Sheriff’s Office Responds to Numerous Rescue Calls

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Emery County Sheriff Lamar Guymon said the sheriff’s office was involved in many rescues over the weekend.
“On Friday at approximately 1:15 p.m. we received a call from the park’s service at Goblin Valley. A 19-year-old male had fallen from a 30-foot ledge into a crevice. He was suffering from a possible broken arm and associated injuries. The sheriff’s posse in Green River and also from the west end of the county responded as well as an ambulance from Green River.
“After several hours the injured man was extracted. He had been climbing on slick rock when the fall occurred. He was transported to Castleview Hospital with broken ribs and a separated shoulder. He is from the Salt Lake area.
“Toward the end of the rescue at Goblin Valley, a Salt Lake boy scout leader came and reported they had four boy scouts missing from their group. The scouts had become separated from the group and had not been seen for several hours. They were hiking in the Crack Canyon-Shoot Canyon area.
“The sheriff’s posse responded from both Green River and the west end of the county. They searched through the night and were unable to locate the missing scouts.
“More posse members were summoned at daylight. An airplane was also called on the search from the Green River airport. It searched for several hours before it was grounded due to high winds. The ground search continued.
“One of the scouts was located. He said the other three had gone in a different direction. Several hours later these three scouts were located on a notch on a cliff, they were unable to go up or down. They were dehydrated and suffering from heat exhaustion. After several attempts to rescue the boys, Les Thompson requested that life flight be contacted for assistance. Life Flight responded out of Salt Lake but due to high winds they were unable to use the hook; however, they did transport rescue workers to the top of the cliff and lowered them to the scouts as well as bringing the scouts up to the top of the cliff. This rescue concluded about 8 p.m. on Saturday evening.
“Sunday morning at approximately 9 a.m. the search and rescue from Green River and the west end of the county was again called out. A party was overdue in the Black Box, Swasey’s Leap area. The party consisted of three adults, three teenagers and three children. They were attempting to go from Swasey’s Leap to Tidwell Bottoms on the San Rafael through the Black Box. Searchers were in the area a short time when one of the lost party walked out the bottom end. He reported that everyone was OK and the rescuers responded up the river and assisted the group to safety.
“The wife of one of the lost men was supposed to pick the group up at the bottom of Black Dragon Canyon on Saturday evening. She later called the sheriff’s office. Everyone in this group was OK.
“We would like to remind everyone when they go out to take a lot of water and sunscreen. Always let someone know where you are going and when you will return. It’s easy to get in trouble when the weather is hot and something fun could turn into a tragedy,” said Sheriff Guymon.