Boat sinks, one fatality near Big River

UPDATE: Some further tragic details were revealed by NBC Los Angeles HERE. They include:

• Tasha was in the Parker area for her 30th birthday celebration
• Her boyfriend had an engagement ring in his pocket and was planning to propose while out on the river
• She handed her 8 year-old daughter to a man on a wave runner before being pulled under the water by the sinking boat

NBC video:

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A 30 year-old woman died on Saturday after the boat she was on was swamped and sank near Big River Park.

At around 6:29pm on Saturday, San Bernardino County Sheriff Boating Deputies responded to a boat accident call. The operator, 52 year-old Umberto Bagnara of Beaumont, CA, and 6 passengers left the launch ramp at Big River Park in a 19-foot closed bow vessel to go tubing. During the trip, the vessel lost power and became swamped and started to sink.

Six people were able to swim away from the boat but the victim, later identified as 30 year-old Tasha Turner of Hemet, CA, became entangled in the ski rope that was attached to the vessel. Tasha was unable to free herself from the rope and was pulled under the water’s surface as the boat sank. Dive members from the La Paz County Sheriff’s Office located the vessel and due to the strong current, water and lighting conditions, dive missions were canceled until the morning.

On Sunday morning at around 7 a.m., San Bernardino Sheriff’s boating deputies and dive members responded back to the scene of the accident and, with the assistance of La Paz County Sheriff’s Department and Buckskin Fire Department, Tasha Turner was recovered from the water, and the boat pulled to the surface.

According to the Sheriff’s Department there is an ongoing investigation into the incident.