GRANTSVILLE RESERVOIR, Tooele County, Utah, July 26, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — Boats and divers returned to Grantsville Reservoir at first light Friday after a man went missing Thursday while swimming.
Jon Smith, spokesman for North Tooele Fire, told Gephardt Daily that a call came to dispatch at about 9:30 p.m. Thursday from a man who said he was swimming with a second man he could no longer see or reach.
Smith said the missing man “was blown a little too far away from the shore and he was unable to get back.” Emergency crews arrived on the scene, and worked to find the missing man “until about 3:30 this morning, and we pulled everybody off the water due to safety concerns, and we resumed the search of first light today.”
Additional agencies responding included Grantsville Fire, Mountain West ambulance, Utah Highway Patrol and the Tooele County Sheriff’s Office.
Until 3:30 a.m., “We had some boats on the surface and two divers in the water overnight. After about two hours, we considered it a recovery effort, as opposed to a rescue operation.
Smith said he cannot say the victim drowned, because that determination is up to the coroner’s office, and many factors can contribute to a death. As of 8 a.m., no body had been recovered, he said.
Smith said the missing man was in his late 20s.
People don’t realize how dangerous wind can be for people in the water, he said.
“During those storms last night, we were getting wind gusts of up to 50 or 60 miles per hour, and sustained winds of 15 to 20 miles an hour. So when you’re out there on the surface of that lake, it can get really, really dangerous, really, really fast. So we always tell people that when you’re out recreating, be it swimming, rafting, fishing, boating, that you’ll keep an eye on those weather conditions, because they can change really fast out there in the desert.”
Smith said the man who had been in the water until he was able to get out and called 911 was not seriously injured, but was “pretty shaken up. He was very distraught when we got there.”
The Tooele County Sheriff’s Office will take over the operation today, Smith said.
Gephardt Daily will have more information as details and updates become available.
