Two die in boat mishap at C.J. Strike Reservoir

A Pocatello couple were killed when their boat hit some rocks at C.J. Strike Reservoir.

A Pocatello man and woman were killed in a boating accident last week at C.J. Strike Reservoir when their 23-foot inboard/outboard day cruiser struck some rocks and flipped over.

The upside-down white and blue boat was first spotted by several other boaters about 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 10, but it wasn't reported to authorities until about 1:30 p.m. that day. "They apparently all thought someone else had reported it and didn't make a call," said Elmore County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Nick Schilz.

The first call originally came in to the Owyhee County Sheriff's Office, which immediately began a search for the boat. Initially, authorities thought the boat was in the Bruneau Arm of the reservoir, but deputies quickly spotted it about 1.5 miles upstream from the Air Force marina on the Elmore County side of the river. The Elmore County Sheriff's Office was notified at 1:45 p.m.

When they got to the scene they saw the body of a man trapped between the boat and some rocks, and shortly afterward discovered the body of a woman entangled in some line and gear in the boat. Both were dead at the time. Although the man displayed signs of severe trauma, it is believed both individuals drowned.

Schilz said it appeared both had been dead for at least 12 hours.

He speculated that the couple had been moving down the river near the riverbank at a relatively high rate of speed either in the dark or at dusk, and did not see a peninsula that stuck out about 80 yards from the riverbank.

The boat first struck some submerged rocks, then three other large rocks above the waterline, the last one causing the boat to flip over. There was severe damage to the underside of the boat.

The couple were identified as Ernest Steve Williams, 53, an officer with the Pocatello Police Department, and Rayma Jean Johnson, 43.

A diver from Idaho Power Company helped authorities remove the bodies from the boat.

The couple had been camping and boating in the C.J. Strike area since at least the preceding Monday.