The Bingham County Sheriff’s Office on Monday released the name of the 24-year-old local man whose body was recovered from the Snake River after he presumably drowned.
Michael “Alix” Fox, of Osgood, is the man who deputies say had fallen into the Snake River without a flotation device while recreating on a homemade pontoon raft at the BLM River access in the area of 1100 N on West River Road around 4:15 p.m. Thursday.
“Our hearts go out to his parents, Marcus and Chandalee Beck, and all of the wonderful family and friends affected by his loss,” the Bingham County Sheriff’s Office said in a Monday news release. “We were able to spend time with them during the search process and they are great people. We can’t imagine what it feels like to lose such a vibrant, loving and kind young man. May he rest in peace and his legacy live on through all that had the pleasure of knowing him. He will be dearly missed.”
The sheriff’s office issued a news release at 7:49 p.m. on Friday saying that search and rescue crews had recovered Fox’s body from the river but that it was not releasing his name at that time. Fox's body was ultimately located about 33 feet underwater in the vicinity where he was reported to have fallen into the river, deputies said.
“We are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to serve side by side with our Search and Rescue family,” the Friday news release said. “We operate as one team with one mission in times such as these. We salute all the heroes that made success happen whether in the immediate area or those miles down river in boats or on foot. It takes a team, a pure why, good intuition, and great leadership.”
Fox was reported to have fallen into the river off of the pontoon raft while recreating with two friends, whom sheriff’s deputies say, “did an amazing job of keeping track of where the accident occurred as well as points last seen. They also made an honorable attempt for rescue, however rescuers on scene will attest that the water is swift enough to make that very difficult.”
Sheriff’s deputies arrived within three minutes of receiving the initial report and emergency protocols were set in motion for marine and dive elements of the sheriff’s office and search and rescue to deploy. Air Idaho was also dispatched for aerial surveillance and possible patient transport.
The raft was recovered approximately 400 yards south of the last seen location on the river’s west bank with nobody nearby, the sheriff’s office said, adding that extensive scanning of the banks by drone and helicopter yielded no persons. Swift water techniques, divers and boat scanning all also yielded an unwanted result.
“We must ask that people please avoid the area in watercraft,” the sheriff’s office said in an initial news release on Thursday. “The water is high, swift, cold and there is a large amount of debris.”
Recovery efforts continued Friday despite windy conditions. There was a large combination of sheriff’s office and search and rescue personnel with marine and dive elements at various locations from the point of last seen to the Tilden area.
Divers were reporting less than 18 inches of visibility and water temps fluctuating in the 50s.
The visibility factor, along with over 6,000 cubic feet per minute flow and lots of debris, prevented the deployment of one of the Bingham County Sheriff’s Office favorite new resources, Jayden’s Drone.
The underwater drone was donated to the Bingham County Sheriff's Office after it was used to locate the body of 16-year-old Jayden Jensen earlier this year after he fell into the Snake River while duck hunting with friends.
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