RedactedNarrative: Details of the incident/investigation:
  	on 1-22-20 i, indiana conservation officer, was dispatched to the wabash river for a boat accident near bicycle bridge road in carroll county indiana.  Carroll county dispatch advised that three people had been hunting on the river and had fallen out of their boat.  I arrived at approximately 10:06 am and found that all three hunters were inside the ambulance being treated by ems. 
  
   I checked on the three and got their identification from them.  The operator told me he was ok but i observed that he was distressed from the ordeal.  The second person and bow passenger of the boat told me he was fine, just cold.  The third hunter told me he was ok.  I asked the medics if they needed anything and they requested the identification for the three for their report.  While in the ambulance i did not notice any impairment or the odor commonly associated with that of an alcoholic beverage emitting from him or the others. 
  
  	 i left the ambulance and went to the river bank and i took photos of the area.  The river was higher than normal and had a noticeable current.  I found where the three had exited the river from the gloves and miscellaneous hunting attire piled on the bank. Photos were also taken of these items.  I was approximately 100 yards upstream from bicycle bridge on the west side of the river.  I carried the items that were on the bank to my truck.  One of the items was a gun case with subject1' gun in it.  It was a remington 12 gauge with serial number rt56151a.  I ran a check on it and it returned not on file, not stolen.  I then checked with ems personnel again and they said they were trying to get dry clothes for the three.  
  
  
  	i asked who was driving the boat and operator told me he was.  I asked him what had happened.  He told me that he was heading down stream with subject1 near him in the rear of the boat.  He said they were approximately 400 yards upstream from bicycle bridge at the time.  Operator told me the boat was a tiller drive with a 15 hp motor on it.  Operator said they were picking up decoys that had floated away.  He said that subject2 was in the front of the boat with the dog in the middle area of the boat.  
  
  Operator stated that while they were picking up the decoys something happened and the boat flipped over.  Operator said it happened very fast with no warning.  He said one second they were good and then all three were then in the water along with the dog.  Subject2 Said that all he could do was grab the decoy bag and swim for shore.  Operator and subject1 agreed.  I asked them if they had any life jackets and operator said that they were in the boat.  Operator said they had no time to get them on.  They told me that they floated with the decoy bag and finally made it to shore.  Operator told me that they were in the middle of the river when it all began.  He also stated that the motor was not functioning properly and would only idle due to some throttle problem.  
  
       i asked him if he knew what was missing from the boat.  Operator told me his shotgun, a benelli super black eagle 2, serial number u454443p 12 gauge, along with two decoy bags and goose decoys.  Operator said the gun was not in a case at the time of the incident.   I told him the boat was downstream from the bicycle bridge on the west side.  He said that some of their stuff was possibly still in the boat.  I asked subject2 If he was missing anything and he said only his gun.  I later found that it was a beretta al390 12 gauge, serial number p11378e.  It was in a soft case.  Subject1 advised he was not missing anything.  I transported their wet clothes and miscellaneous equipment to the public access site in the bed of my truck while ems transported the three men there.  All of their items were placed in their possession and they left the access site.  
  
  	at approximately 11:28 am sgt. arrived and we took a boat to check for the hunters missing items and to secure the boat.  We did not locate any missing gear but tied the boat to the west bank of the river.  Sgt. was able to read me the boat hin of xmr14941m73k.  
  
  	on 1-26-20 i contacted operator to get more information from him.  He told me that the boat had a duck blind on it and that he had tried to remove the boat but the blind was stuck on something in the river.  I asked him if he had recovered any of his gear and he said he had retrieved some decoys and 2 decoy bags.  He also said that there was a dry box in the boat with the registration.  Operator said he had retrieved that as well when he tried to remove the boat on saturday.  He said that he could not remove the boat at that time and needed more ropes and straps but would try to remove it this week.  I asked him if he had contacted his insurance company and he said yes.  He told me that there was no insurance on the boat but his homeowners insurance was going to pay for the lost and damaged items.  He told me that the cameras they filmed with were nonfunctional and the guns and some other decoy items were still missing.  He told me that he was working on the boat crash report that i had given him as well.
  	the boat was a 14 foot boat with low sides that had a moving dog and the largest passenger leaning over the edge to pick up a decoy.  The water current and motor trouble also were possible factors that caused it to take on water and capsize.
  