The bodies of two brothers who disappeared while fishing on Strawberry Reservoir on July 18 were recovered Sunday.

“We finally have the news that we’ve been working for 11 days,” Wasatch County Sheriff Jared Rigby said at a news conference recorded by FOX 13.

A boat belonging to James “Jim” Gardiner, 70, of Salem, and Mark Gardiner, 61, of Pleasant Grove was found empty with the motor still running about 2:30 p.m. on July 18 in the Ladders Day Use Area by a state employee, who alerted authorities.

Teams had searched the area since then; the bodies were located Sunday.

Authorities have not determined what happened, other than “some kind of an accident” and that the two “were working to help each other at the time when they both succumbed," Rigby said. Foul play is not suspected.

"I knew that one wasn't going to leave the other,” said Mike Gardiner, a brother of the two men who died. "That's just the way they were.

“They had good hearts, and they cared about others. They liked to enjoy life and family, and that's what meant the most to them.”

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