Arizona teen on high school trip drowns in Lake Powell

Houseboats in the buoy field at Bullfrog Marina at Lake Powell, Utah, date unspecified | File photo courtesy of Nathan Zaugg, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — A 15-year-old boy reportedly drowned while on a school trip to Swim Beach on Lake Powell Friday as investigators continue to piece together the events that led up to the teen’s tragic death.

National Park Service emergency dispatch received a report of a possible drowning Friday around 12:30 p.m. at Swim Beach near the Utah/Arizona border on Lake Powell, according to a statement released by the Kane County Sheriff’s Office.

Emergency personnel responded and called out the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area Dive Team that recovered the body of a 15-year-old male from Page, Arizona.

The teen was pronounced dead at the scene by the Kane County Medical Investigator and the remains were transported to the Utah State Medical Examiner’s Office in Salt Lake City for an autopsy.

At the time of the incident, the teenager was visiting the lake as part of a group of about 100 students from Page High School, along with a number of school staff, as well as parents that accompanied the group, Kane County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Alan Alldredge told St. George News.

At some point “someone thought they saw something,” Alldredge said, “so the staff pulled all the kids out and did a count, which is when they discovered they were missing one.”

Staff members called the emergency dispatch center while others began a massive search for the missing teen. Once the dive team went in, the juvenile was located under approximately 10 feet of water about 50 feet from the shore.

Alldredge added investigators are waiting for the autopsy results that can “hopefully shed some light on what led to the boy’s death.”

The investigation into the drowning is still under a joint investigation by the Kane County Sheriff’s Office, National Park Service and the Kane County Medical Investigator.

Swim Beach is located in the Wahweap District of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area near Page, Arizona,

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2019, all rights reserved.

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