Milo, N.Y. -- Yates County officials have identified a woman who died and five people who were injured when they were ejected from a boat on Seneca Lake on Saturday.
The sheriff is asking for the public’s help in piecing together exactly what happened.
Six people were thrown from the high-performance speed boat when it made an abrupt turn while traveling fast, causing it to roll onto its side, according to the Yates County Sheriff’s Office.
Cynthia Stuck, 65, of Waterloo, was pronounced dead at the scene. Two other passengers, David and Alyssa Knorr, both of Clifton Springs, were taken by medivac helicopters to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester with internal injuries, sheriff’s deputies said.
Deloss Stuck, 57, of Waterloo, and Jessica Stine, 40, of Fishers, N.Y., were transported via ambulance to F.F. Thompson Hospital in Canandaigua with internal injuries.
The driver and owner of the boat, Michael Battley, 48, of Seneca Falls, was transported to the hospital but received no treatment, Yates County deputies said.
The accident happened in the water near the Showboat Motel in the town of Milo, deputies said. After those onboard the boat were ejected, several people who were on shore at the time swam into the water to rescue them, taking them to the motel’s docks.
None of the people on board was wearing a life jacket at the time of the incident, but life jackets were on board the boat, deputies said.
Yates County Sheriff Ron Spike said Sunday afternoon his office is asking for the public’s help with any information related to the accident. Deputies interviewed several witnesses and impounded the boat for investigation and accident reconstruction, but they still sought a clearer picture of what happened to cause the accident.
Spike requested that anyone who witnessed the incident but hadn’t been interviewed, or those who took pictures or captured videos, to contact sheriff’s office at 315-536-4438 or email sheriff@yatescounty.org.
Got a tip, comment or story idea? Call or text Megan Craig at 315-925-7137, email her at mcraig@syracuse.com or send a direct message on Twitter @megcraig1.