	At approximately 21:00 hours on the evening of June 2nd, I was contacted by DNR-LE Region 5 supervisor, Capt. As the CIRT investigator (Critical Incident Reconstruction Team) for the area, Capt. was calling to notify me and initiate the investigation of a fatal boating incident that had occurred. At the time of notification, he had limited details other than it involved a single boat and a missing passenger, who was presumed drowned. Capt. advised that he was en route to the location and that local Rangers were on scene gathering information from the boat operator and witnesses. He also indicated that a mechanical issue with the boat was suspected. I requested that Capt. have the Rangers seize and secure the involved boat to aid me in my investigation. Capt. notified me at 03:30 hours that the victim's body had been recovered.  

	The following morning, I traveled to the Early County Sheriff's Office where the seized boat was secured. I was met there by Ranger First Class, the lead officer in the previous evening's events, who briefed me on the incident.

Details: The incident occurred in Early County on the Chattahoochee River at an area locally known as “Smith's Bend”. The boat operator was towing Subject on a ski-tube behind the boat. Operator stated that as he was “making a wild turn”, the boat's steering cable snapped causing the boat to “turn(ed) very sharp”. This abrupt and unexpected change in direction resulted in an on-board passenger to be thrown overboard. The passenger had been seated in the bow of the boat and acting as an observer when the incident occurred. Operator identified the general area where Victim went in the water and Rangers, using a side-scan sonar unit, located and recovered Victim's body from the bottom of the river. RFC stated that Victim had severe trauma to his right arm and head that was likely caused by propeller strikes. 

Inspection of the vessel: The boat involved was a 1989 Procraft “Family Fisher 170” [Alabama Registration # AL6345LG, HIN # MPDT1160A989]. The fiberglass hull was a design typically referred to as a “Fish and Ski” and was powered by an Evinrude 150 horsepower, outboard engine [ Model # E150STLCOS]. The boat's dimensions were 17 feet long (bow to stern) with an 84-inch beam width. The manufacturer's capacity plate was mounted in the operator's console area and listed the boat's occupant capacity as 5 persons or 650 pounds and a maximum horsepower rating of 115 horsepower. The boat's exterior showed signs of wear and damage consistent with frequent use and exposure to the elements over a long period. Some of the damaged areas noted included;  a cracked and poorly repaired area on the underside of the boat's hull, below the waterline near the stern (note: a large volume of standing water was present in the rear access hatch); the engine's cowling was removed and evidence of numerous repairs to the power-head were visible (note: Operator stated that the cowling was off at the time of the incident due to repairs that had been made earlier in the day while at the incident location); the engine's “remote control” throttle/shift controller had a broken neutral lock-in release; the lower unit of the engine had damage to the skeg (there was an approx. 5-degree right-to-left bend) and the leading edge of one of the propeller's three blades was broken and missing. Due to the nature of this incident, part
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