One body recovered from snow piled up by huge avalanche in Utah

AP | January 17, 2005

SALT LAKE CITY - Trained dogs found the body of one of five skiers feared buried beneath tons of snow left by a powerful avalanche. Sweat shirts and gloves also were found, possibly indicating more victims are nearby.

The body of Shane Maixner, 27, of Sandpoint, Idaho, was found Sunday under 1.2 metres of snow as searchers scoured the area of Friday's slide, Summit County Sheriff Dave Edmunds said at a news conference.

"If anybody could have survived, it would have been Shane," his father, Joel Maixner, said from his North Dakota home.

"He was in excellent condition. But the sheriff told me his head and chest were slammed into a tree. He died without a fight."

Edmunds said other clothing was discovered during Sunday's search, leading rescuers to suspect that more victims are close at hand. The search was to resume Monday, and authorities hoped to begin using ground-penetrating radar.

Several witnesses claimed they saw multiple people buried in the avalanche near Park City, about 30 kilometres east of Salt Lake City. But Maixner was the only one who had been identified even before his body was found; a friend told an emergency dispatcher he saw him caught by the cascading mass of snow.

Police have removed about 40 names from a potential victim's list. Edmunds asked any out-of-state vacationers to contact their families to let them know they are safe.

E-MAIL THIS LINK
Enter recipient's e-mail: