BRIGHAM CITY, Utah, Aug. 14, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — Officials have identified a 16-month-old boy who drowned in Box Elder County Monday night.
The deceased has been identified as Jackson Scott Weaver, according to a Tuesday news release from Box Elder County Sheriff’s Department.
The initial call came into the communications center at about 9 p.m., reporting a missing boy in the area of a home in Thatcher, the news release said.
When first responders arrived Keith Weaver advised that his son Jackson was missing. Keith Weaver told officials Jackson had been playing in the yard with his brothers just prior to them noticing he was gone.
“The home is situated near both an irrigation canal and an adjacent irrigation ditch just north of the Thatcher/Penrose Fire Department,” the news release said. “The search began near the canal and the canal company was contacted to shut down the water. Mr. Weaver started looking in the area of a water diversion structure that diverts the irrigation water from an open ditch into a 12 PVC pipe system. This pipe runs both below and above ground and makes several turns to provide water to neighboring fields.”
Weaver then followed the pipe until it came back above ground and started taking apart the pipe sections at the joints, the news release said. He found Jackson inside the pipe about 530 yards from the opening near the home, at approximately 9:45 p.m.
Emergency personnel responded to Weaver’s location to render aid but Jackson was already deceased, officials said.
The child was transported to the Utah Office of the Medical Examiner for an autopsy to determine an official cause of death.
Investigation at the scene determined the incident was a tragic accident and no foul play of any kind is suspected.
Gephardt Daily will update this tragic story as more information is released.
