Search for missing snowmobilers halted for the night


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WASATCH COUNTY -- Search and rescue crews have called off a search tonight in Wasatch County for two missing snowmobilers.

Fog, snow and drifting snow discouraged searchers in their attempts to find two men who failed to return home form a snowmobiling outing Sunday in the Lake Creek area east of Heber City.

"We found their truck," said Wasatch County Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Winterton. "It was covered with snow, so we knew they were still on the mountain."

The missing men have been identified as 27-year-old Brock Besner and 24-year-old Craig Dallessandro, both from Salt Lake City.

Searchers looked for the pair until about 1:30 Sunday morning before calling it off for the night. They resumed their search at daybreak Monday, but weather made the search difficult.

"Visibility on top is down to 50 feet, if that, 5 feet," said Winterton. "We've had members who've had to use their GPS's to actually navigate and to find their way back out."

Still, he said they were able to cover all of the "high probability" areas by Monday afternoon. Searchers are trying to beat an approaching cold front that is expected to bring more snow, colder temperatures and high winds overnight. The men are said to know the area well. The search is focused in the area of Tower Mountain, Winterton said, about three miles from the trailhead.

Neither of the men is believed to have extra supplies for an emergency, but they were dressed for colder weather.

Family members spent the day at the command post waiting for any news.

Summit County search and rescue also began a search from the Mill Hollow area of the Uintas, just in case the pair made it that far.

E-mail: mgiauque@ksl.com

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