The Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Illinois Conservation Police have opened an investigation into the circumstances where two teenage girls died jet skiing Tuesday.
Law enforcement said that the two teens, aged 16-years-old and 13-years-old, were killed while jet skiing from a crash with a boat.
The sheriff’s office claimed that witnesses observed that the jet ski was moving at high speed in Lake Marie to the point where the operator of the boat “was unable to avoid a collision.”
Two Children Killed in Lake Marie Watercraft Crashhttps://t.co/kxcFotvREU pic.twitter.com/ifn9EhXTt3
— Lake County Sheriff (@LakeCoILSheriff) June 19, 2024
“It’s not like a road where you put brakes on. I mean, they’re just going and you have no control. It’s scary, really it is,” Randy Chmiola, a man who often boats in the area, told CBS. (RELATED: REPORT: Two Sent To Hospital, 19 People Rescued After Rowing Team’s Boat Capsizes)
The two teens were on the same vehicle and “were knocked unconscious and thrown into the water,” a Lake County Sheriff’s Office press release reads. The boat’s four occupants managed to pull the teenagers from the water, render aid, and call 9-1-1, the press release continues.
The teenage girls, who wore life vests, were transported to a medical center where they were declared dead. No one else in the crash was injured.
Police investigators said that there was no sign any of the drivers of the watercraft were impaired at the time of the crash, ABC 7 reported.
The teenagers were identified as 16-year-old Sarina Vootkur and 13-year-old Elle Kim, WGN 9 reported. Jake Cunanan founded a GoFundMe page to raise money for a memorial for Vootkur. “She was my girlfriend,” Cunanan wrote. “She loved soccer, journaling, filming, editing, and wanted to be an English teacher,” he added.
“The Lake County Sheriff’s Office extends its condolences to the families of the girls and others involved in this tragic boat crash,” the Lake County Sheriff’s Office press release reads.
