Found Deceased UT - Chenoa Plank, 26, & Benjamin Magalis, 24, Campers, Wasatch Co., 11 Nov 2018

[cybervampira]

He is from Minnesota, canoe was overturned.

Crews Search For Missing Minnesota Man And Girlfriend Near Utah Reservior

The Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office says a family member Thursday night reported that a 26-year-old Salt Lake County woman and a 24-year-old Minnesota man didn’t return from a camping trip to Strawberry Reservoir as expected Tuesday.

The office says the woman’s vehicle was located near the reservoir and that her dog and an overturned canoe she reportedly had taken on the trip was found on an island in the reservoir.

Officials say searchers were using a robot to look underwater.

 

[carbuff]

This article says the canoe was capsized. Also says they're using an underwater robot to search.

Search team uses underwater robot to look for missing couple at Strawberry Reservoir

 

[MissMalowe]

Were there signs they had been on the island? Footprints near the canoe?

 

[Elainera]

This article says the canoe was capsized. Also says they're using an underwater robot to search.

Search team uses underwater robot to look for missing couple at Strawberry Reservoir

Oh that does not sound good I fear the worst.

So the canoe drifted to the island, apparently, along with doggie.

 

[musicaljoke]

How big is this island? Surely they have had ample time by now to check every square inch I would think.

Yet they have not found any trace of them on the island or in the water. Nothing that could have been in the canoe if items came out with them if they went overboard??? Seems so strange.

Could someone have been there watching them and have kidnapped them?

IDK but it sure is an odd set of circumstances.

Imo

Yes, it is strange. Could they have a campsite elsewhere in the park and their canoe drifted away from them while unattended?

Hopeful, but probably not, or they would have been found by now.

 

[Hatfield]

He is from Minnesota, canoe was overturned.

Crews Search For Missing Minnesota Man And Girlfriend Near Utah Reservior

Thanks for the updated article. Oh boy. It does sound like the canoe was overturned so unfortunately IMO they may have drowned.

 

[zecats]

Oh that does not sound good I fear the worst.

So the canoe drifted to the island, apparently, along with doggie.

Apologies if asked already. Been out for a while. Any word about their camping gear? Were they camping on this island and brought gear with them in canoe? Or camping elsewhere and just out for a paddle to explore? I’ve only noticed several designated campgrounds in the area. One is on an island.

Trying to link.
strawberry reservoir camping

 

[Bravo]

It just seems odd that both would drown??? Unless neither could swim and current was strong??? IMO

 

[musicaljoke]

Were there high winds in the past few days that could explain the overturned canoe?

 

[kaen]

It just seems odd that both would drown??? Unless neither could swim and current was strong??? IMO

The weather was in the low 30s on the 11th, water temp had to be cold. We can only speculate that they had life vests on.... although the dog did, they might not have had theirs on. It doesn't take long to drown in water with a fairly low temp.

 

[zecats]

It just seems odd that both would drown??? Unless neither could swim and current was strong??? IMO

Often if one person of a couple is in jeopardy of drowning, and the other goes to save the first one, the second one can be pulled under by the panicky first one. If that makes sense. I've seen/heard of it in the ocean near where I live, but assume it's possible in a lake as well. This was a large (and cold) lake it seems.

 

[Hatfield]

Hypothermia being in the water around this time of year may have been a factor in trying to swim if they did fall in.

I found what I think is the current water temperature in a Lake close by to there.

Utah Lake is not too far to the East of Strawberry Reservoir. This link says the current water temperature is 55 degrees and that is pretty darn cold to be in the water. This is what it says.

"Utah Lake: The current water temperature 55.4 °F The temperature is too cold to swim"

Utah Lake water temperature : Forecast & current water temp

I also found a neat map of Strawberry reservoir that you can zoom in and see details such as water depth.

i-Boating : Free Marine Navigation Charts & Fishing Maps

 

[carbuff]

If your canoe capsizes and you're not wearing your flotation, you don't usually have time to grab it. You just go in.

 

[musicaljoke]

Hypothermia being in the water around this time of year may have been a factor in trying to swim if they did fall in.

I found what I think is the current water temperature in a Lake close by to there.

Utah Lake is not too far to the East of Strawberry Reservoir. This link says the current water temperature is 55 degrees and that is pretty darn cold to be in the water. This is what it says.

"Utah Lake: The current water temperature 55.4 °F The temperature is too cold to swim"

Utah Lake water temperature : Forecast & current water temp

I also found a neat map of Strawberry reservoir that you can zoom in and see details such as water depth.

i-Boating : Free Marine Navigation Charts & Fishing Maps

55F is actually not so cold that it would be reasonable to assume cold would cause them to be unable to right their canoe and get to safety. They'd have a couple of hours at 55F.

Hypothermia Prevention: Survial in Cold Water | Minnesota Sea Grant

 

[kaen]

Strawberry Res. has a max depth of 210 feet, with an average of 65 feet. That is deep. Put that together with the elevation of around 7600 feet. It is a cold water, large lake. Temp Low on the 11th were 13 degrees with a high of 30. Not much room for error if an accident or other issue occurs.

 

[zecats]

If your canoe capsizes and you're not wearing your flotation, you don't usually have time to grab it. You just go in.

But if they both went in because the canoe capsized then the dog went in along with them. Yet the dog didn't succumb to hypothermia. He must not have had to swim far to make it to the island. The canoe couldn't have been that from land. Canoe was found near the island upside down? Or on the island upside down?

 

[musicaljoke]

55F is actually not so cold that it would be reasonable to assume cold would cause them to be unable to right their canoe and get to safety. They'd have a couple of hours at 55F.

If your canoe capsizes and you're not wearing your flotation, you don't usually have time to grab it. You just go in.

You should be able to grab the canoe, and hold on, or even right it, unless the weather was super windy.

 

[kaen]

55F is actually not so cold that it would be reasonable to assume cold would cause them to be unable to right their canoe and get to safety. They'd have a couple of hours at 55F.

Hypothermia Prevention: Survial in Cold Water | Minnesota Sea Grant

It all depends on if they were wearing heavy clothes, where in the lake they were, and ability to swim. Assuming they were swimmers, assuming the boat stayed close enough to get to, and assuming they had any cold weather water training, the chance is greater that they drown before hypothermia ever had a chance to set in. That is...of course, if they went into the water somehow and are not on an island or in an area where they are incapacitated, although I tend to doubt they made it to shore.

 

[Hatfield]

55F is actually not so cold that it would be reasonable to assume cold would cause them to be unable to right their canoe and get to safety. They'd have a couple of hours at 55F.

Hypothermia Prevention: Survial in Cold Water | Minnesota Sea Grant

Their swimming capability could have been a factor too as well as what clothes they had on if they were bundled up and had blue jeans on then it is very difficult to swim in blue jeans once wet.

It is all so scary to think what could have happened if they went in the water.

As far as a body sinking it can happen. Remember when being a kid in a pool and if you let air out of your lungs you sink. So it does happen sometimes to drowning victims depending on how much air is in the lungs when drowned.

Eventually a body can surface over time. But I do think searchers will find them if they are in the water.

These days the Sonar graphs are amazing and search teams hopefully will determine if they are in that lake.

 

[kaen]

This is from a world class Coast Guard former member who writes on water survival This is what he published on cold water survival: The Truth About Cold Water

His bio: Mario’s first experience with at-sea emergencies was as ship’s company aboard the USS Coral Sea, a WWII era aircraft carrier., in 1985. Joining the Coast Guard in 1991 he worked at Training Center Cape May before transferring to the Cutter Point Franklin as a helmsman and small boat coxswain. He graduated from Helicopter Rescue Swimmer School in 1994 and began his career in helicopter rescue with two tours at Air Station Elizabeth City, one at Air Station New Orleans, then finally as an instructor and course developer at the Aviation Technical Training Center in Elizabeth City, NC. He retired from the U.S. Coast Guard in 2013 following four years as a vessel inspector and accident investigator in Norfolk, Virginia.

Mario is a leading expert on immersion hypothermia, drowning, sea survival, and safety at sea. His writing has appeared in Yachting Magazine, SaltWater Sportsman, MotorBoating Magazine, Lifelines, On-Scene, and Reader’s Digest. Mario writes about safety at sea every week for Soundings Magazine. He has developed courses for municipal rescue teams and the military on search and rescue tactics and open ocean survival. In 2007, he was named as the Coast Guard Active Duty Enlisted Person of the Year and was named as the 2009 recipient of the Alex Haley Award for Journalism.