Eville's wife later told investigators the men had planned to go fishing. Posted on 06/03/2002 7:56:28 AM PDT by ValerieUSA
Coast Guard helicopters found the bodies of three Fort Lewis soldiers in the waters of Willapa Bay yesterday, a day after the men went on a weekend fishing trip.
Sgt. 1st Class David Eville and his friends, 1st Sgt. Howard Hinkle and Sgt. 1st Class Robert Hulin, launched Eville's 20-foot power boat from the boat ramp at Westport Saturday morning, Coast Guard Petty Officer Robert Lanier said. All three wore flotation devices.
Eville's wife later told investigators the men had planned to go fishing.
The bodies were turned over to the Pacific County Coroner's Office, but no cause of death had been determined by yesterday evening, Lanier said.
Coast Guard officials didn't know the circumstances of the tragedy, Lanier said, although they did discover some odd details.
A resident found the men's boat washed up about 9 p.m. at Bay Center on a small peninsula in the center of Willapa Bay. The boat was right side up, Lanier said. Its interior was dry. Its cooler still contained lunches and drinks.
"It doesn't usually occur like that," Lanier said. "So it's really kind of unknown what happened."
The Coast Guard quickly sent an HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Astoria, Ore., to search the water with a thermal imaging system.
Two Jayhawks continued the search yesterday morning, joined by a mobile unit and a motor lifeboat from the Grays Harbor Coast Guard station. Bay Center Fire Department searchers combed the shoreline and found Eville's truck and boat trailer in a parking lot at Westport, which is to the north at the mouth of Grays Harbor.
The boat had to venture into the open Pacific Ocean to get from Westport to Willapa Bay.
The first body was spotted three miles south of Bay Center at about 9 a.m. yesterday, washed up on a tideflat.
The other two were found about 45 minutes later, floating in the water off Leadbetter Point at the entrance to Willapa Bay.
The water temperature was about 55 degrees Saturday night, Lanier said. Winds blew from the northwest at 15 knots, or 11 to 12 mph, and waves were at about 8 feet -- not particularly severe conditions for the often wild Pacific Coast.
The open power boat was apparently not equipped with a VHF radio. It's unknown whether the men were able to call for help if they ran into mechanical problems or other trouble.
The Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Puget Sound in Seattle is investigating the case, Lanier said.
A member of Eville's family, contacted in Olympia, declined to be interviewed.
Eville and Hinkle were with the 1st Special Forces Group, also known as the Green Berets. Some members of the Fort Lewis group were sent to Afghanistan following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
A base press release yesterday did not say whether Eville or Hinkle were on that mission.
Hulin was attached to the 25th Infantry Division (Light).
The water is so screwy I would not even think about Scuba as a threat here. They die pretty quick too....
Several years ago, two experienced fishermen were lost to Lake Michigan while trolling in calm water. Both of them were at the stern watching the fishing gear when the boat struck a floating timber, similar to a telephone pole. The contact angle caused the bow to climb the timber. The sudden change in angle pitched the two men over the side. The boat then settled out and continued to troll away from them. It was found beached on the shore, out of gas . . .
Eight foot seas are ENORMOUS.
Maybe us East Coasters are wusses but going out in 8 foot seas in a 20 footer would be considered absolute crack-smoking lunacy here...wouldn't even be remotely dreamed of by anyone with a shred of responsibility.
I can't imagine anyone going out to fish in a fair-sized power boat and not have an engine "kill" pin attached to them, for this very type situation.
In our area (KY) we have many bass fisherman who use high-speed boats in fishing tournaments. All use engine kill pins with a line attaqched to them, in case they do fall our of the boat. Should the boat be at a high throttle setting and the engine not shut down, the boat will react to thrust and torque, begin to circle. Fisherman have been run down and cut to death by their own boat, as it runs in circles.
Are wave heights measured from crest to trough, or crest to sea level? In other words, when I'm at the trough of a wave, and there's eight feet of water above me, is that a four-foot wave or an eight-foot wave? I'd guess four-foot, but that's my mathematics background talking, not my nautical background.
Concur. I envision the three of them at the stern, dinking with the engine and the long shaft. With the bow light, the right wave comes along and stands the boat up on end, and the three go overboard.
What puzzles me is why they couldn't get back to the boat. 55 degree water is cold, but not incapacitating. I'm thinking, being GIs, they've got to be fit enough to be able to swim back to the boat.
I can't imagine a scenario where they would voluntarily abandon ship. That would be worse than jumping out of a perfectly good aircraft. No mention of alcohol :(
Hypothermia contributed to 3 deaths, but why they were in water remains unknown
Tuesday, June 4, 2002
By MIKE BARBER
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
Three Fort Lewis soldiers died on a fishing trip near Willapa Bay on the weekend by drowning, with hypothermia as a contributing factor, the Pacific County Coroner's Office said yesterday.
No autopsies, however, were performed on the bodies of Sgt. 1st Class Robert J. Hulin, 35, originally from Oklahoma; 1st Sgt. Howard E. Hinkle, 37, from West Virginia; and Sgt. 1st Class David W. Eville, 46, from California, said Vicki Flemetis, chief deputy coroner.
"Drowning is something we see a lot in our area," Flemetis said yesterday, and it was obvious the men had died of "asphyxia from salt water."
The Coast Guard, State Patrol and Pacific County authorities are conducting a recreational boating accident investigation to determine why the trio's fishing trip turned deadly, and expects to have some indication within a few days, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Robert Lanier.
Although the seas were not particularly severe at the time of the accident -- about 8 feet with a 15-knot northwest wind -- shifting sandbars and surface chop can increase instability, Coast Guard officials said.
Eville is survived by a wife and three children. Hulin and Hinkle each are survived by a wife and two children.
Members of the soldiers' families have declined to share their memories of the three. At Fort Lewis, base spokesman Joe Hitt said memorial services are being planned for later this week but no date or time had been set yesterday.
The base also experienced the death of a fourth soldier on the weekend when Specialist Sean P. Lindsey, 21, was killed, and a second soldier, Specialist James R. Downer, 29, injured in a fall early Sunday morning from a cliff after a party at a home near Oxbow Park east of Portland, Ore. Authorities said alcohol might have been a factor.
Downer was in serious condition with back injuries and a broken pelvis at Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Portland. The two apparently had been fooling around when Lindsey began falling and Downer tried to help him, authorities said.
In the boating accident, Eville's wife told authorities the three soldiers had set out on a fishing trip Saturday morning. Eville's 20-foot boat was launched from a ramp in Westport. The first indication of trouble was reported at about 9 p.m., when the boat washed up at Bay Center on a small peninsula in Willapa Bay.
The boat was right side up, its interior had some water but was generally dry and its cooler still contained lunches and drinks. But an orange signal flag was tied to one of the fishing poles and the cord on the boat's small trolling motor was pulled out, as if someone had tried to start it, a possible indication of engine problems, officials said.
The first body was spotted three miles south of Bay Center at about 9 a.m. Sunday on a tide flat. The other two were found 45 minutes later in the water off Leadbetter Point at the entrance to Willapa Bay.
All three men wore flotation devices. And the Global Positioning System and depth finder were still operable. The boat, however, lacked a VHF radio or flares, authorities said.
Eville, a 19-year veteran, and Hinkle, an 18-year-veteran, were Green Berets, members of the 1st Special Forces Group based at Fort Lewis. Hulin, an 18-year veteran, was an infantryman assigned to Company D, 52nd Infantry.
Eville arrived at Fort Lewis in January 1990. Hinkle arrived at Fort Lewis in 1998 and Hulin in August 2000.
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P-I reporter Mike Barber can be reached at 206-448-8018 or mikebarber@seattlepi.com
Aw geez what a miserable thing.
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