Missing teen's body recovered, others injured after boat accident on Lake Austin
AUSTIN, Texas - Officials have recovered the body of a missing teenager who was thrown from a boat that ran aground on Lake Austin Sunday evening.
The crash also left multiple people hospitalized after being rescued from the water.
Austin police say the body of 14-year-old Kaden Forke was recovered on Monday evening, and he was pronounced dead.
APD’s Lake Patrol unit and Dive Team, Lake Med EMS, Austin Fire Department, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department conducted a thorough search and recovery operation for Forke.
RELATED: Teen killed in Lake Austin boat crash was incoming Lake Travis HS freshman
Officials say the call about the incident was received at about 6 p.m. on August 13 for a water rescue in the 10600 block of River Terrace Circle near the Commons Ford Ranch Metropolitan Park where a boat had run aground into trees with seven people on board.
James Wood sent video from the crash scene to FOX 7 Austin.
"It looked like a large cypress tree had been cut about in half at the thickest part, and the boat was suspended above it in its branches," said Wood.
Wood told FOX 7 Austin that the lake was busy Sunday afternoon, especially between the 360 Bridge and Mansfield Dam.
"We had just been at that spot maybe 15 minutes before. If you're familiar with Lake Austin, it's very narrow. It's more like a river. So we had gone upstream and turned around and came back downstream. And as we did, we thought there were just police boats there, you know, pulling somebody over," Wood said. "And we knew something bad has happened when we saw the scuba team was already on site. The wreck had just happened and there was already a dive team which told me that someone was probably missing or underwater."
Of the seven people involved, two were taken to hospitals with serious injuries, one to St. David's South and one to Dell Seton, while two others were transported to St. David's South with potentially serious injuries. Two people on the boat refused transport.
A teenager was thrown from the boat and couldn't be found. Recovery efforts are still underway in a hard-to-reach area near Commons Ford Ranch Metropolitan Park.
During a briefing Sunday night, authorities explained how it happened.
Assistant Chief Ken Campbell with Ce-Bar ESD10 Fire Dept said only one boat crashed. The boat, according to Campbell, went over the wake of another boat and the operator lost control.
"It bounced to the right, ejected, possibly one patient, maybe more, lost control and then hit the bank on the river right side," said Campbell.
"With a lake that is as narrow as it is. It gets very crowded, very fast. You get a lot of crosscurrents. You get a lot of crosswalks. And so if you're just plowing down the lake as fast as your boat will go, you can have an accident. Even if you're going slow, you can have an accident because there's a lot of traffic out here and there's a lot of things to avoid," Campbell added.
"The message is boat safely. Drive safely. Observe the water. Look out for people in the water. Look out for other boats. Look out for other jet skis. You have to be constantly aware of what's going on around you in a boat because it can change so quickly," said Wood.
The Austin Police Department has taken over the investigation. It is unclear if any boating citations have been issued.