Man pulled under by sinking boat at Lake Wappapello

WAPPAPELLO LAKE, Mo. -- An Arnold, Mo., man was treated at an area hospital after he became entangled in a rope and pulled under water as his boat sank Saturday on Wappapello Lake.

The Daily American Republic newspaper reported that at about 8:40 p.m. Saturday, Jonahtan Nickless was operating a johnboat with a jet motor near the Allison Point boat ramp at Lake Wappapello State Park, according to Missouri State Water Patrolman David Nelson.

Nickless, who had off loaded one of his passengers to go get the truck, made what Nelson described as a hard right turn.

"He's in a jet; he made a hard right turn ... a lot of times, they'll dip down" as a result, Nelson said. "As long as you're powering, you can power out of it. (The boat) will dip and then you go."

Whenever Nickless made his turn, "he pulled back on the throttle, and when he did that, (it) caused a wave of water to come over the back, sinking it immediately," Nelson explained.

Nickless' passengers -- Rebecca Boos, 26, and Heather Schaffter, 30, both of Arnold -- found a seat cushion, which they both used it to swim ashore, said Nelson, who described the boat as being out past the buoy about 100 to 120 feet from shore.

"When the boat sank, he had gotten his leg entangled in a rope and was unable to get free from it," Nelson said. "He swam down and tried to get his leg free first.

"Then, he thought 'I need a life jacket.' He swam down multiple times. He did get a life jacket and was able to partially get it on."

Once Boos and Schaffter made it to shore, Nelson said, they contacted State Park Ranger Danny Jaco, who reported the incident to Missouri State Highway Patrol's Troop E Headquarters.

"There were some boats still on the lake" at the time of the incident, but "just not in that area," said Nelson, who subsequently was contacted by Troop E.

When Nelson arrived at 9:12 p.m., he said, he found Nickless "was still entangled in the rope and was exhausted."

Nickless, he said, was holding onto the side of the boat.

"Just the very bow was sticking out of the water, (and) he was holding onto the bow of the boat," Nelson said. "As the boat was bobbing in the water, it was pulling him under, which caused him to inhale water."

Once Nelson freed Nickless and got the 34-year-old to shore, he was transported by East Wayne County Ambulance to Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center for treatment.

Nickless, he said, aspirated a large amount of water, but was treated and released.

"When you are out in a boat, your life jackets have to be accessible," explained Nelson. "When we stop boats and we're checking their safety equipment, a large number of boat operators are not aware they have to have their life jackets accessible."

The definition of accessible, according to Nelson, is "you should be able to put the life jacket on in a reasonable amount of time during an emergency."

Nelson said he always tells boaters having life jackets in storage compartments, stored under the bow or "still in plastic, that's not readily accessible. They need to have their life jackets out in the boat where they can get a hold of them."

In a boat 16 feet or larger, Nelson said, a boat operator has to have a wearable life jacket for everyone on board plus one throwable for the boat.

The throwable, such as a seat cushion, doesn't have to be accessible, he said.

In an unrelated incident, Nelson said, two boats collided on Black River near Hendrickson at about 2:09 p.m. Saturday.

According to the Water Patrol report, Andrew Moore, 41, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., was operating a Shoalrunner upriver when another boat, which was being operated by Coty Pickrell, 24, of Poplar Bluff, entered the river from a side pond.

"Both (operators) saw each other and turned, but still connected," Nelson said. No one was injured in the crash.