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.