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LEVAN, Juab County — A Minersville man is dead while another Minersville man is recovering at a local hospital after being found clinging to a buoy after their boat apparently capsized on Yuba Lake Sunday night, officials said.
Utah State Parks Lt. Regan Wilson said the two men, identified as Michael Skinner and Cress Lorenzo, both 64, were fishing on the lake and were supposed to return Sunday evening.
Police received a report at about 9 a.m. Monday that the two men hadn't returned from their trip, Juab County Sheriff Doug Anderson said.
Anderson said a sheriff's deputy found the overdue boaters’ vehicle and the boat trailer at the launch ramp at Yuba State Park. Wilson said the capsized boat was located about 8 feet from shore Monday morning with its tip sticking up.
Wilson said Lorenzo was then located holding onto a buoy near the east side shore of Yuba Dam. The man was suffering from a diabetic condition and hypothermia, and was airlifted to Utah Valley Hospital in critical condition, Anderson added. He has since been upgraded to "good and stable."
Anderson said Lorenzo swam for shore after the boat tipped over.
“I believe it’s a danger buoy out there and he was holding onto that,” Wilson said, of the conditions at the time. “The water temperature is extremely cold this time of the year — between 40s and 50s.”
Anderson said Skinner had stayed with the boat after it capsized.
Skinner's body was located in the lake at about 5:45 p.m., Anderson said. The Juab County Sheriff's Office led a multi-department search looking for the two men.
Investigators said the boat tipped over at about 5 p.m. Sunday. Winds were reported at 20 to 25 mph in the area, which may have caused the boat to capsize. Anderson described the boat as a "small aluminum craft."
He said the men had life jackets available to them but were not wearing them at the time the boat capsized.
Contributing: Paul Nelson
