For the first time since the tragic boating incident that left three children dead over the Fourth of July holiday weekend in Lake Geneva, officials have released harrowing details on what happened.
While authorities had already cited a “sudden and severe” storm that struck the area Friday afternoon, new details appear to indicate how the boat carrying 10 people, including four children, eventually sank.
According to the National Weather Service, wind speeds reached an estimated 90 to 100 mph during the storm, which also brought “severe downburst winds that downed hundreds of trees and damaged several buildings, rapidly creating extremely hazardous boating conditions on Geneva Lake.”
At the time, a 25-foot 2024 Nautique P25 vessel operated by a 47-year-old experienced boater was on the water attempting to seek “safe refuge.”
“Unable to find safe harbor, the operator relied on his training and experience, turning the vessel directly into the wind,” the Geneva Lake Law Enforcement Agency said in a release. “The vessel was struck by at least two large waves that broke over the bow, causing the vessel to take on a significant amount of water and begin to list to one side. The vessel was then struck by an additional large wave to its side, causing it to roll, capsize, and send all 10 occupants into the water. After capsizing, the vessel quickly sank below the waterline.”
Rescuers were quickly called and responded to the scene, successfully rescuing seven people — six adults and one child. The remaining three children were discovered still with sunken boat underwater.
“Following an intensive search, divers located the sunken vessel in 32 feet of water. The three missing children—ages 10, 7, and 6, were located inside,” the release said. “Divers were able to free the children from the vessel and bring them to the surface.”
Life-saving measures were performed, but the children were ultimately pronounced dead. A preliminary cause of death was “consistent with freshwater drowning.”
Those rescued included:
• A 75-year-old male
• A 73-year-old female
• A 49-year-old female
• A 46-year-old male
• A 44-year-old female
• A 12-year-old male
Passengers included people from Batavia and Wheaton in the Chicago area, along with some from Fontana, Wisconsin.
Each juvenile was wearing a life jacket “of proper size and fit,” authorities said.
The names of those killed were not immediately released “out of respect for the family enduring this horrendous event.”
“The Geneva Lake Law Enforcement Agency extends its deepest, most heartfelt condolences to the family, friends, and everyone affected by this heartbreaking tragedy,” GLLEA said in a statement.
The storm hit on the first day of the Fourth of July weekend, a time where the population in Walworth County is double its normal count due to the tourism in the area, Tom Hausner, undersheriff for the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office, said.
The storms also damaged homes in the area, downed power lines and scattered trees and limbs across “almost every road within the subdivision,” said Hausner.
“This incident serves as a reminder of how quickly severe weather can develop on area waterways. We strongly urge all boaters to closely monitor weather forecasts, remain vigilant of changing atmospheric conditions, and seek safe harbor immediately when threatening weather approaches,” officials said.
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