A family boating trip ended in unimaginable tragedy after a 9-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy were thrown into the water and killed when the vessel struck a channel marker in New Jersey’s Barnegat Bay.
The deadly crash happened at approximately 9 p.m. on Sunday, July 19, according to New Jersey State Police.
Authorities said the children were riding aboard a 30-foot Tidewater Custom boat operated by 63-year-old Stephen Schneider of Bayville when the vessel collided with the marker.
The force of the impact threw both children from the boat.
Laurie Schneider, 64, who was also aboard, helped locate the children in the water along with Stephen. Both youngsters were unresponsive when they were found.
Emergency crews rushed the children to a nearby hospital, but they were later pronounced dead.
Officials have not publicly released their names, and police have not confirmed whether they were siblings. ABC7 New York reported that Stephen and Laurie Schneider were the children’s grandparents.
Berkeley Township Councilman James Byrnes witnessed the emergency response and said firefighters immediately jumped into action.
“The firemen jumped right in,” Byrnes told News 12 New Jersey.
He recalled seeing a life jacket near one of the children as rescuers performed CPR.
“The one child had a life jacket next to him,” he said. “Of course, with CPR being performed, they’re going to remove it.”
News of the deaths has shaken the close-knit waterfront community.
“I just came to pay my respects quietly,” local resident Michelle Monticello told the station. “It’s a very tight community, feeling very disheartened, very sad.”
Byrnes offered a grim warning about the dangers of the waterway.
“The bay is unforgiving,” he said.
The U.S. Coast Guard did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The crash remains under investigation, and no charges have been filed.
