Boat overturned victims names released
RIMERSBURG (AP) – Authorities have released the names of three men who died after a boat ran aground and overturned on the Allegheny River in western Pennsylvania.
Clarion County officials said the three died and an elderly man was injured when the 21-foot boat apparently ran onto the riverbank about 1:30 a.m. Saturday below Phillipston.
Coroner Terry Shaffer identified the men as Timothy Jones, 62, of Tarentum; Joe Wrbas, 48, of Butler; and Chad Wilson, 34, of Prospect. He said autopsies were planned for today at the Erie County coroner’s office.
Officials said a man in his 70s found pinned underneath the boat was flown to a hospital in Pittsburgh; his condition wasn’t immediately available.
WTAE-TV reports the men were fishing near their camp in Wattersonville in Armstrong County.
Gabriella Offutt, who along with her husband owns the campground, said the injured man is the father of one of the victims, who often spent time in the area during the summer.
“Joe left behind a 4 or 5-year-old daughter, and Chad, he had a little boy last year. He was like a year old so it’s a difficult day today,” Offutt said.
She said she had known the men for 16 years and had seen Jones just the day before.
“He was walking back to get on the jet ski and he stopped and talked to me and we were talking and that was it. I mean he shook my hand and, that was the last time I saw him,” Offutt told the television station.