Layton man, 38, drowns while rescuing son at Willard Bay

WILLARD, Box Elder County — A 38-year-old man died Saturday in Willard Bay after boating and swimming with friends and family when a storm pulled him underwater, causing him to drown.

The Utah Department of Natural Resources identified the man as Andre Leon Debose of Layton. He is the second person to have drowned in the lake within a week.

The incident occurred just before 4:30 p.m., DNR said. The storm began to take hold of the northwest of the state park near Eagle Beach.

A young woman, 19, who Debose was with, was swimming and began to struggle in the water. Debose’s 17-year-old son saw her and jumped in to help. She was wearing a life jacket and was able to make it back on board the boat to safety, but Debose’s son began to struggle in the process.

Witnesses told DNR they saw Debose jump in after his son and the two of them held onto one life jacket. While his son made it back to the boat, Debose was pulled under and did not resurface.

Utah State Parks rangers responded immediately and began searching with the Utah Division of Outdoor Recreation’s ROV Team, Box Elder County Search and Rescue and Weber County Search and Rescue.

Crews recovered Debose’s body from the water nearly six hours later at approximately 11: 15 p.m. His son was examined by medical personnel and released.

“The Utah Divison of State Parks extends our deepest condolences to Debose’s family and friends during this difficult time,” DNR said. “We would also like to express our thanks to the agencies who assisted in the search and recovery efforts.”

Furthermore, DNR urged all people in the outdoors to stick with a buddy, wear a life jacket and remain aware of weather conditions as the recreation season continues.

Have a plan in place

On Sunday, KSL TV spoke to Devan Chavez with the Utah Division of State Parks, and he said it’s hard say if something could have really prevented this from happening but to consider having a plan when you’re recreating outdoors in case of an emergency.

“Weather can change at the drop of a hat sometimes,” he said. “So, it is important to check whether the day before you go out, in the morning before you go out, but during as well, whenever you have service, whether that be you’re setting a timer for every hour, every half hour, every two hours”

This is the second drowning at Willard Bay within a week. Last weekend,  51-year-old Robert Mittendorf went swimming on the south end of the park. Soon after, storms moved in quickly forcing him underwater. His body was recovered on Tuesday.

This is a breaking news story. It may be updated.