A husband and wife died and another person was injured in an East Idaho boating accident on Monday, while multiple people have died in ATV wrecks across the region over the past few days.
The boating accident occurred on Monday afternoon at Blacktail Park on the Ririe Reservoir, which is located east of Idaho Falls.
According to the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office, 63-year-old Idaho Falls resident Mike Kingston was operating a boat on the reservoir with two passengers, 68-year-old Neal Jenkins and 65-year-old Elaine Jenkins, both of Centerville, Utah.
The sheriff’s office said that while completing a turn in the water, all three individuals were ejected from the vessel. They were then injured after being struck by the unoccupied boat as it turned in circles around them.
Once the unoccupied vessel stopped, other boaters in the area pulled Kingston and Neal and Elaine Jenkins out of the water and began life-saving efforts.
Emergency personnel arrived at approximately 3:15 p.m. Elaine Jenkins was pronounced dead at the scene, while Neal Jenkins was transported by Idaho Falls Ambulance to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries later on Monday.
Kingston was transported by Air Idaho Rescue helicopter to EIRMC, where he is still being treated.
The incident is under investigation by the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office. Anyone who witnessed the boating accident is asked to contact Deputy Mike Vasquez through dispatch at 208-529-1200.
In a press release issued on Tuesday morning, the sheriff’s office thanked the witnesses and bystanders for their quick response in pulling the victims from the water and initiating life-saving efforts.
In a separate incident a few hours earlier, a Washington woman was killed in an ATV accident at the west end of the St. Anthony Sand Dunes.
According to the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, Allen Connelly and 58-year-old Kimberley Bailey, both of Vancouver, Washington, were ejected from a Polaris RZR 800 after the vehicle rolled several times.
Connelly, was who driving the ATV, was transported to Madison Memorial Hospital in Rexburg by Saint Anthony ambulance. However, life-saving efforts to revive Bailey, the passenger on the ATV, were unsuccessful.
In a separate incident near the Idaho/Wyoming border, a Texas man visiting the area to watch the total solar eclipse died in an ATV crash.
According to Teton County sheriff’s Sgt. Todd Stanyon, 30-year-old John Benson Mione and a friend were riding about a mile and a half east of the Idaho/Wyoming border on Sunday when their ATV got stuck.
Stanyon said Mione stepped behind the ATV to keep it from rolling down a hill, but it tipped and the roll bar struck and pinned him.
The friend attempted life-saving procedures, but Mione was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to the Associated Press, Stanyon called the death “one of those scary, freak accidents.”
In a separate incident on Saturday, a 33-year-old man died when he drove a four-wheeler off a 15-foot drop-off in northern Utah.
The incident occurred at around noon in Logan Canyon’s Franklin Basin area about 4 miles off U.S. Highway 89.
According to the Associated Press, bystanders attempted to perform CPR on the ATV’s driver, Cassidy Wakely, of Logan, but emergency crews were unable to revive him and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators say Wakely was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash but sustained significant internal injuries. Deputies believe that speed was a significant factor in the fatal accident.
