2 victims identified after deadly boating crash in Port Aransas Ship Channel

Katie Nickas, Corpus Christi Caller Times
·2 min read

The Nueces County Medical Examiner's office has released the name of two people who died in a boating accident that happened over the weekend in the Port Aransas Ship Channel.

The seal of the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi. The multi-mission unit oversees Ports and Waterways Security in South Texas.
The seal of the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi. The multi-mission unit oversees Ports and Waterways Security in South Texas.

The victims were identified as 50-year-old Colin Ocker and 25-year-old Jared Dale Hunt.

The U.S. Coast Guard Heartland announced through a news release published on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook social media accounts on Sunday morning that it had suspended an active search for a boater who had been missing in the vicinity of Aransas Pass since the crash happened early Saturday morning.

Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi watch standers received a call around 5:28 a.m. on Saturday via VHF-FM channel 16 when a good Samaritan reported a collision between a recreational vehicle and a commercial tanker, the release stated.

Watch standers issued an urgent marine information broadcast and directed the launch of an MH-65 helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi and a 29-foot Response Boat from Coast Guard Station Port Aransas to begin searching, the release states.

Rescue crews from the Coast Guard and local partners searched by air and sea for about 44 combined hours since the initial report and covered more than 127 square miles.

The news release published Sunday morning stated that a good Samaritan and a pilot boat recovered three people in the water, one of whom was dead. Two of the riders were transferred to Emergency Medical Assistance.

Rescue crews involved in the search included the Coast Guard Corpus Christi, Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi, Coast Guard Station Port Aransas, Coast Guard Cutter Manta, Texas Parks and Wildlife, the Aransas Pass Police Department, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Port of Corpus Christi Police Department.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

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This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: 2 victims ID'd after deadly boating crash in Port Aransas Ship Channel