Logan

MAGNA — Late Saturday night, the family of Logan Hardman received word that rescue workers in a helicopter had spotted both Hardman and his friend Chad Tohinaka floating in the Great Salt Lake. But when they were told the men were about one-half mile apart from each other, the family knew both men were likely dead. "As soon as we realized Logan and Chad were separated we knew that it was probably done," Logan Hardman's brother Andy Hardman said. "They would never leave each other." Tohinaka, 25, of Salt Lake City and Hardman, 25, of West Jordan were spotted just after 11:00 p.m., according to Lt. Justin Hoyal of the Unified Police Department. They had been duck hunting with another friend whose identity has not been released. The third man told authorities that they attempted to return to the lake's marina around 4 p.m. when inclement weather caused their boat to take on water and capsize. After treading water for some time, the third man told Tohinaka and Hardman to stay with the boat while he swam to shore to get help, Hoyal said. He was located by state parks personnel around 5:50 p.m. and was treated at the scene. Chad Tohinaka and Logan Hardman. Hardman's three brothers — Tyrel, Andy and Matt — described him as a calm and quiet person with an infectious smile, a passionate husband and father of two, a deeply religious man and an avid duck hunter. "Every five minutes it was a text about the new duck call he'd found or a new decoy set he bought," Andy Hardman said. The four brothers share a close bond, they said, perhaps rivaled only by the bond shared between Hardmand and Tohinaka, who met when they were children and have been best friends ever since. "Logan and Chad have been inseparable since 3 year's old," Matt Hardman said. "They grew up that way and kept doing everything out of Jr. high and high school." Tohinaka's mother taught Hardman and each of his three brother's when they were in the first grade, Andy Hardman said, and before Tohinaka was old enough for school his mother would drop him off for daycare with Hardman's mother. "Karen Tohinaka was a second mom to us just as my mom was a second mom to Chad," Andy Hardman said. "We sit here and talk about Logan but Chad wasn't any different. He was an incredible man and he would have laid his life down for Logan, he would have laid his life down for any one of us. He was literally the fifth brother." The men were using a flat-bottom boat that Harbor Master Dave Shearer estimated to be about 12 feet in length. He said the lake had been experiencing mild squall conditions throughout the night, where periods of high wind would pass through suddenly and create choppy two- to three-foot waves. "That's a very challenging boat to be on in Great Salt Lake conditions," Shearer said. "This is not like boating on any other lake. When the Great Sale Lake decides to get rough it can get very rough." Shearer said the two men were located approximately six miles east of the marina. The surviving man is reportedly in good condition. That is my sweet cousin. I later found out from his brother: "They did have one, (life jackets) They didnt drowned it was hypothermia. My brother staid back to be with his friend that was cramped up and in shock and could not swim. He could not leave him. So the other hunter left to get help. Logan stayed behind with Chad. Both my parents had dreams last night that after Chad passed away Logan tried everything he could to make it back to us, but wouldn’t leave Chad’s side until that happened. Logan was one of the sweetest boys. He had an amazing smile, and a lovely and genuine disposition. He truly exemplified the scripture, "Greater love hath no man, then he who lay down his life for his brother." If anyone deserved to leave this wicked world behind, he did. I know his dear wife, and children will be blessed for his selfless love and that one day they, and we all, will be reunited eternally.