SALT LAKE CITY ( ABC4 ) — The 20-year-old man who drowned in a Tooele County reservoir after pulling a woman out of the icy water was identified as a Salt Lake County sheriff’s deputy.
Emaloni Lutui “bravely sacrificed his life to save a woman who fell through the ice,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release Wednesday. “His last act was to push her out of the water.”
Body recovered out of icy Tooele reservoir after 4-hour search
Lutui, who went by the nickname “Loni,” saved his girlfriend Monday night on Settlement Canyon Reservoir, located just south of Tooele. The woman called 911 after Lutui didn’t come up from the water.
Search and rescue crews spent hours looking for Lutui in the dark, using boats, flood lights and an underwater robot. Before midnight, they pulled his body from under the ice.
Lutui’s girlfriend was treated for cold exposure and brought to an area hospital. She is expected to make a full recovery.
“It was very tragic news to us, and it’s taken us a few days to process what occurred,” Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera said at a news conference. “We are extremely proud of Emaloni.”