An Ohio woman has been arrested after an 11-year-old girl disappeared during a boating outing on Lake Erie, a case that took an even more tragic turn when another passenger was found dead in the water the following day, according to reports.
Angelique Cunningham, 11, vanished Wednesday night while on a boat in Lake Erie’s western basin with her neighbor, 41-year-old Kristen Gerrie, and 38-year-old Jonathan Ciha, whose body was discovered Thursday, WTVG reported.
Gerrie was taken into custody Friday and charged with endangering children in connection with the incident, the local ABC affiliate reported.
Authorities said Gerrie had been responsible for supervising Cunningham when she, the child and Ciha departed from Meinke Marina in Jerusalem Township.
According to the outlet, Cunningham disappeared from the boat less than 15 minutes after the group set out on the water.
Search crews spent days looking for the Toledo pre-teen before officials suspended the search Friday evening, saying they had exhausted all available resources.
The Toledo Fire and Rescue Department later said the effort to find Cunningham had shifted from a rescue mission to a recovery operation.
On Sunday, the body of a girl was found near the Lake Erie shoreline, though officials had not yet confirmed the person’s identity, WTVG reported.
Ciha was found dead in the water on Thursday morning after a horrified boater called 911. A deputy coroner said the man drowned, but the circumstances and manner of his death remain under investigation.
Gerrie somehow swam to shore after the incident, and authorities later questioned her in connection with the mysterious death and disappearance.
The boat was recovered on Thursday at the nearby West Sister Island.
“Our thoughts remain with the family and everyone affected by this tragedy. We ask the public to continue giving emergency crews the space needed to conduct this difficult operation,” the Toledo Fire and Rescue Department wrote in a statement.
Gerrie is being held behind bars on $50,000 bail, according to booking records.
Authorities have not elaborated on what events unfolded on the boat, and it’s unclear what Ciha’s relationship to Gerrie and Cunningham was.
An investigation into the incident remains ongoing.
