HURRICANE –A 17-year-old St. George teen was found dead today after going missing at Quail Lake during a youth group outing yesterday.

The body of Tory Jones of St. George was located this morning about 250 feet from shore.

Laura Melling, Sand Hollow Complex Park Manager, which encompasses management of Sand Hollow, Gunlock and Quail Creek State Parks, said that Jones was last seen on shore.

“He swam from the boat to the east shore where another group was on shore. They had seen him make it to the shore, at some point he went back out.”

Officials with the Washington County Sheriff’s Department said officers were called in to assist with search and rescue around dusk, and the body was located this morning.

“Last night we looked to see if he was on the shore, we were seeing if he decided to walk out, went for a hike, was hurt, we were looking along the shore – it’s an elimination process – but his last sighting was on land,” said Melling.

She said the investigation is being handled by Utah State Parks, but that no foul play is suspected.

Melling said that the water temperature was 78 degrees, not cold enough to be a problem.  “It always comes back to how tired he was, sometimes you just get tired and you get too far out …” she said.

Although an autopsy has been scheduled, cause of death is expected to be drowning, said Melling, since his body was found in the water.

There have been no other fatalities this year in the parks within Melling’s management.

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Copyright St. George News 2011