Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
PAGE, Ariz. — The body of a missing 18-month-old Utah child presumed drowned in the Halls Crossing area of Lake Powell was recovered Monday.
Just before 2 p.m., the body of Aleeyah Janett Bell, of Orangeville, Emery County, was recovered from the Hall’s Crossing buoy field.
Her body was located about 1 p.m. by the Utah Department of Public Safety dive team in 240 feet of water using sonar, according to the San Juan County Sheriff's Office. But it was too far under water for divers to recover, so the Summit County search and rescue team's deep water robot was used to recover the body.
Aleeyah was reported missing about 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Her mother told authorities she lost track of the toddler for a few minutes while the family of five was recreating on the stationary houseboat. Family members searched the boat for several frantic minutes before surmising the child fell into the water. Aleeyah was not wearing a life preserver, according to the sheriff's office.
The National Park Service, the Utah Department of Public Safety dive team and the sheriff's office assisted in the search.
The tragedy comes a little over two weeks after a Colorado mother drowned while saving her 2-year-old son who fell off a moving house boat without a life jacket.
Authorities say Chelsea Russell, 33, of Lakewood, Colorado, was able to hold her son's head above water until rescuers in a boat got to them. The boy made a full recovery, but Russell died a short time later. That incident was also in the Halls Crossing area.
The new incident marks the seventh fatality at the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area this year. Both park officials and the sheriff's office encouraged all people to wear life jackets at all times while on the water.
