Press Release:  

Kane County Sheriff’s Office

Who: Chief Deputy Alan Alldredge

Date: 12/19/16

Time:  1330 hours

Human Remains found near Lake Powell

At approximately 10:30 am on December 18, 2016, Kane County Utah Sheriff’s Dispatch received a call from an individual who had located what appeared to be human skeletal remains while hiking in an area south West of Hwy 89, less than a mile north of the Utah state line.  Kane County deputies, detectives, and medical investigator responded to the location. 

The investigation team located numerous bones, and several items of clothing scattered for about 150 yards believed to have belonged to the deceased individual.  A driver’s license and credit card belonging to Michael Theo Schimmel from Page, Arizona was found near the clothing.  It is possible the remains have been in the area for 2 years or more.  The skeletal remains and clothing were collected and transported to the Utah State Medical Examiner’s Office in Salt Lake City, Utah for identification and to attempt to determine the cause of death.

Investigators are continuing to collect evidence and following up on leads in Page, Arizona and surrounding area.  Dental records have been sent to the medical Examiner to aid in their attempts to verify if the remains belong to Mr. Schimmel.  Anyone who may have known Mr. Schimmel and or may have information that could help in the ongoing investigation are encouraged to contact the Kane County Utah Sheriff’s Office at 435-644-4916, or 435-644-2349.

 Press Release:  
Kane County Sheriff’s Office
By: Chief Deputy Alan Alldredge
Date: 10/26/2016
Time: 1500 Hours

Hunter dies after Slipping off cliff
At approximately 1:15 a.m. on Tuesday October 25,2016,  Kane County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch received a call about an overdue individual who had been deer hunting near Wahweap Wash, which is located east of Grosvenor Arch off of Cottonwood Canyon Road.  The family’s last contact with 42 year old Ryan Shakespear from Cedar City was around 6:30 Monday evening.  The family has a cabin in the area and had been in contact with Ryan by radio.  Ryan’s family had started searching just after dark on Monday and searched all night in the mud and rain trying to locate him.  Shakespear was familiar with the area but the Heavy rains which had been occurring in the area caused the family to be concerned about his well being.  When he had not returned by Tuesday morning, Kane County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue began formulating a response plan.  A helicopter from Classic Air Medical out of Page Arizona was contacted to assist with the search efforts.  A search and rescue squad was dispatched out of Kanab, Utah with the equipment to search the roads and trails with 4 wheel drive vehicles, hiking crews that could search on foot, and a rope rescue team if needed for a canyoneering type rescue.   While in route to the area, the search crews were notified that family member had located Ryan.  Ryan’s brothers were able guide his father and an uncle to his location.  The uncle confirmed that Ryan was deceased.  It appears he had lost his footing and had fallen approximately 150 feet.  Because of his location at the bottom of the cliff it was possible that a rope rescue team would be needed to get him out.

The helicopter crew determined that they could land close to the Shakespear’s body in the bottom of the canyon.  They flew to Kanab and picked up the Kane County Sheriff’s Office medical investigator and transported him to the scene.  After completing the investigation of the accident scene by the investigator, Ryan’s body was transported by the helicopter to  Sheriff’s Office personnel who were waiting at Grosvenor Arch.   Ryan was then transferred to Mosdell Mortuary from Kanab who transported him to the Utah State Medical Examiner’s Office who will determine the cause of death.

Ryan Leaves behind a wife and 6 children.  He worked for the BLM located in Cedar City, Utah.

The Kane County Sheriff’s Office and Search crews wish to express their condolences to Ryan’s  family and co-workers for their loss.

Drones and Wildfire Don't Mix

Using a drone around a wildfire will cause planes and helicopters to be grounded.  That allows the fires to grow in size, endanger firefighters and property, and increases the cost of the fire.

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Glen Canyon National Recreation Area: Cynthia Sequanna, 928-608-6356, Cynthia_Sequanna@nps.gov

Kane County Sheriff’s Office: Alan Alldredge, 435-644-2349, aalldredgekcso@kanab.net

Drowning Victim Recovered Near Lone Rock

PAGE, AZ – A multi-agency search for 51 year-old Allen Robert Delay of Lewistown, Montana concluded on May 6 when his body was located near Lone Rock in the Kane County portion of Wahweap Bay in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Utah Department of Public Safety Dive team located his body at 4:35 p.m. MST using side-scan sonar. The Glen Canyon National Recreation Area Underwater Recovery Unit successfully retrieved his body at 6:51 p.m. MST using a submerged Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) from a depth of 74 feet. The body was turned over to Kane County Sheriff’s Office Medical Investigator, and was transported to the Utah State Medical Examiner’s Office in Salt Lake City, Utah.

On May 5, 2016, Delay was camping with his wife on Lone Rock Beach and took an inflatable kayak out for a paddle. As winds increased he ended up overboard. Delay was not wearing a life jacket.  Pleas for help were heard by other campers and National Park Service staff from Lone Rock Beach. At 1:49 p.m. MST. National Park Service Glen Canyon Dispatch received multiple calls from Lone Rock Beach reporting a person in distress, and possibly drowning. Delay disappeared underwater and did not resurface. Initial search efforts were conducted during high winds by the National Park Service, Utah State Parks, Classic Life Guard Aviation, and Greenhaven Fire Department. No recovery was made on May 5.

On the morning of May 6, weather hampered the search effort. By 2:00 p.m. MST the Utah Department of Public Safety Dive Team arrived and weather conditions improved enough to resume the search using side-scan sonar. Combined teamwork and support from the Kane County Sheriff’s Office, National Park Service, Utah Department of Public Safety Dive Team, Utah State Parks, United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, Classic Life Guard Aviation, Greenhaven Fire Department, and the Bigwater Marshal’s Office resulted in locating and recovering the body before sunset on May 6. “Search and recovery efforts concluded in 29 hours thanks to invaluable multi-agency support and collaboration,” said Acting Glen Canyon National Recreation Area Superintendent Billy Shott. 

All boaters are reminded to be aware of changing weather conditions and wear life jackets when boating and recreating on or around water.  

                                                       

Kane County/Glen Canyon News Release

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area: Cynthia Sequanna, 928-608-6356, Cynthia_Sequanna@nps.gov

Kane County Sheriff’s Office: Alan Alldredge, 435-644-2349, aalldredgekcso@kanab.net

Multi-agency Search near Lone Rock

PAGE, AZ – On May 5, 2016, at 1:49 p.m., National Park Service Glen Canyon Dispatch received multiple calls from Lone Rock Beach reporting a person in distress, and possibly drowning. The 51 year-old male did not resurface. The incident occurred near Lone Rock in the Kane County portion of Wahweap Bay in Lake Powell.

Initial search efforts were conducted during high winds by the National Park Service, Kane County Sheriff’s Office, Utah State Parks, Classic Life Guard Aviation, and Greenhaven Fire Department. No recovery was made on May 5^th, and search efforts will continue with additional support from the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary and the Utah Department of Public Safety Dive Team.  

Multi-Agency search efforts continue on May 6, weather permitting, along the shoreline and using side-scan sonar to search a ¼ square mile of area approximately 78 feet deep. Boaters are reminded to stay clear of search operations and search boats in the Lone Rock area, and maintain wakeless speeds in marked wakeless zones and corridors.

A joint investigation is being conducted by the Kane County Sheriff’s Office, Utah State Parks and the National Park Service.  

Press Release

6/12/2014

3:00 PM

Drowning at Bullfrog Marina 

At approximately 8:00 a.m. on Thursday June 12, 2014, the body of a 22 year old male was recovered near the boat docks in Bullfrog Marina.

 

Tuesday, June 10^th, 22 year old Alec McQueen from Salt Lake City, was boating with two female friends in the Bullfrog area.  All three are employees of ARAMARK, and were living and working in Bullfrog for the summer.  They were returning to the dock area about 7p.m.  As the boat was pulling into an open slip to park, the driver turned off the boat and Alec who was sitting on the back of the boat jumped in.  The driver could see Alec in the water a few feet behind the boat.  She looked away and when she turned back a couple of seconds later she could not see Alec. 

 

When they could not find Alec, they called 911 and a National Park Service, (NPS), ranger arrived shortly after.  Other personnel arrived from NPS and Utah State Parks.  Notification was made to the NPS dive team and the Kane County Sheriff’s Office.  Because it was so late in the day, it was decided that a search would be initiated the next morning. 

 

Wednesday morning the NPS Lake Powell dive team was transported by plane from Wahweep Marina to Bullfrog to assess the situation. When their dive boat arrived in early afternoon, they attempted to use their underwater robot and sonar to locate Alec.  The sonar malfunctioned and after several tries, it was determined that it could not be fixed on site.  Three divers from the NPS team were put in the water and attempted to search the initial target area.  They searched at a depth of about 90 feet in zero visibility conditions.  They made several passes over the area working completely by feel before having to return to the surface.  At the same time, a request was made to the Summit County Sheriff’s Office for the use of their dive team, robot, and sonar.  They arrived in Bullfrog at about 4 a.m. Thursday morning.

 

After a 6 a.m. briefing on Thursday, the Summit County team launched their boat and were able to locate Alec’s body about 7:30 in the primary search area at a depth of 113 feet.  The National Park Service’s divers were then able to retrieve the body and bring it to the surface.  The Kane County Sheriff was on scene and took position of the body and transported it to the Utah Medical Examiner’s Office in Salt Lake City. 

 

Alec’s Parents and siblings were on scene at the time of the recovery and were able to see Alec before he was transported by Sheriff Smith.

 

Thanks to all those involved in this difficult incident.  Numerous agencies responded to the scene to include National Park Service, Utah State Parks, Kane County Sheriff’s Office, and Summit County Search and Rescue.  The case remains under joint investigation.