DEEP identifies boater killed in Old Saybrook accident; search continues for 2 others

OLD SAYBROOK, CT (WFSB) – The search for two missing boaters in Old Saybrook following a fatal boating accident on Labor Day continued Wednesday morning.

At dawn the crews returned to the water.

The missing men, who police said were all men in their 20s, were among nine people aboard a 31-foot boat that crashed into a dock at high speed. The group was returning from Block Island.

The accident occurred on Monday around 9:15 p.m. at the mouth of the Connecticut River near Harbor One Marina.

One person died. The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection identified the person as Christopher Hallahan, 34, of Westbrook.

As the sun set on Tuesday evening, emergency services called off their search for the missing men.

The crews of five boats searched the waters from sunrise to sunset.

On Wednesday they said they hoped to have a few more ships on the water to help.

State police boats used sonar and side-scan sonar, which they described as radar for the water, to help crews search for bodies.

The victims’ damaged motorboat was pulled out of the water shortly before noon on Tuesday, not far from the jetty where it had hit.

Investigators said they plan to use GPS receivers to determine speed and distance.

Capt. Keith Williams of DEEP’s EnCon Police said the jetty has a lighted entry buoy with lighthouses on the side, but investigators will take a closer look at the safety of the area.

The boat’s driver remained in critical condition as of Wednesday. Williams said the other six were hospitalized, but many of them have since been released.

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