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.