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GREEN RIVER, Wyo. — Dive teams recovered the body of a Wyoming man from Flaming Gorge Reservoir on Tuesday, one day after he fell through the ice.
The body of John M. Henderson, 61, was recovered around 11:15 a.m. Tuesday by members of the Sweetwater Dive Team and the Green River Fire Department Ice Rescue Team, according to Sweetwater County sheriff's detective Dick Blust Jr.
Henderson, of Green River, Wyoming, was ice fishing alone in the Lost Dog area of the reservoir Monday when he fell through the ice, Blust said.
Two other men from Green River were in the area at the time, working to retrieve a four-wheeler that had previously broken through the ice, the detective said. The men heard Henderson's cries for help and tried to reach him with a rope but were unsuccessful.
"They then retrieved a canoe from their vehicle and attempted to reach him with that, but Henderson went out of sight and they were unable to do so," Blust said.
The men hiked to an altitude where they could get a cellphone signal and called for help about 2 p.m., Blust said. When sheriff's deputies and Green River firefighters reached the reservoir Monday afternoon, they made an initial attempt to get to the spot where Henderson had gone under but were unable to do so.
Divers returned Tuesday morning and found Henderson's body about 100 yards from the reservoir's west bank in approximately 38 feet of water, Blust said.
Deputies at the scene Tuesday said the ice in the area where the breakthrough happened was only about 1 ½ inches thick. Unseasonably warm temperatures in recent days likely contributed to unsafe ice conditions on the lake, Blust said.
Sweetwater County coroner Dale Majhanovich said there is no evidence of foul play, adding that Henderson's death was the apparent result of hypothermia and drowning.
