Former Farmingdale Resident Killed In Utah Avalanche: Reports

SALT LAKE CITY, UT — Matt Tauszik, a snowboarder from Salt Lake City, died on Sunday after he accidentally triggered an avalanche, according to multiple reports. Tauszik, 45, who grew up in Farmingdale, was a husband and father.

Tauszik was buried under three feet of snow in the back country near a Park City ski resort, the Summit County Sheriff told Yahoo! Entertainment. Tauszik was partway down the slope when he triggered the avalanche.

The avalanche happened between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. on the Dutch Draw slope along the Conehead area near Canyons Resort, ABC4 reported.

"There were a couple of people that came across a snow board sticking out of the snow, went over to it and realized it was attached to a person," Lt. Andrew Wright of the Summit County Sheriff’s Office told ABC4. "They immediately began digging, and from what we’ve been told, they dug down about three feet."

While Tauszik was rushed to a nearby hospital, efforts to save his life were not successful, according to ABC4.

A GoFundMe was created to support Tauszik's wife and son. Karen Latham, who set up the fundraiser on the family's behalf, asked donors to help support them with expenses ranging from the memorial service to living expenses. Latham said all money will be used for final expenses, while any excess will go into a fund for Matt’s wife, Michelle Schmitt, who plans to use them for living expenses.

"There are three stockings on the mantle, hung by the chimney with care by a young devoted family just a few weeks ago," the GoFundMe page reads. "With hope in their hearts and an abundance of love in their home, they hung their stockings and trimmed their tree, only to have tragedy strike just a few days before Christmas. For the Tauszik family this December, it is not Santa that has come like a thief in the night, but instead heartbreak, one that will affect them for the rest of their lives. Hold your loved ones a little tighter this Christmas season, and as you do so, please consider donating generously to this young widow and her little son."

A woman who grew up with Tauszik since Kindergarten in Farmingdale wrote on Facebook that he was "a Daler through and through."

He worked as the executive chef at the Thistle & Thyme restaurant at the University Park Marriott, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. Jason Talcott, the hotel’s food and beverage director, told the Salt Lake Tribune Tauszik was "a talented and creative chef that lived and breathed food." Talcott also told the paper that Tauszik loved snowboarding and mountain biking.