Video Shows Aftermath of Fatal Boat Crash
Investigators are alluding that alcohol may have been a key factor in this fatal crash. Remember the scene and the story behind. BUI enforcement isn’t the drug, migrant, or homeland security stories we see on the evening news, but it’s an important element in saving lives and preventing tragedies.
A late-night crash July 5 on the Rappahannock River that killed a 25-year-old woman and sent nine others to hospitals in Gloucester, White Stone and Richmond has brought horror to families in Henrico and Hanover counties, where all the victims resided.
Only one of the victims, an unnamed minor, remained hospitalized yesterday. Amanda Brady, 25, a Henrico elementary school teacher who drowned and was planning an Aug. 7 wedding at St. Michael Catholic Church in Henrico, was buried Monday among hundreds of mourners near her childhood home in Gainesville.
The high-speed wreck with a lighted, 12-foot tall steel channel marker remains under investigation. A search warrant alleges that alcohol was consumed before the wreck by the 22-foot boat’s captain, Hanover resident and Richmond Fire Department Capt. Steven W. Nixon.
On the water that night and on the wide river’s southern shore near Water View, a remarkable rescue effort took place involving dozens of volunteers from area rescue squads and professionals from the U.S. Coast Guard, Virginia Marine Resources Commission and Virginia State Police.
These videos, recorded by officers with the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office, offer a glimpse of an all-night endeavor that saved lives and brought comfort to vacationing family members rocked by a wreck whose consequences are far from over.
