Two young kids’ Sunday outing with their grandparents at the Jersey Shore ended in tragedy when the family’s boat crashed into a channel marker and sent the children flying into the water, killing them.
The tragic 9-year-old girl and her 7-year-old brother were with their grandpa Stephen Schneider, 63, and grandmother Laurie Schneider, 64, both of Bayville in Berklely Township, on a 30-foot Tidewater Custom 280 when the craft crashed into the structure around 9 p.m. in Barnegat Bay in the Intercoastal Waterway, WTXF-TV reported.
Both youngsters were thrown into the water. Their stricken grandparents eventually found them, but the kids were unresponsive, the outlet said.
Berkeley Councilman James Byrnes told News12 New Jersey that he witnessed the young boy wearing a life jacket while first responders tried to revive him — to no avail.
“The firemen jumped right in” to try to save them, Byrnes told the outlet. “The one child had a life jacket next to him. Of course, with CPR being performed, they’re going to remove it.
“They’re going to be living with this forever in our hearts, and our thoughts go out to the family,” the councilman said of the children’s kin.
“This is a real tragedy.”
Stephen Schneider was piloting the boat when it crashed into the marker, which had its lights properly functioning at the time, Byrnes said.
Local resident Michelle Monticello said the fatal mishap has shaken the quiet community.
“It’s a very tight community feeling very disheartened, very sad,” she told News12.
No charges have been filed. The incident remains under investigation.
