Eight people were killed in a sudden storm while boating on Lake Tahoe over the weekend. They were friends and family who were together for a birthday party, according to a spokesperson for some of the victims.
One of the people who died in the lake was Paula Bozinovich, whose 71st birthday the boating trip was a part of. Their 27-foot powerboat flipped over during a sudden, violent storm on Saturday.
Tuesday, the names of the people who died were released by the authorities. The boat sank near D.L. Bliss State Park because of 8-foot waves and winds that reached 35 mph.
As the global head of strategic sourcing and procurement at DoorDash, Joshua Antony Pickles was one of the people who died. He was from San Francisco.
He was on the ship with several family members who also died. His parents, Terry Pickles, 73, and Bozinovich, 71, both of Redwood City, and his uncle, Peter Bayes, 72, of Lincoln (Placer County), were also on board.
A 71-year-old man from Auburn (Placer County), two 69-year-olds from Honeoye, New York, and a 63-year-old man from Springwater, New York, were also killed.
The boating accident is one of the deadliest in recent Lake Tahoe history. It has shocked the close-knit boating and lakeside communities.
The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement, “Our deepest condolences go out to the families of those who died and to everyone who has been affected by this terrible event.”
Officials said that two passengers survived and were taken to the hospital with hypothermia and other injuries.
In a statement, Josh Pickles’s wife, Jordan Sugar-Carlsgaard, said that the group had been having a “joyful time” on the lake before the storm killed them.
She said it was “devastating” to lose him.
“There are no words to describe the pain and anguish we feel knowing they died,” she said, thanking the U.S. Coast Guard, the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office, and other first responders for their “profound” help with the search and recovery.
The boat that was involved in the accident was owned by Pickles and his father. They bought it brand new about a year ago.
Singer says the pair had only taken it out twice before, and both times were during the previous boating season.
They lived in two different places, one in the Bay Area and one in Lake Tahoe. Their daughter is 7 months old. Sugar-Carlsgaard was in Lake Tahoe at the time of the accident, but she stayed on land to take care of their child. She is a senior executive assistant to the CEO of Airbnb.
Hugh Alexander, who lives across the street from the Pickles’ Tahoe home, said, “He was just really, really nice.” “He took his wife, puppy, and dogs for walks down to the beach, where he would throw the dogs small floaty toys.”
The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office’s Sgt. Kyle Parker said on Tuesday that it was too early in the investigation to say if life jackets were used.
The chief financial officer of DoorDash, Ravi Inukonda, said that the company was very sad about Pickles’ death.
They said in a statement, “Josh loved his team and was an inspiration to everyone who had the honor of knowing him.” “In the almost seven years he worked at DoorDash, he brought a positive energy that made everyone around him feel better.” “Josh’s death is deeply felt.”
A company spokesperson also said that Pickles was the global head of strategic sourcing and procurement in the finance department.
Diane Lindsay wrote on Facebook that her brother Stephen Lindsay was visiting Lake Tahoe from western New York. She said, “There are no words to describe the numbness and heartbreak that my family is feeling from the tragic boating accident in Lake Tahoe.” We will never be able to fill the hole in our hearts again.
When called Tuesday, Lindsay declined to say anything else. She said that her brother was a great person in the social media post, and hundreds of other people agreed with her.
People who knew Stephen Lindsay well wrote that he was friendly and always had a smile to share. Someone called him the “life of the party,” and someone else called him “a tough sports competitor.” Others talked about how much they loved fishing and hunting with him.
One person wrote, “This terrible loss will leave our little town of Honeoye reeling forever.”
Guck and Giullari seemed to be dating on social media. They both went to Spencerport High School, which is near Rochester, New York.
It says on Giullari’s LinkedIn page that she just retired after working for a local electronics company for more than 20 years. She said she liked to work with her hands and had many interests, such as pottery.
Guck looked like he loved being outside. He wrote that he was “getting ready for another round of golf” in an April Facebook post that had a picture of the sunrise over Myrtle Beach.
Frankel, O’Leary’s ex-wife, remembered him as a “wonderful” person who loved their adult daughter Brittany very much. She said that they had talked last on Father’s Day.
Frankel, who lives in Woodside, said, “What happened is just terrible.” “He was a wonderful person.”
Frankel said she thinks O’Leary knew the other deaths on the boat and was friends with them.
Divers from El Dorado, San Joaquin, and Washoe counties worked on the recovery for three days. Before ending its search for people on Sunday morning, the U.S. Coast Guard looked over more than 390 square miles.
The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office thanked more than a dozen groups for their help, such as California State Parks, South Lake Tahoe Fire, Tahoe Douglas Fire, the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, and local EMS units.
