Fatal Boating Accident Winchester Bay, Oct. 29

A Salem woman died in a fatal boating accident Thursday evening, Oct. 25. Peter Warren Anderson of Waialua, Hawaii had been operating a 16′ 6” aluminum Tracker Marine vessel with three additional people on board. The subjects had been crabbing in the bay, when they decided to stop for the evening. Anderson was navigating the vessel on the way back to the port when the engine quit. Attempts to re-start the engine were unsuccessful as the vessel continued to drift with the outgoing tide. The vessel eventually drifted to the north jetty where it was battered by incoming waves. The United States Coast Guard was summoned, but before they were able to arrive, the boat overturned and all four occupants were in the water. Anderson, 46 year-old Morgan Dustin Groth Jr. of Portland and 78 year-old Philip Warren Anderson of Salem were successfully rescued by the United States Coast Guard. 76 year-old Judith Haney Anderson of Salem was eventually located and flown to Lower Umpqua Hospital, where lifesaving efforts were unsuccessful and she was declared deceased. All four of the subjects were wearing personal floatation devices at the time the boat overturned.