The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Enforcement Division is investigating a single vessel double fatality that occurred in East Baton Rouge Parish on Sept. 5.
LDWF agents are investigating a boating incident that claimed the lives of Dustin Gore, 29, of St. Amant, and Trent Kelly, 27, of Baton Rouge.
Agents were notified by a 23-year-old survivor of the boating incident around 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 5. According to the female, they crashed into a tree that was in the Upper Amite River about three or four miles north of Bayou Manchac. Since the survivor was in the water without a personal flotation device (PFD), agents directed her to get a PFD from the wrecked boat to keep her afloat until help could arrive.
A Good Samaritan was able to get the female to the Carew Harris Boat Launch where she was then transported to the Our Lady of the Lake Hospital in Baton Rouge to be treated for non-life threatening injuries.
When agents arrived to the scene they found a submerged 16-foot aluminum vessel with a 75 horsepower engine wrecked amongst a downed tree in the water. Agents found the deceased bodies of Gore and Kelly near the wrecked boat and transported them back to the boat launch.
LDWF will be the lead investigative agency for this boating incident. The bodies of Gore and Kelly were turned over to the EBR Parish Coroner’s Office to determine an official cause of death.
