Scituate Police Identify Colorado Woman Who Died After Boat Capsized On North River
SCITUATE (CBS) - The missing woman who was later found dead after she fell overboard while boating in Scituate on Saturday has been identified by police as 78-year-old Barbara Warner of Boulder, Colorado.
She was out with a nephew and a friend at the time.
At around 4:45 pm on Saturday, the Scituate Emergency Communications Center received multiple 911 calls about a boat that capsized in the mouth of the North River just off the beach area known as "the Spit".
"There's a lot going on in terms of tidal conditions, meeting up with the ocean and as I said, when the weather, when the wind, when the tide all comes together, it makes that incredibly dangerous spot," said Scituate Chief of Police Mark Thompson.
The U.S. Coast Guard and several other emergency crews aided in rescuing the three people.
Scituate town administrator, Jim Boudreau, told WBZ-TV that the waters are notoriously choppy, making for a difficult search.
"The mouth of the North River is a very difficult place on the best of circumstances. You have adverse winds, you have tides, you have a storm coming in. It's a very difficult place to boat, let alone do a search like this," Boudreau said.
A man and a woman were later safely brought the shore, but Warner could not be found. Her body was discovered just before 10 p.m. by the Coast Guard.
"Unfortunately, this is a tragic incident that highlights how quickly conditions can change on the water and the inherent dangers of boating, particularly in this area where the North and South Rivers converge with the open ocean," wrote Thompson in a statement on Sunday. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Mrs. Warner during this difficult time."
The Coast Guard said Warner was not wearing a life jacket at the time of the accident.
