Deadly Lake Powell cliff-jumping accident leaves one man dead
Jul 21, 2023, 7:43 PM | Updated: Oct 17, 2023, 9:26 am
FILE: Lake Powell in twilight. Three people died in an accident involving a capsized pontoon on Friday. (National Park Service)
(National Park Service)
BULLFROG, Utah — A man is dead after a cliff-jumping accident at Lake Powell Thursday morning.
A National Park Service (NPS) press release identifies the man as 36-year-old Cory Ryan Ehrnschwender of Ohio.
According to the press release, authorities first received notice of the incident at 11:43 a.m.
The National Park Service Glen Canyon Communications Center received a 911 call reporting a man jumping off a cliff into the water and not resurfacing. This cliff was 50 feet high, according to the press release.
Following this, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area rangers and the Utah Department of Natural Resources conducted a search for the man. Eventually, a Utah Department of Public Safety dive team found Ehrnschwender’s body in about 30 feet of water.
The deceased was then transported to the Utah State Medical Examiner in Salt Lake City for an autopsy.
The incident is currently under investigation by the Kane County Sheriff’s Office, the Utah State Medical Examiner’s Office and NPS.
Related: Investigators rule Lake Powell houseboat fire “undetermined and accidental in nature”
