The search at Strawberry Reservoir for two missing boaters has led to recovery, but not of the missing couple.

Searchers found the remains of a drowning victim Thursday, the third body found in the search, and the second victim recovered after a 1995 accident that claimed the lives of three men. The first of the three men was found Wednesday. Another unrelated victim was found last week.

“I think everyone feels good that there’s some resolution partly to two different cases, but I’m sure everyone feels disappointment that the Roundys haven’t been found yet because that’s why we’re looking,” Wasatch County Sheriff’s Capt. John Rogers said.

He is, however, confident that the couple will be found.

Steven Roundy, 29, and 23-year-old Catheryn Roundy were last seen Nov. 8, when their 14-foot aluminum fishing boat sank and they, along with Michael New, 27, and 28-year-old Kimball Roundy, were tossed into the water.

New and Kimball Roundy were able to swim to shore, walk to the nearest road and flag down a Utah Highway Patrol trooper.

The body found Wednesday was brought to the surface by searchers the same day, and taken to the medical examiner’s office in Salt Lake City for identification. Rogers said that the remains found Thursday also will be sent to Salt Lake City.

The three missing men were Austin M. Lloyd, Phillip L. Shepherd or Daniel J. Maycock, all from Utah County. They left for a fishing trip Sept. 22, 1995, and never returned.

On Nov. 10, rescuers found the body of 46-year-old Drake McMillan, of Salt Lake City, who was reported missing Aug. 31, 2001.

Rogers said the third man missing since the 1995 accident and the Roundys are the last known bodies in Strawberry Reservoir.

He attributes the bodies being located in this search to advanced sonar technology.

Before that, bodies were found using nets, and sometimes never recovered. Rogers said there are unfound bodies in other reservoirs in the area.

“There’s at least one in Deer Creek that I know of, that I can remember,” he said. There is one recorded in Jordanelle Reservoir, as well.

Wasatch County started keeping a database in 1994, so there’s no way of knowing what happened before that.

In Utah County, searchers are aided by nature in finding drowning victims.

“Utah Lake and most of our lakes are what we’d consider a shallow nature, and I’m not familiar with any bodies that haven’t been recovered,” Utah County Sheriff’s Lt. Darrin Gilbert said.

The warmer temperatures help Utah County Search and Rescue, as well. Though they have had instances in which victims have drowned late in the season, they have been able to find them in the spring.

“On Utah Lake, we’ve had drownings in the cold weather, but eventually the water always warms up enough that the body is going to raise,” Utah County Sheriff’s Lt. David Bennett said.

Bennett referred to drownings this summer that took searchers days to find the bodies. Searchers had to wait for the bodies to fill with gases, which caused them to rise to the surface — in Utah Lake, a rise of 15 feet. Had the bodies not been found, they would start to sink again after a while.

Searchers run into difficulty in cold water lakes, such as Strawberry, because the bodies decompose slower in cold water, and rise slower. Strawberry is also deep, which means that a body could sink 80 feet, and rise to a depth of 40 feet, and then sink again.

Rogers said that searchers understand the challenges, but are confident in the new technology.

“Every indication is, that as long as the weather holds and we have the time to do it, the Roundys will be found,” he said.

Natalie Andrews can be reached at 344-2561 or nandrews@heraldextra.com.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.