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GREEN RIVER, Wyo. — Authorities in Wyoming have confirmed the name of a Utah man who drowned in a "boating mishap" over the weekend at Flaming Gorge.
Lance Heninger, 48, of North Ogden, was fishing with two friends Saturday afternoon near Buckboard Marina when the "wind picked up violently and the water became very choppy. One wave swamped the boat and the men began bailing, but another wave swamped the craft completely and all three went into the water," according to a joint statement from the Sweetwater County, Wyoming, sheriff and coroner offices.
When the trio failed to return, concerned family members contacted the sheriff's office about midnight Sunday. By 1:30 a.m., two of the men were pulled out of the water and brought to shore, according to the sheriff's office. Both men were treated at a hospital in Rock Springs, Wyoming, and were later released.
Heninger was the only one of the three not wearing a life jacket, according to the statement. His body was found about 4 a.m. in a cove along the reservoir’s east bank.
Henniger, the father of two young boys, had worked at Anglers Den in Roy for 14 years and in the fishing industry for some three decades.
"The weather took a turn for the worse and some waves came over the boat and the boat capsized," his best friend, Brandt Hogge, said. "They saved two lives, but we did lose one."
Hogge said his friend "touched a lot of people with his love and passion about fishing and he passed away doing what he loved to do."
