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    15-year-old missing, presumed dead after Morton Lake accident

    (Riverton, WY) – A 15-year-old young man from Evanston is missing and presumed dead after an apparent accident in Pilot Butte Reservoir, more locally known as Morton Lake, on Saturday afternoon. 

    The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) was notified of the incident around 1:00 PM, where they learned a young man was struggling in the water while trying swim ashore. The victim was tubing with other teens on the reservoir near the Sunrise Recreation area boat ramp on the north side of lake. 

    Fremont County Search and Rescue volunteers from Riverton responded to the scene along with the Sheriff’s Office, Frontier Ambulance, and volunteers from the Fremont County Fire District. Initial efforts to locate the teen Saturday evening were unsuccessful.

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    County Search and Rescue crews and divers spent the entire day Sunday grid searching the portion of the lake in which the teen was last seen. 

    Fremont County Sheriff Ryan Lee indicated that additional search crews would be deployed in the area Monday morning. Additional sophisticated sonar equipment from the Sublette County Sheriff will be on site to assist with the recovery. 

    The Sheriff’s Office is working in conjunction with the Fremont County Coroner’s Office. The Sunrise Recreation area, including the boat ramp and adjacent shore line, are closed to the public until further notice.

    Sheriff Lee asks the community to please respect the temporary closure of the area as search crews continue to seek the missing young man. 

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    Additional information will be forthcoming, which can be found here.

    “Right now we just need to concentrate on recovery and the safety of our search crews while we attempt to bring some closure to a very tragic incident,” said Sheriff Lee. 

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