At least three people have been killed in weekend avalanches in Utah’s backcountry, and a fourth man remained missing.
Rescue crews Sunday recovered the body of Melvin Denis, 32, who was snowshoeing with a friend a day earlier in Wasatch-Cache National Forest east of Salt Lake City when an avalanche trapped them, police said.
Rescue workers found Denis’ body Sunday morning. The search for his friend, Bruce Quint, was halted Sunday when it became dark.
A skier was killed Friday when he was swept up in an avalanche in the national forest. Saturday, a man died after being buried in four feet of snow while snowmobiling in Wasatch County.
The U.S. Forest Service’s Utah Avalanche Center issued an advisory Sunday, warning people that conditions remained strong for avalanches in areas that are not controlled.
Authorities said another man was saved after his snowmobile triggered an avalanche near Bountiful Peak in Farmington County. Police said the man, Ben Dejong, 27, was buried for about 15 minutes before his friend and another snowmobiler dug him out.
Dejong was unconscious and barely breathing when he was pulled out, but he was not seriously injured.