At approximately 1:55 p.m. (MST) on Saturday, Sept. 22, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area Dispatch received a Marine 16 distress call that a person had gone overboard and they had been unable to locate the party for 25 minutes. The National Park Service responded with four vessels from Halls Crossing, Bullfrog and Dangling Rope. Kane County Sheriff’s Office and Utah State Parks also responded and assisted at the scene. A hasty search effort was conducted by vessel and the NPS Remote Operated Vessel (ROV) dive boat and the missing party was not located.
The incident occurred at buoy marker 78 North on Lake Powell, located approximately 15 miles south of Bullfrog by Iceberg Canyon, in Kane County, Utah. The missing party is now presumed deceased and has been identified as 41-year-old Daniel Patrick McGuckin from Avon, Colorado. His party reported that a group of nine friends was on a houseboat traveling to Bullfrog from the Escalante arm of Lake Powell and Mr. McGuckin seemed to decide to jump off the port side of the houseboat. He was not wearing a life jacket.
Recovery operations are continuing by the NPS ROV dive boat and the Utah State Highway Patrol’s Dive Team. The incident is under investigation by the NPS, Utah State Parks and Kane County Sheriff’s Office.
Tags: lake powell lifejacket drowning sar rov houseboat kane county
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
