Overview
- Late Saturday night a 27-foot pontoon overturned near the YMCA camp on Deer Island after a 911 call at about 10:45 p.m. reported people screaming from the water.
- Six people were aboard the pontoon; first responders found three clinging to the overturned boat and a multi-agency search recovered the three missing occupants, who were pronounced dead.
- Authorities released the victims’ names as Ashley Monson, 37, Manuel De Angel-Sola, 52, and Nicholas Loechler, 46, all of Wabasha, Minnesota.
- The city of Wabasha confirmed two of the dead were members of the Wabasha Fire Department and officials said recovered bodies were taken to the Ramsey County Medical Examiner for autopsies.
- The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is leading an investigation into a reported collision between the pontoon and a commercial barge with assistance from the U.S. Coast Guard and local sheriff’s offices, and the outcome could affect safety reviews for recreational boats operating at night on the busy Lake Pepin section of the Mississippi River.