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The Utah County Sheriff's Office is using sonar equipment in the search for a missing 25-year-old man who is believed to have drowned in Utah Lake.
Sheriff's office spokesman Sgt. Spencer Cannon said weather conditions were optimal on Monday for using sonar in the search for Craig Decker, a BYU student from West Jordan. Winds were low as searchers set out in boats, jet skis, helicopters and planes southwest of the marina at Utah Lake State Park in Provo. Searchers had to call off the search for a while Sunday afternoon because strong winds made the lake dangerous.
Cannon said dispatchers received a call at about 6:44 p.m. Saturday about Decker. He was sailing with his parents when he jumped into the water to recover an oar that was floating on the water. He was last seen about a mile west of Utah Lake State Park Marina in Provo.
"He went under the water and just didn't resurface, and why he didn't we just don't know," Cannon said.
The Utah County Search and Rescue Team, Utah State Park officers, the Utah Department of Public Safety Dive Team and Coast Guard Auxiliary have been searching for him, according to the Sheriff's Office. They called off the search Saturday night because of darkness, started searching again Sunday morning, but then had to call off the search around 2 p.m. because of a storm system with high winds and lightning. Since then, some smaller watercraft have gone back onto the lake, but conditions are still too turbulent for sonar.
Decker suffered the loss of his right hand in a fireworks-related accident in January 2007, according to the Sheriff's Office. According to Craig's father, Lyle Decker, after the accident Decker made every effort to help others by developing procedures to help others with similar disabilities perform previously simple tasks. Decker even made YouTube videos demonstrating some of those tasks.
Decker's friends have congregated on the social networking site Facebook to spread the word and invite everyone to pray for Decker and his family. |
