13-year-old Utah boy dies after dune collapses on him at state park

A Utah teenager digging a tunnel at a state park over the weekend died when the dune collapsed on him, park officials said Monday.

Ian Spendlove, 13, was digging at Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park Saturday when a relative saw the dune give way around him, according to the Utah Division of State Parks.

Park rangers began trying to dig him out, eventually joined by a State Park law enforcement ranger and deputies from the Kane County Sheriff’s Office with shovels.

About 20 minutes after the collapse, Spendlove was pulled out from beneath six and a half feet of sand. First responders administered CPR until a Life Flight arrived to take him to St. George Regional Hospital.

He was later transferred to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City and was declared dead Sunday after not regaining brain activity.

“The Utah Division of State Parks extends our condolences to Ian Spendlove’s friends and family impacted by this tragedy,” officials said in a statement.