MAYSVILLE, Ky. -- A man was killed after two boats crashed in the Ohio River Saturday afternoon, according to Lt. Justin Horch.
Search crews looked for 52-year-old Ronnie Parker, of Felicity, for hours after a pontoon boat and a speed boat crashed at about 1:30 p.m. near the William Harsha Bridge. The bridge connects Maysville, Kentucky and Aberdeen, Ohio.
Horch said Parker was ejected from the speed boat, and he said he believes the crash was the result of some sort of malfunction. Horch said the people on the pontoon boat had tried to help those who were ejected when the two boats crashed.
"It spun about 180 degrees, and it threw all the occupants out," Horch said.
A sonar boat located what they believed was the man's body at about 7:30 p.m., Horch said. The Clermont County Dive Team recovered Parker's body about 30 minutes later.
Crews searched from the air as well, but Horch said those attempts were unsuccessful.
“We had several people reaching out to us throughout the day if we needed the assistance ... but with the aviation, the water was so murky, we didn’t feel like an air search would be that successful. We weren’t going to turn anyone down, we needed all hands on deck," Horch said.
One other person was injured and transported to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. The person's condition is not known at this time.
Clermont County’s Search and Rescue and Dive Team, Task Force One of Cincinnati and the Ewing Fire Department assisted the Maysville Police Department in the search.
The crash is being investigated by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife.
