Two brothers die in Lehi (Utah?)

Ashton and Byron "B.J." Hobbs were brothers and best friends who family members say did everything together. On Wednesday, the brothers died together.

Ignoring a warning from their father that a dive through the underground Dry Creek Siphon of Lehi's Murdock Canal would be dangerous, the men set off around 8 p.m. for what would be the last of their many adventures, according to Sgt. Spencer Cannon of the Utah County Sheriff's Office.

"They called their father and said to check on them if they weren't back in a couple of hours," Cannon said. Both of the brothers lived in Utah County.

The siphon, which starts about two blocks south of the Micron facility in Lehi, is an irrigation tunnel which channels water across a ravine that is about 1,200 feet wide.

The siphon allows the water to continue across changing elevations by pulling the water out the other side. The concrete tube -- 9 feet in diameter -- runs down the sides of the ravine at various angles to a depth of 96 feet and crosses the ravine floor.

By 1 a.m. Thursday, search and rescue teams had arrived at the north end of the siphon to assess the conditions of the water and the possibilities of a rescue. None of the divers, some with more than 20 years experience, were willing to enter the siphon until it was drained. The water at that time had about three feet of visibility and was about 60 degrees, according to search and rescue member Kevin Dickerson.

After taking more than eight hours to drain, search crews entered the empty siphon around 10 a.m. and found the bodies of Ashton, 23, and B.J., 21, several hundred feet from the entrance and about 150 feet apart from each other, Dickerson said, noting that their gear appeared to be older.

"To do this safely, you would have to have a complete back-up system," said Chris Reed of Utah County Search and Rescue. Reed said the brothers' dive would classify as a cave dive requiring two sets of breathing equipment for each diver, extra lighting and a rope system to use as a guide.

There were no immediate clues as to why the men did not make it out of the siphon, police said. The bodies were sent to the Salt Lake Medical Examiner's Office.

Cannon said that although there is a grate protecting the south end of the siphon, it would be possible to exit there. Police were unsure whether or not the men knew about the grate at the other side or whether they may have made it to the end and turned back.

"It was a deep dive which brings with it all sorts of inherent dangers," said Cannon.

Reed explained that even though the men were swimming in 9 feet of water, the pressure from the water on the ascending sides of the siphon make the conditions the same as diving in 100 feet of open water.

That pressure further compresses the air divers breathe from a back-mounted tank and would allow a typical diver to stay at that depth for only about 15 minutes.

Police said that at least two other deaths are associated with the open portion of the canal which is a popular place to swim during the summer, despite clearly-marked warnings of the danger and posted "no trespassing" signs, said Cannon.

Friends and family gathered at the south end of the siphon, which sits in the middle of a field of tall, dry grass and watched with grief as the bodies of the brothers were pulled out of the tunnel.

"They lived for adventure. That's what they did," said Andrew Stewart, one of the brothers' 47 cousins. "They were the two greatest kids in the world."

"Family always came first to them," said Kevin Stewart, Andrew's brother, adding the men were avid outdoorsmen and loved soccer, hiking, fishing and mountain climbing.

The Hobbs brothers leave behind their parents, two sisters and a brother as well as a large extended family.

Ashton would have celebrated his one year wedding anniversary to his wife Tami today, and leaves behind a 7-month-old son, Tiegan.

"They would go to the ends of the earth for you. Boys like those Hobbs boys are rare," said friend Shauna Walker. "But they're somewhere better than here and we'll see them again."

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jiveturkey once bubbled...
I've never really heard of anything like this before. I'm having trouble visualizing what it looks like in my head.

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