ST. GEORGE — The body of a Kanab City man who was reported missing Friday evening was found in the Jackson Flat Reservoir Saturday afternoon by a state dive team, according to joint statement from the Kane County Sheriff’s Office and Kanab City Police Department.
Abraham Knudson, 30, who is reported to have lived in the Kanab City area in Kane County for a short time, was originally reported missing Friday night. The Kane County Sheriff’s Office had posted a photo of Knudson and his last known location to social media at the time, according to a press release issued late Saturday.
A search involving multiple agencies began after Kanab City Police received information from an acquaintance of Knudson concerning his last possible location. Soon after, the Kane County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue team was activated and participated in a ground and water search in and around the Jackson Flats Reservoir.
A helicopter from Classic Air Medical out of Arizona also aided in the search for around two hours Friday night and was unsuccessful in finding Knudson. Trained dogs were also deployed to try and find Knudson while local search and rescue volunteers searched the reservoir using kayaks.
Unable to find Knudson, the Utah Department of Public Safety’s dive team was brought in from the Wasatch Front to aid in the search.
The state dive team took to the water Saturday around 12:15 p.m. with a boat equipped with a sonar system. Approximately an hour later, the sonar located a possible body in 14 feet of water and two members of the dive team entered the water for a recovery.
The body the divers brought to the surface was confirmed to be Knudson, who had presumably drowned. However, the official cause of death is currently under investigation with the assistance of the Utah State Medical Examiner’s Office, the press release states.
“Our hearts go out to Abraham’s family at this difficult and tragic time,” Kane County Sheriff Tracy Glover and Kanab City Police Chief Tom Cram jointly said in the release.
They also thanked all those involved in helping to locate and retrieve Knudson’s body.
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