Two canoeists perished on Lewis Creek Monday, April 20, 2021. Marty Illick, 70, and husband Terrence Dinnen, 71, were founders of the Lewis Creek Association and longtime conservation advocates for the waterway that eventually claimed them.
The couple were reportedly not wearing PFDs. Their 3.5-year-old grandson was wearing a PFD, and was able to swim to shore. He was eventually found by state troopers inside a vehicle outside his grandparents' house, where he was reunited with his parents.
The accident was not witnessed. Fishermen sighted the bodies of Illick and Dinnen in the water near the Spear Street covered bridge and called police.
The water in this area is moving, but hardly whitewater, class II at most. The level was low and the creek was not deep. News footage shows their canoe broach-pinned on some rocks but it is unclear whether that happened before or after they exited it.
https://www.wcax.com/2021/04/19/emergency-crews-working-to-recover-2-from-lewis-creek/
https://www.sevendaysvt.com/OffMessage/archives/2021/04/19/a-spirited-lewis-creek-advocate-and-her-husband-die-in-boating-accident
Child survives boating accident that killed grandparents
By Olivia Lyons and Dom Amato
WCAX S. Burlington, VT
Published: Apr. 19, 2021
CHARLOTTE, Vt. (WCAX) - A Vermont couple is dead but their grandson is safe after a boating accident in a creek in Charlotte. Some fishermen spotted two bodies in Lewis Creek not far from Spear Street at about 12:30 p.m. Monday and alerted the police.
When first responders arrived at the scene, they learned the couple’s 3.5-year-old grandson was missing and immediately launched a search. About an hour later, crews found the child safe inside a vehicle at the nearby home of his grandparents.
Vermont State Police said the grandparents, Martha Illick, 70, and Terrence Dinnan, 71, who live on Lewis Creek Road, had planned a small canoe trip up Lewis Creek with the boy on Monday.
“At some point, the kayak or canoe overturned and we don’t have any knowledge exactly what happened. But the child was wet. We suspect they ended up into the river,” Vt. State Police Capt. Matt Daley said.
The little boy was wearing a life vest but the adults were not. Police say the child made it to shore and went to his grandparents’ home. They say he was reunited with his parents at the scene.
Rescue crews recovered the bodies of Illick and Dinnan a short distance from their capsized boat. Their bodies were sent for autopsy.
