Two Brothers Missing On Strawberry Reservoir

WASATCH COUNTY, Utah —Two brothers were still missing on Strawberry Reservoir late Thursday despite searchers combing the waters for them all afternoon.

The men are 70 and 61 and are from Salem and Pleasant Grove, respectively, according to Wasatch County Sheriff Jared Rigby.

Rigby said at about 2:30 p.m., a driver on Highway 40 called dispatch and reported that he had twice passed a boat that was moving in an area known as The Ladders, but it didn’t appear to have any people in it.

Deputies subsequently located the boat along the shoreline and found that the engine was running with no sign of people.

Rigby declined to identify the two men, but said they had been to the reservoir many times and were very familiar with the area.

It was unclear if the two men were wearing life preservers, but Rigby said it appeared “one or two” life jackets were missing from the boat.

Rigby said crews had found some “items” in the water that helped them to narrow down their searching area.

“Our hopes are to help the family in every way possible,” Rigby said. “I just got done speaking with the family. It’s a large family and they’re strong and doing a great job. At the same time, it’s a very difficult thing, so we spoke a lot about hope and their hope is that they have the best outcome possible. They’re worried, they’re praying, they’re supporting each other that there still can be a great outcome to this.”

Rigby said searchers planned to continue through the night on the water.

Others planned to rejoin the efforts at 6:00 a.m. Friday.