Search continues for boy, 9, and man after boat capsizes in Nisqually River

A 42-year-old Olympia man whose boat capsized on the Nisqually River Thursday with a woman, her two young children and another man on board has been held on suspicion of three counts of homicide by watercraft and one count of boating under the influence of alcohol.

Thurston County sheriff's deputies have recovered the body of a 5-year-old boy. They are still searching the river for the boy's 9-year-old brother and another man.

Vincent Farler drove his flat-bottom boat to where Erin McCartney and her children, Cameron and Sean, and her friend, Bryan Pierce, were splashing and having a picnic on the banks of the Nisqually River, east of Lacey, on Thursday and offered them a ride, according to court charging documents filed today. The four climbed into the boat and headed with Farler to a campsite, where the adults started drinking, the Thurston County Superior Court papers said.

At some point, they all climbed back into the boat. Farler started driving in tight circles and the boat capsized. All five were thrown into the water upstream from the Interstate 5 bridge south of Fort Lewis. Nobody was wearing a life jacket and there were no personal flotation devices on board the boat, court papers said.

In court this afternoon, a man who identified himself as Farler's father said that isn't true. He said the boat is his, and there were life jackets available.

Farler is being held in the Thurston County Jail on $75,000 bail.

Sheriff's Lt. Chris Mealy said a witness reported a woman clinging to the overturned craft on the river and screaming that children were in the water Thursday evening.

"People that know this river tell me the river is high and it's very fast, and the area is very treacherous as far as river depth," Mealy said. "It's turbulent and unpredictable."

McCartney, a Yelm mother who is raising her children while her husband serves in Iraq, and Farler reached shore safely.

McCartney told authorities that she saw Pierce try to reach for 5-year-old Sean but he couldn't grab him. A neighbor who saw the boat accident told police they saw one of the children floating down the river ahead of the boat, court papers said.

Divers entered the water at first light, said Jim Chamberlain, Thurston County Sheriff's Office chief deputy of operations.

The search is being conducted by Pierce and Thurston County dive teams, with help from Seattle Search and Rescue.

Seattle Times staff reporters Jennifer Sullivan and Susan Gilmore contributed to this report.