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Names Released in Fatal Boat Collision

The victims of a boat collision early Saturday morning near Burlington have been identified.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says the bodies of Matthew House, 21, Jacob Boyd, 22, Caitlyn Atchley, 20, and Blake Eakins, 21 were found Sunday morning.  They were all from Burlington.

The agency says the collision occurred in the O’Donnell Slough area of the Mississippi River.

A small boat operated by Joseph Schier, 20, of Burlington collided with another small boat that was being operated by Douglas Metcalf, 21, of Burlington.  There were ten passengers on Metcalf’s boat.  

The four victims along with Christopher Edwards, 21, Jedadiah Thomas, 21, Michael Shea, 21, Reno Trejo, 21, and Jennifer Parcel, 20, all of Burlington along with Katie Nelan, 19, of Davenport.

The DNR says Schier, Metcalf, Edwards, Thomas, Shea, Trejo, Parcel, and Nelan were all able to make it to shore shortly after the collision.  Nelan was air-lifted to University Hospitals in Iowa City while the others were treated at Great River Medical Center in Burlington.

The call came in to emergency personnel at 1:43 Saturday morning.

Search efforts for the four victims continued throughout the day and resumed early Sunday morning when they were found in 10-12 feet of water roughly 100 yards from where the collision occurred.

The DNR is conducting the investigation into the collision, which is ongoing.

Jason Parrott is a former reporter at Tri States Public Radio.