Man reportedly drunk when boat overturned

OLYMPIA — A 42-year-old Olympia man had a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit when his boat flipped on the Nisqually River on Thursday, sending him and four passengers into the frigid, fast-moving water, according to court documents.

Five-year-old Sean McCartney drowned. His 9-year-old brother, Cameron, and another man, Bryan Pierce, were still missing and presumed dead Friday night after a full day of searching that included dive teams and sonar specialists from several area agencies. The search is expected to continue today, said Thurston County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Dave Pearsall.

The boys' mother, Erin McCartney, 36, of Yelm — whose husband is serving in Iraq — was helped to shore Thursday by witnesses who saw her drifting downstream, clinging to the capsized boat.

Vincent Eric Farler, who had been driving the boat, also made it to shore.

Friday afternoon, as sheriff's deputies and others searched for the bodies of Cameron and Pierce, Farler hung his head as he appeared in Thurston County Superior Court via video from his jail cell. A judge found probable cause to hold Farler on suspicion of three counts of homicide by watercraft and one count of boating under the influence of alcohol. Bail was set at $75,000 — more than the $50,000 prosecutors had requested.

Prosecutors said they expect to file charges next week. Court documents say Farler's blood-alcohol level was 0.193 percent when he took a breath test shortly after the incident. The legal limit is 0.08 percent.

Thursday afternoon, Farler drove his flat-bottom boat to where Pierce, McCartney and her sons were splashing and having a picnic on the banks of the Nisqually River, east of Lacey, and offered them a ride, according to court documents. The four climbed into the boat and headed with Farler to a campsite, where the adults started drinking Farler's beer and a bottle of brandy bought by McCartney, the documents said.

At about 6 p.m., they all climbed back into the boat. Farler started driving in tight circles and the boat capsized. All five were thrown into the river — which a sheriff's deputy described as "turbulent and unpredictable" — 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.

McCartney told investigators she surfaced under the boat and was able to get out from under it. While clinging to the boat, she saw her friend, Pierce, trying to grab hold of her 5-year-old, Sean, court documents say.

A witness told police he saw the two boys floating downstream ahead of the boat, and he ran down to the river just below the railroad trestle where he waded out, but found the current too strong. At that point, court documents say, only one of the boys' heads was still visible.

Witnesses said Farler's first questions when he swam to shore were about the people on board his craft and whether any of them had made it out, court documents say. He said he didn't know their names.

Farler's parents and two sisters were at the courthouse for his probable-cause hearing Friday. His mother and one of his sisters began to cry when the judge read aloud the charges he could face.

Farler's father, who said he owns the boat, disputed the investigators' assertion that there were no life jackets available.

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