Ohio man Cory Ryan Ehrnschwender dead after jumping off 50-foot cliff into Lake Powell in Utah
The body of an Ohio man was pulled out of Lake Powell in Utah on Thursday after he jumped off a 50-foot cliff and never resurfaced, according to officials.
The National Park Service responded to a call of a possible fatality around 11:45 a.m. in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Kane County, the agency said in a press release.
Witnesses told authorities that the man, identified as 36-year-old Cincinnati native Cory Ryan Ehrnschwender, had made the 50-foot jump into the water but failed to come back up to the surface.
An initial search was conducted by the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area rangers, the Utah Department of Natural Resources, and Kane County Sheriff’s Office, but was unsuccessful.
Ehrnschwender’s body was located in about 30 feet of water the following morning at 10:20 a.m. by the Utah Department of Public Safety Dive Team using sonar equipment, the park service said.
An autopsy will be performed by the Utah State Medical Examiner in Salt Lake City to determine the cause of death, according to the agency.
“People who recreate on or around Lake Powell are advised it is prohibited to jump or dive off rock cliffs, ledges, or man-made structures (excluding vessels) from a height of 15 feet or more from the surface of the water,” the agency warned.