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SALT LAKE CITY — A man who died at Lake Powell last year jumped into water charged with electricity from a boat plugged into the wrong size power outlet, a federal lawsuit says.
Alec McQueen, 22, and two friends pulled their boat into an open slip at the Bullfrog Marina about 7 p.m. on June 10, 2014. When the boat docked and the engine was off, McQueen jumped into the lake from the swim deck.
After he jumped in, one of his friends, Shaley Eiden, heard him call her name. She turned and saw him in the water but he then disappeared, according to a wrongful death suit filed in U.S. District Court. Eiden thought she saw something under the swim deck of the boat next to hers so she jumped onto that boat and stuck her arm in the water to see if she could feel anything. When she put her arm in the water, she received an electrical shock, the suit says.
The two emergency responders who first arrived on the scene were also shocked when they touched the water. McQueen's body never came up and was recovered 113 feet below the surface two days later.
Related:
Body recovered from Lake Powell identified
The body of a 22-year-old man from Salt Lake City was recovered Thursday afternoon from the Bullfrog Marina area.An investigation found that the Colorado owner of a boat parked in the slip next to Eiden's, had inserted a power cord into the wrong amperage power outlet, and electricity was discharging into the water around it, according to the lawsuit.
The 50-amp outlet is designed to prevent users from plugging in the wrong cord, but the lawsuit claims it was not maintained and had worn down, allowing a 30-amp cord to be easily inserted. Also, outlet instructions and warning labels were so covered in dirt and grime they were no longer readable, the suit says.
McQueen's parents, Whitney McQueen and Jenny Wesenberg, claim in the lawsuit that the boat owner and Aramark Sports and Entertainment Services, which manages the marina, were negligent in allowing water around the dock to become electrified, killing their son when he jumped in. They seek an unspecified amount in general and punitive damages.
