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| Harrison Smith, 22, of Signal Mountain Tennessee |
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| Tanner Poeschel, 22, of Fort Worth, Texas |
YOUNG MEN DO SO MANY STUPID THINGS, SUCH AS SPEEDING ON A JET SKI AT 1:30 AM! TALKING ABOUT PLAYING RUSSIAN ROULETTE WITH YOUR LIFE. THEN OF COURSE WE KNOW THAT THE MALE BRAIN DOES NOT FULLY MATURE UNTIL THE MID 20s (for most people, that is).
Sheriff Deputies in Palo Pinto County say two men are dead after a jet ski crash on Lake Palo Pinto.
Investigators say the men went out on a jet ski just before 1:30 a.m. Saturday morning.
Friends of the two men, who were at the lake house where the group was staying, tell police that shortly after the two men left they heard a loud crash.
Rescue crews later found the jet ski, a lot of debris, and the bodies of both men.
Texas Game Wardens have identified the men as Tanner Poeschel, 22, of Fort Worth and Harrison Smith, 22, of Signal Mountain Tennessee.
Investigators say both men were wearing life jackets.
The Texas Game Wardens and the Palo Pinto County Sheriff's Office are working together to find out what led to the crash.
These two appear to be gay lovers. Going for a jet ski ride at 1:30 am while the "girlfriend" stays behind? Give me a break. They met their Creator for sure, in the Heavens this time.
We did receive quite a few comments and phone calls regarding this tragedy. They all alleged that they did not believe that these two were gay lovers. And that Smith would have proposed to his girlfriend.
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Two men died early Saturday in Jet Ski crash on Lake Palo Pinto, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.
Game wardens and the Palo Pinto Sheriff's Office responded to a 911 call just before 1:30 a.m. to the lake 80 miles southwest of Fort Worth, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said.
The caller reported that two of his friends were on a Jet Ski when heard a loud crash.
Officers found the bodies of TCU student Tanner Poeschel, 22, of Fort Worth and recent University of Missouri graduate Harrison Smith, 22, of Tennessee. Both were wearing life jackets, the wildlife agency said.
Investigators think the Jet Ski struck a boat dock, an agency spokeswoman told the Star-Telegram.
Smith was set to graduate in December with a degree in economics, he told the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, where he was interning for the summer. His hobbies included "being in or near water," he said.
Connor Vaccaro, Smith's former roommate, told the Signal Mountain Times Free Press that Smith and Poeschel had gone to the lake with another friend and Smith's girlfriend for the weekend.
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Officials are investigating a double-fatality jet-ski crash on Lake Palo Pinto
By Mitch Mitchell
mitchmitchell@star-telegram.com
LAKE PALO PINTO
Authorities are trying to determine what caused a jet-ski crash that killed two people early Saturday at Lake Palo Pinto.
Texas game wardens and the Palo Pinto County Sheriff’s Office responded to a 911 call about 1:20 a.m. alerting them to a possible accident involving a jet ski and two people on Lake Palo Pinto, a news release from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said.
The caller said that two of his friends had left the lake house where they were staying aboard a jet ski and that he later heard a loud crash from the direction where they were headed.
Following a search of the area, officers located the jet ski and a debris field along with the bodies of two fatally injured men —Tanner Poeschel, 22, of Fort Worth, and Harrison Smith, 22, of Signal Mountain, Tenn. Both victims were wearing a life jacket, the release said.
On Sunday, a parks and wildlife spokeswoman said investigators believe the jet ski struck a boat dock but had no other details to release.
The cause of the accident is under investigation.
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A 22-year-old Signal Mountain man died in a jet-ski crash Saturday outside of Fort Worth, Texas, a local newspaper reported.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram said Harrison Stokes Smith and a friend were jet-skiing when the craft collided with a dock. Smith and Tanner Poeschel, 22, of Fort Worth, were killed.
Both were students at Texas Christian University. Smith was scheduled to graduate in December with a degree in economics, he told the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce in an interview earlier this year. He was interning with the group.
Harrison Smith is the son of Stokes and Kimberly Smith, of Signal Mountain.
His good friend and former TCU roommate, Connor Vaccaro, said by telephone Sunday from Fort Worth that Harrison had a gift for joy and a passion for helping people around him make the most of their lives.
"He was one of those guys who, no matter what you're doing, he's having fun doing it," Vaccaro said. "He was always laughing, he never said anything bad about anyone and he always saw the better in people."
Vaccaro said Smith went with two friends and his girlfriend for a weekend at Lake Palo Pinto, a 2,400-acre reservoir 80 miles southwest of Fort Worth. Vaccaro was supposed to go too, but he was moving to a new apartment over the weekend.
The Star-Telegram quoted a news release from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department saying the 911 call came in about 1:20 a.m.
According to the newspaper, the caller said the two had left the lake house aboard a jet ski and that he heard a loud crash from the direction where they were headed.
Officers found the jet ski and a debris field along with the bodies. Both men were wearing their life jackets, the newspaper reported.
It said the accident is being investigated by the Texas Game Warden Forensics Reconstruction and Mapping Team, along with officials from the Palo Pinto County Sheriff's Office.
Vaccaro posted on Facebook after the accident: "Nothing breaks my heart more than hearing the news today. Its crazy how fast life can be taken away. Harrison Stokes Smith you have been one of my closest friends and one of the most selfless people I have known. You always knew how to smile at everything, and love everyone so passionately. Just wish I had one more time to laugh with you. All I know is that I will be carrying your goals and aspirations with me as I go through life. Cant wait to see you soon and I love you man."