Skull linked to Utah Scout killed in 1961 flood
May 11, 2012, 7:17 PM
ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) – Police in Utah say a skull fragment found in the Virgin River belongs to a Boy Scout who was swept away in a flash flood more than 50 years ago.
Springdale Police Chief Kurt Wright tells The Spectrum (
http://bit.ly/Jj6OAD) on Thursday that DNA testing confirmed the fragment belongs to 17-year-old Alvin Nelson.
He went missing while hiking through the Narrows of Zion National Park in September 1961.
Four Salt Lake-area Scouts and their scoutmaster were presumed dead after the flood, although rescuers never recovered the bodies of Nelson and his best friend, Frank Johnson.
A southern Utah resident found the fragment while swimming in the Virgin River in 2006. Police contacted living siblings of the two Scouts earlier this year to seek their DNA samples, which ultimately solved the mystery.
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Information from: The Spectrum,
http://www.thespectrum.com
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