at approximately 9:30 am, on Saturday, an oil slick and debris was discovered floating on the surface of the water below an estimated two-hundred-and-fifty-foot cliff. Search and rescue and dive team personnel were dispatched to assist deputies in their rescue efforts. At around midday on Saturday, divers located in the water a submerged all-terrain vehicle in the immediate area of the surface debris. Deputies recovered from the vehicle the body of an adult male matching the description of the missing father. “Early Tuesday morning, we deployed maritime assets from Tip Top and our Marine Unit…It’s a tragic situation, but we’re just grateful to have located this child,” said sheriff’s office spokesperson Deputy Jason Mower. Sheriff John Grossnickle said, “Sometimes horrific and unexplainable things happen to otherwise good people who just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Our hearts hurt for this family, but we find some solace in being able to provide them with the closure that they deserve. This would not have been possible without the help and cooperation of everyone involved.”
