Nine Family Members Among 17 Dead In Duck Boat Accident
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BRANSON, Miss. (CBS/CNN) -- The sinking of a duck boat near Branson, Missouri, took the lives of 17 people, including nine members of one family. The amphibious vehicle went down in about 40 feet of water Thursday during rough weather at Table Rock Lake.
The Stone County, Missouri, Sheriff's Office released the names of all victims early Saturday.
Crowds gathered at two separate vigils to remember those killed in the duck boat tragedy and investigators are continuing to look for clues.
The sheriff's office listed nine victims with the surname Coleman, from Indiana.
The list included four children, the youngest aged just 1.
They were: Angela (45), Arya (1), Belinda (69), Ervin (76), Evan (7) , Glenn (40), Horace (70), Maxwell (2) and Reece (9).
"One lady lost nine of 11 members of her family. I had a chance to talk to her, and it's difficult to find the right words to say other than your thoughts and prayers are with her," said Gov. Mike Parson to CNN International on Friday afternoon
The woman's 13-year-old nephew also survived, the governor said.
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Others that died in the tragic boating accident have also been identified as follows:
Steve Smith, 53, and his 15-year-old son, Lance Smith, died in the lake said Glenn Oakes, a church elder at the Osceola Church of Christ. Steve was a vacationing retired teacher from Osceola, Arkansas.
Oakes said he was informed of the deaths by in-laws of the Smiths. Oakes said Smith was a church deacon in their 35-member congregation. "It was a great loss for the church," says Oakes.
Smith's daughter, Loren, reportedly suffered a concussion in the incident, but was rescued and was taken to a local hospital. Pam Smith, the girl's mother, was on shore at the time of the accident.
Robert 'Bob' Williams, 73, was the driver on the duck boat. "He'd talk to anybody," his widow, Judy Williams, said Friday in a phone interview. "He made an effect on many lives. He would give up his life for somebody. That's the kind of man Robert was, is."
His grandson, Victor Richardson, told CNN: "He was a God-fearing man; he was very humble. He was the calmest spirit you could ever meet."
Bob and Judy Williams were married for more than 30 years and lived in Branson, Richardson said.
William and Janice Bright were a husband and wife from the small town of Higginsville, Missouri, near Kansas City, died in the Branson accident, Karen Abbott, Williams Bright's sister, told CNN affiliate WDAF.
The couple had three children, Abbott said: "My great nieces and nephews now have no grandparents."
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Police said Janice Bright was 63 and her husband was 65.
Leslie Dennison was 64 and from Illinois said the Stone County Sheriff's Office said Dennison was 64 and from Illinois.
William Asher was from Missouri and was 69, the sheriff's office said.
The sheriff's office said Rosemarie Hamann was 68 and from Missouri.
Jim Pattison Jr., the president of Ripley Entertainment, which owns the duck boat tour company involved in the incident, told "CBS This Morning" on Friday the boat "shouldn't have been in the water."
"I don't have all the details, but to answer your question, no, it shouldn't have been in the water if, if what happened, happened," he said when asked why the tour continued in such rough conditions.
Now, some are questioning the future of duck boat tours. The company itself says it will be closed for business while the investigation into the Missouri incident continues.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. CNN contributed to this report.)