BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C.–After three days of canvasing Lake Moultrie, first responders finally recovered the bodies of two boaters missing since Saturday night.
On Monday afternoon, Berkeley County Coroner Bill Salisbury released the victims’ names to the public.
On Saturday, July 23, at 7:20 p.m., Jake Williams, 51, of Summerville and Nathaniel Hawkins, 46, of North Charleston were thrown from a boat on Lake Moultrie, according to Berkeley County Coroner Bill Salisbury.
Salisbury stated that the accident happened as the boat attempted to make a turn, resulting in eight people going overboard. Six people were rescued from the water.
The Berkeley County Rescue Squad, Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office, DNR, and several local fire dept. searched Saturday, Sunday, and Monday using divers and aircraft to search for Williams and Hawkins.
Both bodies were recovered Monday before 11 a.m.
No one on the boat is believed to have been wearing life jackets at the time of the accident.
Jacque Warren Bracewell was booked into the Berkeley County jail on Saturday shortly before midnight. He’s officially charged with boating under the influence with great bodily injury. Bracewell was given a surety bond of $20,000.
The accident is under investigation by the Berkeley County Coroner’s Office and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.
Both deaths were ruled an accidental drowning by the coroner.
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