Family outing with canoe ends tragically

Adults and boy, 6, likely drowned, authorities say

The bodies of three adults and a 6-yearold boy from the Houston area have been recovered from a lake outside Crockett.

Authorities recovered the bodies of three adults and a 6-year-old boy from the Houston area believed to have drowned Sunday in a canoeing accident at a lake outside Crockett.

The incident occurred at Houston County Lake on Sunday afternoon. The group — identified as Antonio Gutierrez, 49; Amy Mendez, 47; Juan Cantu, believed to be in his 50s; and 6-year-old Sebastian Chavez — are believed to be related and were at the lake for a family gathering, said Texas Parks and Wildlife spokesman Steve Lightfoot.

How and why the canoe capsized is still unknown, Lightfoot said. No foul play is suspected.

“From what I understand there weren’t any high winds that day,” he said, adding that authorities have not yet located any witnesses who saw the incident.

“Unfortunately, we many never know what happened.”

Authorities began a search for the group after an employee from the Crockett Family Resort — where they had rented the canoe — became concerned when the four

failed to return the boat on time, Lightfoot said.

Texas Parks and Wildlife game wardens recovered the bodies of Sebastian, Mendez and Cantu that day near a northern part of the lake. Gutierrez’s body was recovered on Monday morning around 10:10 a.m. in the same area, authorities with the Houston County Sheriff ’s Office said.

Life preservers found

Game wardens found three of the four life preservers floating in the water and do not believe that all the victims were wearing flotation devices, Lightfoot said.

Witnesses who saw the foursome in the canoe that day, say the child was apparently wearing a life vest, Houston County Sheriff ’s Office authorities said. They speculated that the boy’s vest may have not been applied or attached correctly.

‘Safe boating’ stressed

Lightfoot called the drownings tragic, noting that authorities do not often see incidents with paddle crafts, like canoes and kayaks, that result in multiple fatalities.

“But it does reinforce the need to practice safe boating,” he said. “And that involves proper personal flotation devices for everyone on board and a knowledge of safe boating.”

No further information was immediately available.