During the early morning hours of May 19th, 2012, a jon-boat collided with and vaulted over a jon-boat in the O'Connell Slough north of Burlington, IA on the Mississippi River. Four people died as a result of this incident.  
 
Several Iowa Conservation Officers, Des Moines County Sheriff Deputies, Burlington Fire Department, as well as the Illinois Conservation Police responded to and assisted in the investigation of this incident.  Iowa Conservation Officer reviewed the vessel damage and assisted with the accident reconstruction, as he is a graduate of the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators and the Underwriter's Laboratories Advanced Boat Accident Investigation School.
 
After many hours, Officer, with the assistance of other investigating officers, concluded the following:
 
At approximately 1:30AM on May 19th, 2012, vessel1. was heading northbound on plane in O'Connell Slough without any navigational lights when it collided nearly head-on with vessel2, who was heading southbound and not equipped with any required lighting.  During the course of the collision, several passengers from V2's were ejected into the water and four of those passengers died as a result of the collision.  Both boat operators consented to having blood samples drawn.  Lab results indicated that V2's blood alcohol content was .053 at the time of the blood draw and V1's blood alcohol content was undetectable at the time of blood draw.  Toxicology reports indicate high levels of marijuana in both operators.  Based on the investigation, it is Officer’s opinion that several things contributed to the cause of the incident.  Those things include:  lack of required lighting on both vessels, the use of alcohol and/or drugs by both boat operators, and V2's overloaded vessel.

Victim 1 was thrown out of the boat upon impact & died of massive blunt force trauma, massive hemorrhage of chest wall, severe laceration of heart aorta pulmonary arteries,complete transection of thoracic spine. Victim 2 was thrown out of the boat upon impact & died of massive head trauma with a fractured skull, fragmentation of brain tissue, huge laceration of right side of chest, heart almost completely severed at the base. Victim 3 was thrown out of the boat upon impact & died by drowning with a fractured nasal & macillary bones. Victim 4 was thrown out of the boat upon impact & died of asphyxia due to drowning & blunt force trauma. Victim 5 was thrown from the boat upon impact & received a laceration on his left calf. Victim 6 was thrown from the boat upon impact & swam to shore.  He complained of pain in his left shoulder & his clavicle was deformed & fractured. Victim 7 was thrown out of boat upon impact and received a large laceration that starts at the top of the shoulder & continues around the arm into the armpit. She also recieved a fractured femur. Victim 8 was thrown out of the boat upon impact yet doesn't remember anything about the incident & only remembers waking up on the ground.  She complains of neck & back pain that goes to the middle of her lower back. Victim 9 was thrown out of the boat upon impact & had a midshaft tibia fracture.
BURLINGTON                    