Idaho Falls man drowns in Palisades Reservoir

PALISADES — An Idaho Falls man drowned over the weekend in the Bear Creek Drainage at Palisades Reservoir.

Damion Pavlat, 25, was canoeing with three other people around 11 p.m. Saturday when the canoe overturned, according to a news release from the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office. The other three people in the canoe were able to get out of the water but Pavlat never surfaced.

Sheriff’s deputies, Idaho Falls Ambulance, Swan Valley Fire, Air Idaho Rescue and the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office Dive Rescue and Drone Team responded to the reservoir. Witnesses told deputies that none of the occupants in the canoe were wearing life jackets.

“A search ensued on the ground and from the air for several hours through the night by rescue personnel, resuming in the daylight hours,” the news release says.

Divers used sonar equipment and were able to locate Pavlat in the water approximately 13 feet under the surface.