LOGAN — Search and rescue teams were deployed Saturday afternoon to find a 12-year-old snowmobiler who went missing while riding with a group of family and friends near Franklin Basin, in Logan Canyon. Multiple agencies spread out throughout the area along the Utah-Idaho state line, as temperatures overnight were below zero.
Cache County Sheriff’s Lt. Roy Hall said the boy, last seen riding a yellow snowmobile in Franklin County, Idaho, was reported missing after his group noticed his absence and could not find him nearby. Search efforts began at 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 8 when the Cache County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue team responded to the Franklin Basin Road trailhead to assist Franklin County officials.
A Utah Department of Public Safety helicopter and a team of drones were deployed to map the area and search for any signs of life. They were equipped with special tools to detect heat signatures and evidence of movement.
Hall said searchers also attempted to ping the missing snowmobilers cell phone repeatedly. Those pings though were never received by the boy’s cellular device.
Early Sunday morning at 2 a.m., the Weber County Sheriff’s Office deployed a team to relieve Cache County’s crew, who had been working through the night in harsh, arctic-like conditions with temperatures dipping to -15F.
Hall said it has been “heartbreaking” that searchers have not had success finding the boy. They are continuing to hold out hope that they will be able to reunite the missing snowmobiler with his family.
The boy’s identity has not been released yet.
Hall expressed appreciation to the search and rescue teams from Franklin and Weber counties, and other agencies, for their assistance in the “dangerous and harsh weather conditions.” Those crews left behind whatever it was that they were each doing when the call for assistance came to help another in need.
This story is ongoing and will be updated as additional information is released.