MOAB, Utah -- A Bountiful man and another man from New York died Thursday after their rafts overturned on the Colorado River.
Adam Ericksen, 27, of Bountiful, and Charles McLynch, 50, of Bay Shore, New York, were riding in separate rafts that both overturned at Funnel Falls in Westwater Canyon.
According to a news release from the Grand County Sheriff's Office, several people were said to have been thrown into the river around 1:30 p.m.
Ericksen and McLynch were recovered from the river, but efforts to revive them were unsuccessful. Their bodies were transported by raft downriver to the Cisco Boat Ramp, then taken to the Utah State Medical Examiner's Office.
Funnel falls is 54 miles upriver from Moab.
Ericksen's family released a statement Friday, see below for the full text:
We are mourning the loss of our son, brother, and fiancé.
Adam passed away in a drowning accident at West Water Canyon on the Colorado River at 1:30 pm on Thursday.
He was a senior at the University of Utah Business School. He had one semester left.
He was a Musician. He was Entrepreneur of the year at the Salt Lake Community College. He loved the outdoors.
He was on a trip with friends. He had an engagement ring and was intending to formally propose.
He will be greatly missed. He was positive, kind-hearted and a great light in our family.
