RedactedNarrative: On May 5, 2022 at approximately 0331 hours, I, Cpl. of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, received a phone call from Sgt. of the Gerogia Department of the Natural Resources and was advised to report to Savannah Yacht Club in reference to a possible fatality boating incident that had occurred earlier in the morning.  While enroute, I called Officer of the Chatham County Police Department to get a brief summary of the incident.  I arrived on scene at approximately 0433 hours. It was still dark at this time. The wind and water were calm and the skies appeared to be clear.   
  
  After arriving on scene, I briefly spoke with Chatham County Marine Patrol Sgt. about the incident and then I began to collect evidence.  I walked down to the vessel that was tied to the dock and recorded the vessel damage with my Visual Labs app on my work mobile phone. There was obvious damage to the starboard bow of the vessel along the gunwale and damage farther down the starboard side of the vessel along the gunwale. There was a large amount of blood, thick bloody matter, and blood transfer patterns in the rear area of the vessel directly behind the center seat. 
  
  After observing the vessel,  I talked with owner/operator and asked him to explain what happened.  Operator said they had just left the dock in Thunderbolt and were heading offshore to the Gulfstream to fish.  Operator stated he had activated a route on the chart plotter that would autopilot the vessel to the Wassaw Sound sea bouy.  Operator said he had the autopilot engaged on the vessel and he noticed the autopilot was taking the vessel closer to the marker (unlit red marker #38)..  Operator said he began to pull back on the throttle and that is when they struck the marker.  
  
  Occupant was injured during the vessel impact with the marker.  Report stated Victim had head and facial injuries.  After they hit the marker they brought the vessel to Savannah Yacht Club.  Emergency medical services (EMS) had already transported Victim to Memorial Medical Center (MMC) Emergency Room by the time I arrived on scene.  Cpl. of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources checked on Victim's status at the hospital.  Subject advised via phone that Victim had been pronounced dead at 0349 hours. 
  
  Occupant stated he was sitting down on a bean bag type seat in the rear port side of the vessel putting on bibbs when they struck the marker and was not aware of what happened.  Both Operator and he provided written statements
  
  We then went by vessel to check for damage/evidence on marker #38.  There was clear and obvious damage/evidence on the marker from the vessel which included paint transfer marks and small pieces of pink fiberglass that corroborated Operator's statement of what happened.  I did not see any obvious evidence indicating Victim impacted the marker.  After taking pictures of the marker, we went back over to the vessel location and looked over the vessel again.  We released the vessel back to Operator at this time.  We then returned to SKIO. After leaving SKIO, I went to MMC to obtain more detailed information about Victim's injuries.   At that time, they did not have any specific details about Victim's injuries.  After leaving MMC, I went to the Chatham County Coroner's office on East 67th St.
  