At approximately 10:15 pm on May 8th, 2009, OperatorA and OperatorB had finished running a trotline in Horeshoe Lake and were beginning to leave.  OperatorA was in front of OperatorB as they traveled through a stumpy area of the lake.  A passenger in A’s boat saw a flashing light coming from the OperatorB's boat and informed OperatorA of this and OperatorA began to turn around and go check on OperatorB.  By this time, OperatorB had cleared the stumpy area and was powering up his boat, thus causing the bow of his boat to rise up and temporally block his forward view.  Once operatorB's boat planed over and he could see, OperatorA's boat was right in front of him and he unable to avoid a collision.  Both vessels had running lights on.  OperatorB's vessel had 5 persons on board, 2 adults and 3 juveniles, all 3 juveniles had their PFD's on.  A’s vessel had 6 people onboard, all over 13 years of age, none of them had PFD's on, however there were enough PFD's in his vessel for everyone on board.  Both OperatorA and OperatorB admitted to have been drinking Bud Light earlier that day.  Blood was taken from both OperatorA and OperatorB at Riverland Medical Center.  One juvenile, daughter of OperatorB, was pronounced dead.  One adult female suffered a broken left arm and large cut to her forehead.  She was transferred to St. Francis Cabrini hospital in Alexandria, LA. to receive more advanced care for her injuries.  All other persons were treated and released at Riverland Medical Center.  Charges are pending for both OperatorA and OperatorB.
Monterey                      