Boat operator and other passenger identified in deadly Key Largo crash, report says
MIAMI — New details have emerged from the deadly boat crash near Key Largo that killed a young man and sent two other men to the hospital over the weekend.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) report obtained by CBS News Miami, 21-year-old Eytan Genoune along with 28-year-old Thomas Frey and 35-year-old Collin Navarro were all three occupants in the vessel when it made a sharp turn and threw them all overboard in Card Sound on Saturday morning.
Though Frey and Navarro were taken to the hospital, Genoune died from his injuries. While Genoune was from Boynton Beach, Frey and Navarro were from Bridgewater and Woburn, Massachusetts, respectively.
The Card Sound crash
Though the initial investigation said it was a single-vessel accident, the FWC revealed that the three men were not the only boaters out on the water during the crash.
According to the report, the boat was traveling south when it made an "unexpected sudden turn," causing the vessel's T-top to break off and throw Genoune, Frey and Navarro overboard. Then, friends of the trio who were traveling ahead of their boat "saw something wrong with the vessel behind them and turned back."
The friends found the empty vessel along Frey — the boat's operator — and Navarro before calling law enforcement. At the time of the crash, Genoune was reported missing. The FWC, along with Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Biscayne National Park Service, and Ocean Reef Public Safety were all called out to the scene.
Frey and Navarro were then airlifted to Jackson South Hospital for treatment while authorities continued their search for Genoune. Sometime later, an Ocean Reef Public Safety boat found Genoune dead.
The FWC said in its report that no arrests have been made at this time and it is unknown whether alcohol was a factor in the crash. The other circumstances surrounding the accident are still under investigation.
