ToTheMax

My girlfriend heard about the accident in Ft. Myers. Terrible. Prayers to the families in this difficult time

Phantom1

Funeral service set for 4 killed in boat crash
By Ryan Mills

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Funeral arrangements were finalized Tuesday for the four Collier County residents who were killed in Saturday’s boat crash off Big Marco Pass near Marco Island.

A public viewing for Linda Molter, 42, Meagan Molter, 22, James Molter, 20 and Meagan’s fiancé, Harper Simpson II, 31, is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday at the First Baptist Church of Naples, 3000 Orange Blossom Drive. A funeral service for all four will follow the visitation at 8 p.m., said Todd Muller, owner of Muller-Thompson Funeral Chapel.

“The three Molter victims will be cremated,” Muller said. “Harper Simpson is going to be transferred to the Simpson’s funeral home in Monaca, Pa. That was his father’s funeral home before he moved to Naples.”

Simpson’s father, also Harper Simpson, said Tuesday that his son was an experienced boater who grew up with boats. He said his son purchased the 33-foot 1994 Powerplay speedboat in early December after conducting extensive research.

He said his son purchased the boat from an individual, not from a dealer.

Frank Penela, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, said Harper Simpson II had two boats, including the 1994 Powerplay, registered under his name.

Simpson, who used to run a funeral home, said he and his wife, Phylis, knew what was happening when law enforcement officials arrived at their doorstep on Hawaii Boulevard on Saturday.

“We loved our son very much,” Phylis Simpson said. “We’re going to miss him.”

The family members died when the boat they were riding in flew into the air, slammed back into the water and broke apart. The boat was traveling straight and at a high rate of speed when the crash occurred, authorities said.

Jennifer Molter, 16, who lived with her family at 15095 Summit Place Circle, was the only person in the boat to survive the crash. She was pulled from the water by fishermen, transported to NCH Healthcare System’s Downtown Naples Hospital and released after being treated.

Alan Molter, the father of James and Meagan, and the husband of Linda Molter, said Sunday that he noticed a stress crack on the boat but wasn’t sure if the crack was there before Simpson bought the boat.

On Tuesday, officials from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission continued their investigation into the cause of the crash, spokeswoman Dani Moschella said. She said the officials are midway through their investigation.

“There’s nothing new and there probably isn’t going to be anything new for a while,” Moschella said. “Upon completion of the investigation it will all be made public.”

The investigators have finished combing the water for evidence, and will continue the investigation on shore, Moschella said.

“They’ve found just about everything they need to,” Moschella said. “They have the majority of the boat. Everything that they need as far as evidence is on land at this point.”

A fund has been set up to benefit the Molter family. People can stop by any Orion Bank in Naples and make a donation to the Molter family fund, Muller said.

“They prefer those donations to help the family in lieu of flowers,” Muller said.

captnate

Very hard to see, and really hits home, let them rest in peace!

PhantomChaos

Anything more on the cause?

Bobthebuilder

I have it from good sources that the boat tripped, not on his own wake but that a large cruiser had passed by just before and that its large wake is what caught him. This is what I had been suspecting and makes sense to me.
I will have no further comment of the accident as my efforts are now directed in helping 16 year old Jennifer with the difficult time that lies before her.
Bob

AIR TIME

Thanks BOB, she has a ruff road ahead of her, I now been there, but with the help from others she will get on with her life and someday enjoy the water and boating again . for the lost souls you will not be fore gotten by the ones you loved. RIP

Latitude Powerboats

The 33' Powerplay does have full length stringers, whether production or raceboat. And normally on a full race version there were bulk heads from the hull to the deck ever x amount of feet. The hull and deck was completely bonded and encapsulated. I am the Sales Manager for Latitude Powerboats. We currently have the mold for the 33' Powerplay and are producing a 33' open fish and can assure you what happened in the past will not happen again.

Semper Fi

That is a REDICULOUS statement. Are you going to "guarantee" that the boat will never come apart? It's impossible to do that. Mother nature has the upper hand.

marylandmark

I am reading that as you are saying what happened in the past was not operator error and saying it was a hull failure? I am NOT trying to put words in your mouth- just if you are saying you can assure it won't happen again than that implies the situation is some thing you can control such as hull construction, not how a customer operates the boat?

I appreciate you dealing with this head on as well!

Latitude Powerboats

Whether it was operator error or hull failure is really very difficult to determine and really the finger pointing can go on forever. What we wanted to ensure was that if something like this were to ever happen with one of the boats we built we could rest assure that it could not be hull failure...that we covered all our bases...that we did everything in our power to make the hull as strong as it could possibly be.