Pictured: Boy Scout leader who drowned in Utah pond while rescuing boy during swim safety lesson

A 22-year-old Boy Scout leader drowned after rescuing a boy from a Utah pond.

Police in Salem have said Wesley Robert Kratzer, 22, was watching over a group of 10- and 11-year-old boys during a swimming lesson on Wednesday night when one started having trouble in the water.

The Orem-native was able to push the boy to safety but then disappeared under the water.

It took divers nearly an hour to find Kratzer’s body 12 feet below the murky pond’s surface, according to Salem Police Chief Brad James.

‘It’s unfortunate. Obviously the leaders are shook up. The other scouts are shook up and we may not know for sure why he went under,’ James said.

Boy Scout troop leader Wesley Robert Kratzer, left and right with wife Diana, drowned while rescuing a boy during a swim safety lesson on Wednesday night at Salem Pond in Utah

 Rescue teams pulled Kratzer’s body out of the murky pond a hour after he went under

First-responders performed life-saving maneuvers at the scene, but the troop leader was later pronounced dead at Mountain View Hospital in Payson.

Kratzer’s name was initially withheld but police revealed his identity Thursday afternoon. 

His heartbroken wife of fewer than three months shared several photos of the 22-year-old on social media.  

James said the pond is usually very calm, but urged visitors to take safety precautions when in the water at the popular swimming spot. 

‘You should have flotation devices,’ he told the Salt Lake Tribune. 

‘You should have life jackets, you should have throwaway devices to throw to somebody for help, you should always have those in place any time you’re swimming in open water like that.’  

Kratzer, a native of Orem, Utah, is pictured above in a 2014 Facebook photo