News Release

Child Fatality on Lake Powell in Willow Creek Canyon

Date: October 3, 2018
Contact: Chief Deputy Alan Alldredge, Kane County Sheriff’s Office, 435-689-0143
Contact: Mary Plumb, 928-608-6202

BULLFROG, UT – At approximately 3:30 p.m. (MST) on Friday, September 28, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area Dispatch was notified that a three year-old boy had died and was being transported to the Halls Crossing Launch Ramp. National Park Service (NPS) Rangers from Halls Crossing and Bullfrog met the party. No life support measures were taken. The reporting party indicated the child was asleep on the upper deck of the houseboat and during the night fell off into five feet of water. He was not wearing a life jacket. There were seven adults and one child not including the victim on the house boat. The victim has been identified as Jayden Cooper Vokas. The family is from Park City, Utah.

The incident occurred on Lake Powell in Willow Creek Canyon, approximately 34 miles by boat down lake from Halls Crossing Marina in Kane County, Utah.

Also assisting were the Kane County and San Juan County Sheriff’s Offices. The incident is under investigation by the Kane County Sheriff’s Office assisted by the NPS and San Juan County Sheriff’s Office.