PROVO, Utah – Search crews on Sunday found the body of one of three snowboarders buried under a huge avalanche after two days of digging and probing through snow piled up dozens of feet deep in spots.
Mike Hebert, 19, of Orem was found in four feet of snow in Provo Canyon. He was identified by his driver’s license and cell phone, which were with the body when a searcher probing the snow with a pole found it late Sunday afternoon, Utah County Sheriff Jim Tracy said.
Hopeful that the bodies of the other snowboarders were nearby, searchers worked after dark Sunday in hopes of finding Hebert’s friends Adam Merz, 18, and Rod Newberry, 20. Authorities said a storm expected to dump more than a foot of snow would prevent the search from resuming today.
Hebert, Merz and Newberry were among five snowboarding friends swept away Friday by the avalanche in a remote area with no avalanche control about 25 miles northeast of Provo and a mile north of Sundance ski resort. The other two men survived, despite being swept a half-mile down a narrow chute above Provo Canyon’s Aspen Grove area.
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