Overview
- The boat crashed Tuesday near Topock Gorge on the Colorado River, which forms the Arizona–California state line in that area.
- Deputies found the vessel near the California shore, with one man dead at the scene and a second airlifted who later died at a hospital.
- Authorities identified the victims as 33-year-old Noah Welch and 53-year-old James Rutherford Jr., both California residents.
- Investigators say the 2002 25-foot Daves Custom Boat was traveling at a high rate of speed when the driver lost control and hit rock along the Arizona shoreline, with the case still open.
- Fire crews from San Bernardino County and Lake Havasu responded to the crash site in the narrow river gorge.