Tuesday, May 11, 2021
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The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) is confirming that two bodies were found off of Oakland Beach on Tuesday.
About Incident
According to DEM, a sailboat took on water and sunk.
Two victims (a male and a female) were recovered and were unresponsive.
The victims were recovered by the Marine Task Force boats and brought into the Oakland Beach Boat Ramp.
The vessel has sunken and the case is under investigation.
DEM is not releasing any additional information at this time.
The Department of Environmental Management Division of Law Enforcement is investigating a fatal boating incident that occurred late yesterday afternoon in Greenwich Bay off the City of Warwick. A 23′ sailboat took on water and sunk, and two victims were recovered and were unresponsive. The victims were recovered by the Marine Task Force boats and brought into the Oakland Beach Boat Ramp.
The vessel has sunken and has not been recovered. Area waters were searched extensively yesterday by several boats, a dive team from Warwick Fire Department and the Warwick Police Department side scan sonar. DEM, Warwick Fire and Warwick Police continue to search for the vessel.
UpdatedWed, May 12, 2021 at 5:10 pm ET
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The boat had not been recovered as of Thursday afternoon, authorities said. (Shutterstock)
WARWICK, RI Two people were pronounced dead Wednesday after the boat they were in sunk in Greenwich Bay in Warwick.
Authorities from the Department of Environmental Management said the 23-foot sailboat took on water and sunk late Wednesday afternoon. Its two passengers were found unresponsive by the Marine Task Force and brought to the Oakland Beach Boat Ramp.
The victims, 62-year-old Robert Puchta and 66-year-old Luann Cole, both of Warwick, were both pronounced dead.
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The sailboat had not been recovered as of Thursday morning. Authorities said a crew of several boats and a dive team from Warwick Fire Department continued to search for the vessel.