Tuesday, May 12, 2015

HUSBAND, WIFE KILLED IN HEAD-ON BOAT COLLISION ON CHOWAN RIVER, NORTH CAROLINA










MAY 10, 2015

GATES COUNTY, NC (WVEC)

Officers with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) said two boats essentially collided head-on Saturday, killing a husband and wife.

Lieutenant Mark Rich told 13News Now Sunday that 42-year-old Douglas Martin and his wife, 35-year-old Angela Martin, died after a 17-foot bass boat and their 16-foot bass boat hit each other.

The larger boat ran over the top of the Martins' boat.

The Martins were from Sedley, Virginia, which is in Southampton County.
Rich said two men were in the other boat.

He explained that emergency dispatchers in Southampton County got a call about the collision around 2 p.m. Saturday. Crews from Southampton went out to the river where it intersects the Nottoway and Blackwater Rivers. Once they realized it was on the North Carolina side of the state line, they contacted Gates County.

Rich told 13News Now it took hours for NCWRC to reach the boats and to get them back to shore. Crews removed them from the water. Officers will be putting the boats back together as part of their investigation.

The North Carolina State Medical Examiner's Office will perform autopsies to determine how the Martins died.