1 dead, 5 hurt as boat strikes pilings in River Raisin

8/16/2005

MONROE - Monroe County sheriff's deputies and detectives were trying to piece together what happened late Sunday night when a speed boat heading toward Lake Erie struck a dock piling in the River Raisin, killing one man and injuring five other passengers.

Deputies identified the man killed as Kennie Jo Cook, 62, of Ypsilanti, Mich., a passenger on the boat being piloted by Randall Sheridan, 48, of Detroit.

Also on board and injured were Trina Devine, 36, Robert Devine, 37, and Susan Hopkins, 42, all of Ypsilanti, and Tiffany Whipple, 24, and Jami Loose, 3, both of Carleton, Mich.

The injured were taken to Mercy Memorial Hospital for treatment, with the Loose child later transferred via air ambulance to St. Vincent Mercy Medi-cal Center, where she was in serious condition yesterday.

Deputies said the 32-foot cigarette boat was traveling toward the lake at about 10:20 p.m. when it struck the abandoned dock piling near Visteon's Monroe plant and just a few hundred yards from the mouth of the river.

The piling was about five feet from the shore, deputies said, and all but the bow of the boat sank into the river.

Deputies spent yesterday trying to determine what caused the collision with the long-abandoned dock, interviewing witnesses and waiting for the boat to be removed from the river.