Fishing Boat Overturns Off Depoe Bay: Two Portland Men Deceased
Friday afternoon just before 5pm the Coast Guard received a report from a privately owned vessel of a capsized boat and an unresponsive male floating in the Pacific Ocean near Boiler Bay, north of Depoe Bay. The US Coast Guard responded with a motor lifeboat and recovered the body, a deceased male identified as Robert Lawrence Zimmel, age 69, from Forest Grove.
The Coast Guard notified Oregon State Police and local partner agencies and a search of the area continued. The crew of a US Coast Guard helicopter spotted a second deceased male subject floating nearby. The second male subject was identified as James William Warren, age 81, from McMinnville. Warren was the registered owner of the boat.
The Oregon State Police conducted a death investigation and were able to determine Zimmel and Warren were the only two occupants of the boat when it capsized. The reason the boat capsized has not been determined yet and is still under investigation. Neither Zimmel or Warren were wearing life-vests when they were recovered and there is no evidence of foul play.