This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A day after two Boy Scouts died in separate accidents, their families and friends are mourning the loss of the friendly, likable kids.
One Scout died Wednesday while scuba diving at Bear Lake. The identity of the 12-year-old boy, who is from Las Vegas, has not been officially released, but The Salt Lake Tribune spoke with his mother.
"It's horrendous. He was a 12-year-old, phenomenal boy who never met a person he didn't like," she said. "Unfortunately, God seems to take the good ones from us before we're ready."
She asked that her son's name not be published until she could reach all of her family.
The boy was diving with another Scout, an adult leader and an adult instructor, said Vic Rowberry, spokesman for the Salt Lake Office of the Boy Scouts of America.
The death occurred at the Bear Lake Aquatics Base camp, a roped-off area on the east side of Bear Lake that is only 14 feet deep. At the camp, there is a line laid along the bottom of the lake that guides divers back to shore.
The four divers were on the line when the instructor and adult scoutmaster resurfaced. The instructor checked the scoutmaster and OK'd him to swim back to shore, Rowberry said. When the instructor went back down to find the boys, they were no longer on the line.
"What he thought had happened was that as he came up, he thought the boys had followed the line toward shore," Rowberry said. "That was not the case."
The Scouts always have a significant amount of oxygen leftover after a dive, Rowberry said, so the instructor was not concerned the boys would run out of air. He signalled to the lifeguards on duty, who called emergency medical services, then joined the scoutmaster in looking for them.
They found one boy off the line and farther out from shore. He was checked and brought back to shore.
It took about 30 minutes to find the other boy. He still had five minutes of air left in his tank and a buoyancy control vest, but he was not breathing, Rowberry said.
A diving instructor immediately began CPR, and the boy was rushed to Logan Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to the Rich County Sheriff's Office.
This was the first fatality at the aquatics camp in its decades-long history, Rowberry said.
Grief counselors were on site Wednesday afternoon and Thursday.
The Las Vegas troop left for home Thursday morning.
"They were grateful, expressing appreciation to the staff and for the expertise of the staff," Rowberry said.
David Rayborn, 12, died in a lightning strike at a scouting camp at Scofield Reservoir when a sudden thunderstorm moved into the area.
A group of Scouts were returning to shelter when the storm moved in. Rayborn and fellow Scout Sean Smith, also 12, were at the back of the group when the lightning struck.
"David was a great kid. If you met him, you'd easily become friends with him," said his LDS bishop, Matthew Parson. "He was a nice, talkative, kind boy."
Parson said Rayborn's body had been taken to the medical examiner's office in Salt Lake City for an examination, and his family would get to see him later Thursday at a mortuary.
Memorial services are tentatively planned for Tuesday to allow time for out-of-state family to arrive.
Smith, who did not realize he had been hit but felt sick and had a rash-like burn on his body, was taken to a local hospital. Parson believed he would be released and return home Thursday.
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