By JULIE CARR SMYTH AND PATRICK AFTOORA-ORSAGOS
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Marcus L. Martin felt instant trepidation Sunday when he saw five adults wading hip- and waist-deep in the Scioto River. A frequent boater on the Ohio waterway, the Baptist pastor knew the area where they were standing to be treacherous. He believes the people he captured in a photo to be the ill-fated group that drowned that day.
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“I just remember being taught that that area was kind of dangerous, in the sense of there being steep slopes” and a quick drop-off into the river, he told The Associated Press. A few years earlier, Martin had warned a pair of young people playing in the water at that same spot to “be very careful.”
He saw five adults in the water and two children playing on the grassy bank nearby, tracking the description of the group provided by Delaware County authorities after the drownings.
Martin and his family floated away to enjoy a beautiful summer evening. But when they returned past the spot about two hours later and saw the group still wading in the river, Martin thought to snap a photo.
“I don’t know what it was. I said, I just need to capture this picture,” he said.
Martin said he knows the area well from 10 years of boating there and considered warning the people of the potential danger. But, unlike when he’d warned the two people earlier, there were two or three boats between him and them and he didn’t want to cross between them and cause too many waves in the water.
He’s been losing sleep over the decision since news broke of five people drowning that afternoon. It feels “surreal,” he said.
“I believe the picture I took may have been the last picture of them being alive,” he said.
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Delaware County Sheriff Jeffrey Balzer has said authorities believe one of the adults began struggling to swim and the others successively went to that person’s aid. All five were swept under and died. The two women’s bodies were recovered Sunday and the three other bodies a day later.
Neither Balzer’s office nor the local EMS agency immediately responded to requests for verification of the photo and those who appear in it.
Martin said he feels certain the group he photographed is of the five people who perished Sunday; it’s rare to see people fishing or swimming in that stretch of the river. He said he attempted to share the picture with both law enforcement and a news reporter at the scene the day after the drownings, but no one seemed interested.
Honduran authorities confirmed Tuesday that four of the five adults were Honduran citizens. One was Jose Mario Pineda Dias, 33, another his wife Marina Suyapa Regalado, 28. The other couple and the fifth individual have yet to be identified.
The government of Honduras said it is working with the U.S. to bring their bodies home. The repatriation process could take at least a month.
An 8-year-old and a 10-year-old, children of one of the couples, were orphaned by the tragedy. They were taken into initial custody by the state of Ohio, but arrangements were being made to reunite them with relatives in Honduras.
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