RedactedNarrative: A Wisconsin Conservation Officer took a report of a boating incident but thought that it occurred on the Minnesota portion of the river and relayed the information to the Houston County Sheriff's Office. She stated that a pontoon boat had struck a practically submerged main channel marking buoy. There were no reported injuries. She did not think the operator was impaired. She said the operator was having phone problems and to call the phone number of a woman who was a passenger on the boat.
  
  The Houston County deputy made contact with the woman. She said she was not a passenger on WC #1 but was a passenger on a boat that was following WC #1. She said she was part of the same group as Operator #1 and that the group was split up on two separate boats. 
  
  She said she observed WC #1 strike an object and was told by Operator #1 that it was a submerged marking buoy. She was not currently at the accident scene nor was Operator #1. She said the incident had happened about an hour before and since then Operator #1 had parked his boat on a beach near the accident scene and got a ride back to the La Crosse area from the boat the woman was a passenger on. 
  
  She said she did not believe Operator #1 was impaired at the time of the incident. She told the deputy where the buoy was located and that WC #1 was parked on a beach across the river from where the incident had happened. She didn't know where Operator #1 had gone and could not reach him by phone. The Deputy attempted contact with Operator #1 multiple times but each time the call went straight to voicemail.
  
  The deputy located WC #1 and eventually located the submerged buoy. He reported the buoy location to the Wisconsin CO who was in direct contact with the US Army Corps of Engineers.
  
  The deputy made contact with Operator #1 on 6/14. He told the deputy that he was operating his boat south in the main channel. He was on his way to Crater Island when he struck the buoy. He said the buoy was submerged and only visible when the waves of the water would go over the buoy. He said his boat had significant damage and needed to be assisted from the area where he parked it after the accident to a landing where he could trailer the boat. He said his wife was a passenger on board at the time of the incident and they were both uninjured. Life jackets were not being worn at the time of the incident.
  