Search resumes for boater lost at Flaming Gorge

By Bob Mims The Salt Lake Tribune

Published: September 3, 2014 7:14 am
This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Dive teams resumed their search Tuesday for a 69-year-old fisherman whose boat capsized on Flaming Gorge Reservoir over the Labor Day weekend.

Daggett County sheriff's spokeswoman Susie Potter said that Charles Darrell Thomas of Riverton was in a small boat with an electric motor, traveling between Antelope Flats and the Lucerne Marina when windblown waves overturned the craft about 4 p.m. Monday.

An unidentified 62-year-old woman, described as Thomas' girlfriend, "was able to swim to shore, where she then walked up the hill into a nearby camp to get help," Potter said.

Search and rescue workers from Daggett County, along with state parks personnel, were forced to suspend their quest for Thomas at nightfall Monday. All they found was the man's flotation cushion; the woman had used a similar device to stay above the water.

Divers from both the county and Department of Public Safety resumed the search at dawn Tuesday, public safety dispatchers said.

Also joining the search were personnel from Sweetwater (Wyo.) County Search and Rescue.

remims@sltrib.com

Twitter: @remims

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