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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Marcus L. Martin felt on the spot trepidation Sunday when he noticed 5 adults wading thigh- and waist-deep within the Scioto River. A frequent boater on the Ohio waterway, the Baptist pastor knew the world the place they had been standing to be treacherous. He believes the individuals he captured in a photograph to be the ill-fated group that drowned that day.
“I just remember being taught that area was kind of dangerous, in the sense of there being steep slopes” and a fast drop-off into the river, he informed The Associated Press. Just a few years earlier, Martin had warned a pair of younger individuals taking part in within the water at that very same spot to “be very careful.”
He noticed 5 adults within the water and two kids taking part in on the grassy financial institution close by, monitoring the outline of the group supplied by Delaware County authorities after the drownings.
Pastor could have taken ‘the last picture’ of the group
Martin and his household floated away to take pleasure in a gorgeous summer season night. But once they returned previous the spot about two hours later and noticed the group nonetheless wading within the river, Martin thought to snap a photograph.
“I don’t know what it was. I said, I just need to capture this picture,” he mentioned.
Martin mentioned he is aware of the world properly from 10 years of sailing there and thought of warning the individuals of the potential hazard. But, not like when he’d warned the 2 individuals earlier, there have been two or three boats between him and them and he didn’t wish to cross between them and trigger too many waves within the water.
He’s been dropping sleep over the choice since information broke of 5 individuals drowning that afternoon. It feels “surreal,” he mentioned.
“I believe the picture I took may have been the last picture of them being alive,” he mentioned.
The picture didn’t catch authorities’ preliminary curiosity
Delaware County Sheriff Jeffrey Balzer has mentioned authorities imagine one of many adults started struggling to swim and the others successively went to that particular person’s help. All 5 had been swept underneath and died. The two ladies’s our bodies had been recovered Sunday and the three different our bodies a day later.
Neither Balzer’s workplace nor the native EMS company instantly responded to requests for verification of the picture and those that seem in it.
Martin mentioned he feels sure the group he photographed is of the 5 individuals who perished Sunday; it’s uncommon to see individuals fishing or swimming in that stretch of the river. He mentioned he tried to share the image with each legislation enforcement and a information reporter on the scene the day after the drownings, however nobody appeared .
Honduran authorities confirmed Tuesday that 4 of the 5 adults had been Honduran residents. One was Jose Mario Pineda Dias, 33, one other his spouse Marina Suyapa Regalado, 28. Pineda was from the division of Lempira and Suyapa from the division of Cortés, in response to Flabia Zamora, director of consular affairs on the Honduran Foreign Ministry.
The names of the opposite couple and the fifth particular person can be launched as soon as their households might be notified of their deaths, a spokesperson for Balzer mentioned Wednesday.
U.S., Honduras nonetheless working to determine victims, assist kids
A Honduran embassy mentioned the federal government is involved with the victims’ households and aiding native authorities in verifying their identities. In a press release, it added that Honduras stands able to repatriate any of the victims ought to kin request that — a course of that would take six weeks.
An 8-year-old and a 10-year-old, kids of one of many {couples}, had been orphaned by the tragedy. A boy shouting for his mom was noticed by a passing driver on the day of the accident and reported to 911.
Scott Varner, a spokesman for Franklin County Children Services, mentioned the kids have been within the company’s care since Monday and that they’re working with kin and household pals in Columbus who’re offering them with a brief residence. The kids had been supplied with remedy canine as they coped with the trauma, he mentioned.
The Honduran embassy assertion mentioned the consulate has checked in with relations about their well-being and stands prepared to assist as soon as kin decide on subsequent steps for the youngsters.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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