A judge will decide whether or not to proceed with a criminal case against three former ‘Branson Ride The Ducks’ employees on March 8.
On July 19, 2018, a Stretch Duck 7 duck boat with 31 people on board capsized and sank in stormy weather near Branson.
Seventeen passengers, including nine from the same family and one crew member driving the boat, drowned that night, which became one of the deadliest boating accidents in United States history.
In their initial assessment, authorities blamed thunderstorms and winds that approached hurricane strength. The duck boat sank under high waves while winds around the area reached up to 70 miles per hour that day.
Investigators say Ride the Ducks had plenty of warnings about the severe weather, but the boat still launched more than 20 minutes after a thunderstorm warning was issued for Table Rock Lake.
In July 2021, the Missouri Attorney General and Stone County prosecutor filed 63 criminal charges against three employees on duty when tragedy struck.
Captain Kenneth Scott McKee and two supervisors, Curtis Lanham and Charles Baltzell, all face a slate of felonies that include at least 17 criminal charges each.
Charges range from first-degree involuntary manslaughter to first-degree endangering the welfare of a child.
The new charges come seven months after a federal judge dismissed charges filed by federal prosecutors, concluding that they did not have jurisdiction.
An affidavit from a Missouri Highway Patrol sergeant accuses McKee of failing to exercise his duties as a licensed captain by taking the Duck Boat onto the lake in stormy conditions.
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