MOHAVE COUNTY, Ariz. - Authorities are continuing their investigation of Friday’s boating incident on Lake Havasu that claimed the lives of a Morris couple’s son and his wife.
The bodies of Brenda and Michael Bedeker, both 45 and of Ottawa, were recovered from 32 feet of water at about 8:20 a.m. Sunday. The accident happened at about 8 p.m. Friday, July 15.
Bedeker, part-owner and fleet maintenance manager for A & R Logistics Inc., was the son of Sally and James Bedeker of Morris, and brother to Cynthia (Patrick) Brankin of Western Springs. Her parents were Donna and James Easton of Utica. The couple were parents to a daughter, Cortney Bedeker of Ottawa.
Mohave County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Patricia Carter said today that Michael Bedeker was driving the boat when it made an abrupt turn in the water, ejecting him and his wife, as well as Lisa and Robert Snook of Ottawa, who was riding with them.
The Snooks were pulled from the water by rescuers and transported to Havasu Regional Medical Center with minor injuries.
Carter did not know if Bedeker was experienced in handling a boat. She said the couple was not wearing life jackets, which is not required in Arizona. Many people do not wear them when normally just zooming along in a boat, she noted.
The two couples were traveling in a 36-foot Eliminator at an estimated speed of more than 50 miles an hour when the accident occurred. She said the Eliminator was possibly a jet-type boat without a propeller.
Authorities are trying to determine what made the boat abruptly turn, throwing out the four boaters and continuing to spin in erratic circles.
“We believe it was a malfunction in the boat,” she said. “The boat could have hit something in the lake.”
Carter did not know if the Bedekers knew how to swim, or whether alcohol could have been a factor in the incident.
“They had just left from dinner (at a lakeside restaurant) when they got into the boat to head back to where they came from on the lake,” she said.”
The results of toxicology tests on the couple could take several months, and that from the autopsy several days to two months, Carter said.
A private memorial Mass for the couple will be at St. Columba Church in Ottawa, with the Rev. David Kipfer officiating. Visitation is after 3 p.m. Friday, July 22, at Gladfelter Funeral Home, 1601 E. Norris Dr., Ottawa.