Woman identified who died after falling through ice on Alexander Reservoir near Soda Springs
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SODA SPRINGS — A 27-year-old woman died Sunday after she reportedly fell through the ice on a reservoir while ice fishing.
Caribou Coroner Casey Batterton identified the woman as 27-year-old Pamela Yazzie of Chinle, Arizona.
According to a Facebook post by the Caribou County Sheriff’s Office, dispatch received a report Sunday around 2:52 p.m. that two people had fallen through the ice on the reservoir two miles east of Soda Springs.
When deputies arrived, they saw that the two, Yazzie and her brother, a 34-year-old man, both from Arizona, had fallen through the ice about 200 feet from the northern shoreline.
According to the release, the siblings had crossed the ice to go fishing, and it was approximately four inches thick.
“Emergency personnel crossed the ice at great risk and pulled (the man) out of the water and onto the ice and got him back to the shore across the unstable ice,” says the release. “The first victim was attended to by EMTs and transported to Caribou Medical Center by Caribou County EMS for further treatment. The (woman) had gone underwater as they were trying to remove the first victim from the water.”
Members of the Sheriff’s Office dive team responded, and a dive-certified deputy entered the ice opening to find Yazzie. She was then removed from the water and moved to the shoreline, where she was immediately treated by EMTs and transported to Caribou Medical Center.
Yazzie was pronounced deceased at the hospital, and the man was treated and is expected to recover.
Agencies responding to the incident included, but are not limited to, the Caribou County Sheriff’s Office, the Caribou County Sheriff Search and Rescue team, the Caribou County Emergency Medical Service team, the Bear Lake County Sheriff’s Office/Dive Team, and the Air Rescue Helicopter from Burley.
“We are also grateful for the professional emergency services provided by the Caribou Medical Center,” says the release. “The Caribou Sheriff’s Office offers our condolences to the friends and family of the victims of this terrible accident.”
Coroner Batterton says he expresses his condolences to the family of the victim at this time.