Official: Grand Lake boater speeds into 2nd boat, dies

ST. MARYS (AP) - Authorities said a Celina man died after being ejected from a boat that sped into and over a second boat in which two people were fishing in the north-central part of Grand Lake, near the lighthouse.

Grand Lake State Park manager Craig Morton said searchers found Shane Frey, of Celina, about 30 minutes after the 11:40 p.m. crash Saturday. He was flown to St. Rita's Medical Center, where he died at 6 a.m. Sunday.

Morton said the fishermen were 200 yards off shore and swam to safety without serious injuries. Crews searched for other victims but determined the Frey was alone.

Morton said Frey's boat was 18 or 19 feet long and larger than the fishing boat whose deck it broke. He said the damage suggests the moving boat was going much faster than the 10 mph night speed limit for Grand Lake.

Frey's "boat ... must have been going at a fair rate of speed because he went up and over the fishing boat, doing extensive damage to the fishing boat," Morton told the Dayton Daily News. "One (fisherman) saw it coming and was able to dive to the stern of the boat. The other one didn't really see it coming, but he was out of the way. The boat that hit them really just kind of drilled right through the middle of the boat."

The death was the first fatality on the lake since 2005.

Morton said he didn't know if alcohol was a factor in the crash.