WEBER COUNTY, Utah - A Brigham City man who pulled a boy from the Weber River in June of 1955 is hoping to be reunited to see how the boy is doing now.
Benny Markland was fishing on the Weber River in June of 1955 when he heard a woman screaming for help. Her 12-year-old son had wandered out into the middle of the current while fishing. When he turned back, the water knocked him down.
"I automatically ran in...I wasn't a bit scared because I've always been a strong swimmer," Markland said. "The only thing he said was, 'I owe you my life.'"
Markland says he didn't feel like a hero, even after the paper wrote an article about the rescue. For years, Markland didn't even tell his kids.
"I found out about it for the first time when the "Ogden Standard-Examiner" revised it in that article they used to have 25 years ago today," said Joe Markland, Benny's son.
Markland knows what would have likely happened if he hadn't intervened, but now he and his son want to know how the boy's life has changed since that June day.
"Joe thought it would be great if we could track him down and see what had happened to him in his life," Benny said.
But the rescue happened 57 years ago and Markland never got the boy's name.
"I went to the archives at the Weber County Library and pulled the original article from 1955. The only thing it says is he was 12 years old and he was from Bountiful," Joe said.
So far, the search hasn't turned up much, but Joe and Benny figure someone out there knows who that boy was.
"He's not a boy anymore. He's probably closed to 69 years old. How neat would it be if I could find this individual," Joe said.
Anyone with information about the boy can contact Joe Markland at josephmarkland@txox.com or on Facebook here.
