Officials announced Monday that the bodies of the last two individuals who were unaccounted for after Saturday’s tragic boating incident on Lake Tahoe have been found, bringing the final death toll to 8.
The incident happened in the late afternoon to early evening hours on Saturday, according to El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office, which, just before 5 p.m., received multiple reports of a capsized boat carrying ten people near D.L. Bliss State Park.
The lake was reportedly experiencing large swells, and waves were reaching 6 to 8 feet high. Witnesses told South Tahoe Now that around 3 p.m., the winds suddenly picked up, creating dangerous conditions on the waters.
Local agencies, along with the U.S. Coast Guard and California State Parks, responded to the lake where witnesses reported seeing a group of people in the water near the overturned 27-foot (8-meter) gold Chris-Craft vessel.
Six adults were found dead. Two survivors were rescued from the water and transported to a local hospital. Two others remained unaccounted for until now.
El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office said that search and rescue teams found the first of two missing boaters on Sunday. “Unfortunately, the boater was deceased,” the sheriff’s office said.
The last missing person was found deceased around 2:40 p.m. Monday, and crews recovered the body from the lake. “There are no more unaccounted persons from this tragic event,” the sheriff’s office stated. “The search and recovery efforts have been concluded. The victim identifications will be released when all notifications have been made.”
Vivian Chow contributed to this report.
