The search for two brothers who disappeared Monday ended in tragedy when they were found dead inside an abandoned refrigerator.
The Garrison, Millard County, deaths have prompted warnings about the dangers of keeping such appliances.A five-hour search ended about 10 p.m. when the boys' father found their bodies in an older-model refrigerator with a latch handle, said Millard County Sheriff Ed Phillips.
The boys, 7-year-old Brazos and 4-year-old Alkali Hunt, may have been playing a game with their pets - five puppies who also died when all became trapped inside the refrigerator.
Phillips said he is not sure how long the boys were trapped but it was at least two or three hours. The boys were last seen by their sister about 4 or 5 p.m.
"Everybody is pretty upset. It hits pretty close to home because everyone pretty much knows everyone else," said Leslie White, a Garrison resident. "I have kids that age, and my little boy doesn't know what to think."
Garrison, a tight-knit community of fewer than 100 people, is situated about six miles east of Lehman Caves National Park on the Utah-Nevada border. It is about 100 miles from both Delta, Millard County, and Ely, Nev.
"The community is absolutely devastated," Phillips said. "This kind of occurrence was common 20 or 30 years ago, but it has not been an issue in the lives of younger parents."
Phillips said if owners don't destroy old refrigerators, they should remove the door or turn the refrigerator door to the wall.