Victim was out boating on Lake Roosevelt near the Keller Ferry Marina in his 16 ft Aluminum open motorboat with his wife. Victim was entered in a fishing tournament and they were in the checking out the area and fishing in preparation for the tournament which began the next day.  Victim and is wife were not familiar with the Roosevelt Lake area, but they recognized they were near the Keller Ferry Marina when they saw the ferry in the distance.  

The vessel was cruising along at approximately 21-30 mph when the outboard rod steering link arm separated between the outboard motor and boat.  The boat then turned sharply to starboard, then to port, throwing/ejecting both occupants into the water.  

Wife suffered broken ribs from when she was thrown out and hit the cleat mounted on the port side near where she had been seated.  After entering the water she had a difficult time swimming but was able to get way from the path of the boat.  While in the water she heard Victim exclaim that his foot was tangled up in something.  After Victim was thrown into the water he was run over and his foot was nearly cut off by the propeller of the boat.  It is not clear if he was hit again by the boat.  He drowned shortly thereafter, possibly because he was not able to swim with the injured foot.  

The boat maintained a tight circling rotation and continued to maintain its distance about 150 yards off the shoreline with little variation.  The National Park Service and the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office set up their patrol boats to keep other boats away.  After about three hours it ran out of fuel and was then secured and towed to the marina.  

Victim had acquired the vessel about 3 years ago as a trade for work he done for the previous owner. The 90 HP engine had been installed in September, 2010  by Northwest Motor Sports in Libby, MT and replaced the 60 HP that came with the boat.  The nut and washer that held the steering linkage assembly together was found below the assembly on the splash well at the transom, just below where the motor was mounted to the transom.  It had apparently come loose at some point during the operation of the vessel.

Wilbur                        