Teen killed in Sesuit Harbor boating accident Friday night

Cape Cod Times Staff
Updated ·2 min read

This story was updated at 12:30 p.m.. Saturday to include new information.

DENNIS — A 17-year-old girl was killed and others injured after a boat crashed into a jetty in Sesuit Harbor Friday night, according to Dave Procopio, Massachusetts State Police spokesman.

The girl's body was pulled from the water by a regional dive team with assistance from Dennis Fire-Rescue at about 11:30 p.m. during a joint-agency search off Cold Storage Beach, Procopio said in a written statement.

Procopio said Saturday morning that six people, including the girl who sustained fatal injuries, were on the boat. At least one other boat passenger, a teenage boy, was taken to Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis with a cut on his head, he said.

A marine search off Cold Storage Beach in Dennis was launched Friday night after a boat crashed into a jetty on in Sesuit Harbor. One person was killed and others injured.
A marine search off Cold Storage Beach in Dennis was launched Friday night after a boat crashed into a jetty on in Sesuit Harbor. One person was killed and others injured.

The Massachusetts State Police Marine Unit and the MSP Underwater Recovery Unit, along with Massachusetts Environmental Police marine assets, are conducting dive operations at the crash site today to search for debris from the boat for the ongoing investigation into what caused the boat to hit the stone jetty.

In a statement Saturday, Cape & Islands District Attorney Robert J. Galibois extended condolences to the family and friends of the girl who was killed and wrote, "Out of respect for the privacy of her family, her identity is not being released."

The DA's statement said the crash was into the jetty by the channel leading to the Northside Marina in Sesuit Harbor. It also identified the boat as "a Regulator equipped with two outboard 250 horsepower engines bearing an Alabama registration." Asked if the deceased was from Alabama, first district attorney Russ Eonas said she was not but he would not identify where she was from.

The crash is being investigated by Massachusetts State Police Detectives assigned to the Cape & Islands District Attorney’s Office, the Massachusetts Environmental Police, Dennis Police Department, and the Massachusetts State Police Crime Scene Services Section.

The district attorney's office is, by law, called to all unattended deaths, not just criminal cases.

There will be no further information released at this time, Galibois said in the statement.

A pair of jetties mark the entrance to Sesuit Harbor in East Dennis with Cold Storage Beach at right. A boat struck the jetty Friday night killing a teenager whose body was recovered off the beach after an extensive water search.
A pair of jetties mark the entrance to Sesuit Harbor in East Dennis with Cold Storage Beach at right. A boat struck the jetty Friday night killing a teenager whose body was recovered off the beach after an extensive water search.

A woman who lives near Harborview Beach, and asked not to be identified, witnessed the search efforts from the second jetty, across from where the crash happened. She said many rescue vehicles, plus a small crowd of beachgoers on foot, brought lights to help illuminate the search area. Sesuit Harbor Cafe had closed at 8:30 p.m. but there were still people at the harbor.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Teen killed, others injured in Sesuit Harbor boat crash on Cape Cod