UPDATE: At Least 15 People on Boat Involved in Fatal Accident

UPDATED STORY (as of 12pm, 08/27/2023):

More information is being received following the fatal boat accident around 7:45 Saturday night near the 23-mile marker of the main channel in Camden County.

The marine division of the highway patrol says it happened when 60-year-old Bobby Childers, of Sunrise Beach, was operating the 32-foot Crownline too close to a dock before striking a large wake and then a breakwater.

The highway patrol report only identified four of the victims involved in the accident: 44-year-old Nicolette McKenna of Sunrise Beach who, reportedly, came into contact with the prop and was pronounced dead at the scene; 21-year-old Connor Wilkie and 49-year-old Curtis Wilkie, both of Kansas City, who suffered minor injuries; and Childers who suffered moderate injuries. None of them were wearing a life jacket and they were taken to Lake Regional.

Reports from the Osage Beach Fire District described the scene as “very chaotic” and indicate there were also, at least, another 11 people on the boat with some of them ending up in the water while others were thrown onto the breakwater.

Personnel from the fire district swam out to assist and teamed up with other first responders on the scene in getting the victims from the water and the breakwater to the dock and then to the parking lot for transport to Lake Regional.

Charges expected to be filed against Childers, the operator of the boat, include boating while intoxicated involving the death of another and careless and imprudent operation of a watercraft. He was released pending treatment of his injuries.

ORIGINAL STORY: Charges are expected to be filed in Camden County after a one-boat accident that killed one person and injured three others including the operator of the boat.

The marine division of the highway patrol says it happened around 7:45 Saturday night when 60-year-old Bobby Childers, of Sunrise Beach, was operating the 32-foot Crownline too close to a dock before striking a large wake and then a breakwater.

One occupant, 44-year-old Nicolette McKenna of Sunrise Beach, was pronounced dead at the scene while two others, 21-year-old Connor Wilkie and 49-year-old Curtis Wilkie of Kansas City, suffered minor injuries and were both treated at Lake Regional Hospital in Osage Beach. Childers, the operator of the boat, suffered moderate injuries and was also taken to Lake Regional.

None of the four were wearing a life jacket at the time.

Expected charges to be filed against Childers include boating while intoxicated involving the death of another and careless and imprudent operation of a watercraft. He was released pending treatment of his injuries.