The victims of the Lake Tahoe boat capsizing have been formally identified by the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office Coroner’s Division.
Eight people lost their lives in the tragedy, including four people from the same family who were celebrating a birthday.
Five of those killed were from northern California, and three were from upstate New York.
Paula Bozinovich, 71, of Redwood City, California, was on a birthday trip with her husband, Terry Pickles, 73; their son, Joshua Pickles, 37, of San Francisco, and an uncle, Peter Bayes, 72, of Lincoln, California. All four lost their lives.
The other victims were friends on the boat and have been identified as Timothy O’Leary, 71, from Auburn, California; Theresa Giullari, 66, and James Guck, 69, both from Honeoye, New York; and Stephen Lindsay, 63, from Springwater, New York.
The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that it extends its deepest heartfelt condolences to the families of those who were lost and all those who have been affected by this tragic event.
A statement from Joshua Pickles' widow, Jordan Sugar-Carlsgaard, provided spokesperson Sam Singer, reads: “We are devastated by this tragedy. No words can express the pain and anguish we feel knowing their lives were lost during what was meant to be a joyful time on the lake.”
It continues: “Our hearts go out to those who tragically lost their lives and the two survivors of this unexpected and deadly storm on Lake Tahoe."
Two people were rescued immediately after the boat flipped over. Their identities and conditions have not been released.
Ten people were on board the 27-foot (8-meter) gold Chris-Craft vessel when it capsized Saturday afternoon near D.L. Bliss State Park on the lake’s southwest edge as the storm whipped up high waves, U.S. Coast Guard officials said.
Six bodies were recovered later Saturday, a seventh was found Sunday evening, and the eighth was located Monday, according to the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office.
The intensity of the thunderstorm surprised even forecasters, who had predicted rain but nothing like the squall that lashed the southern part of the lake around 3 p.m., said meteorologist Matthew Chyba with the National Weather Service office in Reno, Nevada. Winds topped 35 mph (56 kph) and waves swelled up more than eight feet (2.5 meters).
“We weren’t expecting it to be so strong,” Chyba said Monday. He said temperatures in the area were far below normal for this time of year, which could have contributed to the unstable air mass.
Drowning and other accidental deaths have occurred in recent years on the lake, but boating accidents with numerous fatalities are rare.
The South Lake Tahoe Police Department told KCRA-TV in 2022 that there are an average of six deaths on the lake each summer, though there were a record 15 fatalities in 2021.
With reporting from the Associated Press
