State Sen. Pete Suazo was found dead Monday morning, the victim of an all-terrain vehicle accident in Sanpete County, law enforcement officials said.
Suazo, 50, was on a deer hunting trip in Joe's Valley when he hit a tree head on Sunday, according to the Utah Department of Public Safety. He apparently died instantly, a spokeswoman said.
Suazo became separated from family and friends as his group was returning to camp Sunday night.
Several members of the group searched for Suazo until after dark. They resumed the search at daylight Monday morning and found Suazo's body sometime after 7 a.m. in an area above Joe's Valley in the Manti-LaSal National Forest near the border of Sanpete and Emery counties.
Suazo was lying on his back, off the roadway, with the four-wheeler upside down on top of him, the Sanpete County Sheriff's Department reported.
The cause of death is under investigation.
Suazo, a Salt Lake Democrat, was first elected to the state House in 1992 and was later elected to the state Senate in 1996. He was serving as the assistant minority whip.
Of the 104 legislators, Suazo was the only Hispanic.
"We're just in a state of shock up here," said Sen. Ron Allen, D—Stansbury Park, from the Capitol.
In recent years he was known for his battle to rename Utah's Human Rights Day to Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a state holiday, and over the last several years fought to adopt a more pro-active and effective hate crimes law.
His hate crimes law was bottled up in the 2001 session by House Republicans, who refused to even let it be voted on. This summer Suazo vowed to try again in the 2002 session, this time using model legislation from the Anti-Defamation League.
State Democratic Party chairwoman Meg Holbrook said: "The State of Utah and the Democratic Party have lost an irreplaceable role model. Pete was a heroic figure to the Hispanic community and (to) all Utahns who work hard and play by the rules. He will be missed."
Suazo was an avid outdoorsman. He also was a member of the Utah Amateur Boxing Federation and a boxing referee. Suazo leaves behind his wife Alicia and four sons.
It is the second time an off-road vehicle accident has put the small, 29-member Utah Senate into mourning this year. During the 2001 session a daughter of Sen. Karen Hale, D-Salt Lake, was killed in an ATV accident.