TCO 1 advised me that there had been a boating accident at the  Mississinewa Reservoir near the beach area at approx. 1230 hours.  I was given some phone numbers and a campsite number at the Miami Recreation Area to further the investigation. This information was provided by Deputy 1 of the Sheriff's Dept. The only other information that I had was that the victim was struck by a boat propeller while standing in the water.  The victim was flown out by Lifeline Services via helicopter to Hospital in Indianapolis.

I then drove to the Miami Recreation campground and went to campsite number 136.  The boat involved in the accident was present there.  There were several subjects who were familiar with the boat owner, the victim and the boat operator.  One of the subjects there was the mother of the boat operator.  I gathered enough information from the subjects at the campsite to get preliminary information on the parties involved and what happened.  I attempted contact with the boat operator, but there was no answer. I then called in a preliminary report to North Region Headquarters.

On Monday 6/22/09, I contacted the victim, Victim 1 and the Operator, Operator 1 and interviewed them both via telephone. They were both still at Methodist Hospital.  I spoke with Victim 1 first and asked about his injuries.  He advised that the propeller cut his right knee cap in half and that another cut on the leg had made contact with bone, but did not cut through.  He furthered that additional surgeries would be required to repair the knee and the deep lacerations to the leg. I then inquired as to the chain of events leading up to the accident.  Both Victim 1 and  Operator 1 advised the following events:

Victim 1 and Operator 1 were both in the boat just east of the roped off beach area.  The boat was anchored in roughly "hip" deep water.  Victim 1 got out of the boat to get some fishing equipment and additional life preservers from his vehicle. When Victim 1 returned from the vehicle, he noticed that the waves were pushing the boat closer into the shoreline.  The boat motor (Inboard/Outboard) was down and he didn't want it dragging on the bottom of the lake.  He then walked into the water towards the boat.  He began pushing the boat from the back and port side where a boarding ladder is located.
As he was making some progress pushing the boat back out to about "hip" depth, he
advised Operator 1 to start the motor to get further from shore.  The boat was put into gear and began to move out into deeper water.  Victim 1 was still on the boarding ladder, lost his balance and fell onto the propeller.  Victim 1 was brought to shore were first aid was administered by bystanders.  Miami County and Wabash County Sheriff's Depts. and EMS responded.  It was determined that due to the amount of blood loss, Victim 1 should transported via helicopter and was flown to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.
In speaking with EMS, Family, and Park Security, there was no indication of alcohol being involved.  End of Report
Wabash                        