A trio of treasurer hunters may have found the boat that sunk off Sandy Island about a month ago and killed three.
David Toller, who refers to his crew as a search exploration recovery team, ran across an article on The Sun News website last week about the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources unsuccessful effort to locate the boat.
At about 8:30 this morning Toller and his crew went out to where DNR suspected the boat sank, about 30 yards from the Sandy Island dock, and searched the site using side scan sonar.
Within an hour, Toller said he and his crew were able to identify a 15-foot boat, on their monitor. It was about 100 yards from the dock.
The men mapped the coordinates of the boat and contacted DNR with their find. The agency is expected to send divers to look at the boat to verify if it is in fact the missing vessel Thursday morning, said Lt. Robert McCullough, with DNR.
DNR's divers went out Thursday to look for the boat. They were not successful. Their boats are not equipped with side scan sonar, because they are more expensive and there is no funding available, McCullough said.
Diver Robert ''Bob" Gecy, owns a boat with side scan sonar and was one of the three searching for the boat this morning.
He dove again this afternoon to get a look at the identification number of the vessel to determine if it was the missing boat. He memorized the numbers during his dive: 00147HM.
Gecy also noted the brand of the engine: an Evinrude.
McCullough confirmed the numbers match the registration on the missing boat and the brand of the engine also matches.
''That would make you think it's the boat,'' McCullough said.
Although, the crew may have to wait until tomorrow to get absolute confirmation that the boat is the one involved in February's accident, they are excited about their find.
''I thought it would be good closure for the family,'' said Toller, of Myrtle Beach who works in law enforcement.
Six people were aboard the 15-foot fiberglass boat, a 1973 Marquis, about 30 yards from the shore of Sandy Island at about 9:45 p.m Feb. 18 when it started to take in too much water.
Shaquatia Robinson, 19; her mother Lou Ann Robinson, 47; and cousin Rishard Pyatt, 18, drowned. The pilot of the boat and her 5-year-old daughter were able to make it to shore. A baby boy, Zyair Smalls, was rescued and remains hospitalized at the Medical University of South Carolina.
"At least it will allow DNR to find out what happened in order to prevent it in the future,'' Gecy said.
!!!
