Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette
24 April 2006
By Jan Ackerman
Friends and family members kept vigil on the banks of the Monongahela River in Fayette County yesterday as the search continued for two men who were missing after a boating accident near the Maxwell Locks and Dam on Saturday.
Ryan Nichols, Luzerne Township fire chief, said helicopters flew over the river looking for the men and volunteer emergency workers walked both the Washington and Fayette County sides of the river yesterday. But there was no sign of the two victims.
Officials had not released their names, but the men were identified by family members as Trent Stupak, about 40, of Washington, Pa., and Stephen Berry Jr., 35, of Amity, Washington County.
"We can't put any divers in the water. There is zero visibility," Chief Nichols said yesterday. On Saturday, he said, a diver swam under the 16-foot Bass boat, which flipped over, but didn't find any signs of the two men.
The men, lifelong friends, went fishing on Saturday afternoon above the dam in a used 16-foot boat that Mr. Stupak recently bought. Their boat apparently got too close to the dam and flipped over but didn't sink. Onlookers said the river was high and choppy.
"They got into the undertow and churning and thrashing around," Chief Nichols said. "The guy at the locks tried to pull them in. He threw them a buoy, but they didn't get it.
"Now it is just a wait-and-see."
The chief said friends and relatives of the two men began arriving on Saturday night at a makeshift staging area about five miles south of Brownsville. Some spent the night in the Luzerne fire station.
Yesterday, more people kept coming, settling in chairs and in their vehicles. By early afternoon, a Salvation Army truck was at the scene, providing food and drinks.
Marjorie and Kenneth Phillips, of Powhatan Point, Ohio, drove to the scene on Saturday night after learning that their son-in-law, Mr. Stupak, was missing.
Mrs. Phillips said Mr. Stupak was married to her daughter, Judy, and the couple has two sons, 9 and 4.
"He loved to hunt and fish," Mrs Phillips said. "He was always helping other people."
Stephen Berry Sr., of Prosperity, Washington County, was standing with family members, waiting for word about his son. He said his son and his wife, Cristy, had two daughters, 13 and 6.
"He grew up hunting and fishing with me," Mr. Berry said about his son.
Edward Nicholson of the South Brownsville Fire Department said the department recovered the fishing boat, which had been pushed against the side of the dam, and took it out of the water. Officials called off their search at dark.