COLUMBUS, Ohio – Marcus L. Martin says unease set in almost immediately Sunday when he noticed five adults standing hip- to waist-deep in the Scioto River. Martin, a Baptist pastor and longtime boater on the central Ohio waterway, recognized the stretch as especially hazardous. He now believes the people he photographed were the same group later identified by authorities after a deadly drowning incident that day.
“I just remember being taught that that area was kind of dangerous, in the sense of there being steep slopes” and a sudden drop-off into deeper water, Martin told The Associated Press. Years earlier, he said, he had cautioned two young people playing in the river at the same location to “be very careful.”
What Martin saw Sunday appeared to match the account later released by Delaware County officials: five adults in the water, with two children playing nearby on the grassy riverbank.
Martin and his family continued down the river, trying to take in what had been a pleasant summer evening. But about two hours later, as they passed the area again and noticed the group still wading in the Scioto, something prompted him to take a photograph.
“I don’t know what it was. I said, I just need to capture this picture,” he said.
After a decade of boating in the area, Martin said he understood the risks and considered calling out a warning. This time, however, two or three boats were positioned between his vessel and the group. He said he hesitated to cut across and create additional waves in the water.
Since learning that five people drowned later that afternoon, Martin said he has struggled to sleep and has replayed the moment repeatedly. The tragedy, he said, still feels “surreal.”
“I believe the picture I took may have been the last picture of them being alive,” he said.
Delaware County Sheriff Jeffrey Balzer has said authorities believe one of the adults began struggling to swim and the others successively went to that person’s aid. All five were swept under and died. The two women’s bodies were recovered Sunday and the three other bodies a day later.
Neither Balzer’s office nor the local EMS agency immediately responded to requests for verification of the photo and those who appear in it.
Martin said he feels certain the group he photographed is of the five people who perished Sunday; it’s rare to see people fishing or swimming in that stretch of the river. He said he attempted to share the picture with both law enforcement and a news reporter at the scene the day after the drownings, but no one seemed interested.
Honduran authorities confirmed Tuesday that four of the five adults were Honduran citizens. One was Jose Mario Pineda Dias, 33, another his wife Marina Suyapa Regalado, 28. The other couple and the fifth individual have yet to be identified.
The government of Honduras said it is working with the U.S. to bring their bodies home. The repatriation process could take at least a month.
An 8-year-old and a 10-year-old, children of one of the couples, were orphaned by the tragedy. They were taken into initial custody by the state of Ohio, but arrangements were being made to reunite them with relatives in Honduras.
