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Fish, Wildlife Commission Releases Report On Boating Tragedy

News Channel 8 photo by PAUL LAMISON

The capsized boat was found about 35 miles west of Clearwater on March 2.

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TBO.com

Published: March 26, 2009

Updated: 03/27/2009 11:15 am

TAMPA - Careless and inexperienced piloting, along with improper anchoring, contributed to the boating mishap that took the lives of two professional football players and one former USF football player, according to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Report released this morning.

Marquis Cooper owned and was responsible for piloting the vessel before it capsized. He and two other boaters – William Bleakley and Corey Smith – vanished after Cooper's 21-foot vessel capsized Feb. 28 about 35 miles west of St. Petersburg. Another former USF football player, Nick Schuyler, was the sole survivor.

According to the report, the boaters were unable to free the anchor from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. Schulyer told investigators Cooper had lost his anchor one week earlier for the same reason – an inability to free it from the Gulf bottom, the report states.

Bleakley suggested they tie the anchor to the transom to try to free it, the report states. Afterward, all four were at the helm as Cooper gunned the 200 horsepower engine. Water swamped the boat and it roll to the left, causing it to capsize, the report says.

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