Mom drowns, dad in hospital, 6 kids OK after being stranded in Lake Tahoe boating incident

One woman died, another man experienced severe hypothermia and six children were OK after being stranded in a boating incident on Lake Tahoe near Zephyr Cove on Friday evening, according to authorities.

The man and woman were with their six children on a boat in the lake that straddles California and Nevada’s border when the woman jumped into the water without a life vest to swim, according to Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District Fire Marshal Eric Guevin. After jumping into the water, the woman likely went into shock from the water’s cold temperature, which is around 62 degrees this time of year.

The man, wearing a life vest, dove into the water to save her. That’s when the boat began to drift away, stranding the children on the boat and the adults in the water, according to Fire Marshal Eric Guevin.

The Nevada agency’s personnel responded to the scene after receiving a 911 call believed to be made by someone who heard the children yelling for help, Guevin said. The district’s rescue boat located the vessel several miles away. The children were plucked off the boat and were uninjured, he said.

Several miles away, crews had rescued the man, who had been in the water for over an hour, and transported him to Barton Hospital for severe hypothermia. He was listed Friday night in critical condition, officials said.

The woman, whose identity was not released, was declared dead after crews could not resuscitate her, Guevin said.

Guevin said that the woman was the mother of some of the children, part of a blended family, but authorities did not immediately know the relationships between the people involved and ages of the children.

The incident is under investigation by the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office.

This story was originally published October 10, 2020 at 3:37 PM.