Craig Daily Press / 8-year-old drowns on Green River

July 29, 2008

A young boy drowned Sunday on the Green River in Dinosaur National Monument while on a rafting trip with his family, the Moffat County Sheriff’s Office reported Monday night.

The family, from Woodstock, N.Y., was in the area on vacation, Sheriff’s Office investigator K.C. Hume said.

The trip was led by O.A.R.S., a national outdoor guide company with an office in Vernal, Utah. The family was part of a roughly 20-person group that had begun their river tour at the Gates of Ladore earlier Sunday morning.

The boy, 8-year-old Owen Gerson, was in an inflatable kayak with his father, Stephane, when rapids overturned the pair’s craft.

According to a Sheriff’s Office news release, the father was able to reach another raft from the commercial trip but the boy was not.

Reports say the boy was last seen near the shoreline before going out of sight.

Commercial guides initiated “an aggressive search” for the boy, according to the news release. About an hour and a half after the pair entered the water, the boy was found submerged in the river against a rock.

The father and son were wearing life jackets and helmets at the time of the incident.

Owen’s mother, Alison, also was on the trip.

Law enforcement officers think the events were accidental, Hume said.

“It’s a truly tragic, unfortunate event for the family and the folks on the river with them,” he said.