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Show Man pres umed dead, search called o ff LAKE POWELL The search for a missing Southern Utah State College student was called off Saturday by Kane County and National Park Service officials. Alan Chappell, 29, failed to return from a solo canoe trip that began Mar. 19. The man had embarked on the venture during the colleges' spring break. According to Kane County Sherrifs' official Benny Riddle, Chappell is presumed to have drowned in Lake Powell. An extensive land, water and air search was conducted before officials elected to terminate their r efforts. Kane County and Park Service officials concentrated con-centrated their efforts in . the "Narrows" area of : Lake; Powell, approximately ap-proximately seven miles from the Wahweap Marina. Chappell left the marina Mar. 19 in a canoe with a a small outboard motor a attached. Searchers located the canoe Mar. 27, sunk in 27 feet of water in the Narrows. A backpack, including identification, and a sleeping bag were still attached to the boat. A ; , paddle, gas can and the canoe's engine drifted against the shore in the i same vicinity. Officials I speculate that high winds and rough water washed the items to shallow water. These same weather conditions hampered efforts throughout the search. Officials fear that if Chappell did indeed drown, his body could have drifted into extremely ex-tremely deep water where it would be virtually vir-tually impossible to locate. Chappell was a native of Kentucky and served as the head resident of SUSC'S Juniper Hall. |