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A 21-year-old Orem man fell to his death while exploring an old overflow spillway tunnel in Spanish Fork Canyon with his girlfriend late Tuesday night.
Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Cannon said deputies received a 911 call from the man's female companion about 11:45 p.m. reporting the accident. When paramedics arrived, Ammon Mark Latham was still barely alive, but he died a short time later, after being taken by medical helicopter to University Hospital in Salt Lake City.
The tunnel is a large, roughly 500-foot-long pipe originally installed to handle overflow floodwaters from a large lake that was formed in Utah County's Thistle area by a massive April 1983 mud slide. The tunnel since has become a popular and illegal attraction for couples to visit, decades after the lake at one point nearly 100 feet deep was drained and the flow from the formerly dammed Spanish Fork River restored.
"To access it, you'd have to go through a [law enforcement] shooting range, which is marked 'no trespassing,' but it is still has been an attraction for high school and college kids," Cannon said.
Although a metal grate has been placed over one entrance to the tunnel, it does not prevent access.
The couple were near the other end of the tunnel when they stopped. "She told us that they heard a noise, and he got up to investigate. Then she heard him yell and heard him land. It was an 80-foot drop, pretty much a straight drop-off, and it looks like it was head-first," Cannon said.
Although there have been other injuries in the area, this is the first fatality, Cannon added.
Latham's grandfather, J.R. Latham, said Ammon is survived by four sisters and two brothers.
Ammon had returned from his LDS Church mission in Brazil in December.
His grandfather described Ammon as a kind, well-liked and "squared away" young man who "knew what he wanted to do," planning to go to medical school after graduating from Brigham Young University.
Cannon said there will be discussions about making the tunnel less accessible and issuing citations for trespassing.
"We will increase our enforcement in that area," Cannon said.
Cimaron Neugebauer contributed to this story.