COLUMBUS, Ohio — When Marcus L. Martin spotted five adults standing hip- and waist-deep in the Scioto River last Sunday, something immediately felt wrong. An experienced boater who has spent a decade navigating that Ohio waterway, the Baptist pastor knew all too well that the spot where the group was standing was far more dangerous than it appeared.
Martin recalled being taught that the area was hazardous due to “steep slopes” and a sudden drop-off into the river. In fact, years before, he had personally cautioned a pair of young people playing in the water at that very same location to “be very careful.”
On Sunday, he observed five adults in the water and two children playing on the grassy bank nearby — a detail that matches the description later provided by Delaware County authorities following the drownings.
Martin and his family continued on to enjoy the summer evening, but when they passed the same spot roughly two hours later, the group was still there. Something prompted him to pull out his camera.
“I don’t know what it was. I said, I just need to capture this picture,” he told The Associated Press.
Martin said he thought about warning the group of the danger, just as he had done before. However, this time there were two or three boats positioned between him and the group, and he didn’t want to cross through them and create excessive waves on the water. It’s a decision that has since cost him sleep.
“I believe the picture I took may have been the last picture of them being alive,” he said, describing the experience as “surreal.”
Delaware County Sheriff Jeffrey Balzer said investigators believe one of the adults began struggling in the water, and the remaining four went in one by one to help — only to be swept under themselves. The bodies of the two women in the group were recovered Sunday, while the three remaining victims were found the following day.
Neither the sheriff’s office nor the local EMS agency responded to requests to verify whether the people in Martin’s photo are the victims. Martin said he is confident they are, noting it is uncommon to see people swimming or fishing in that particular stretch of the river. He added that he tried to share the photo with law enforcement and a news reporter at the scene the day after the drownings, but no one appeared interested at the time.
Honduran authorities confirmed Tuesday that four of the five victims were Honduran citizens. One has been identified as Jose Mario Pineda Dias, 33, and another as his wife, Marina Suyapa Regalado, 28. The second couple and the fifth individual have not yet been publicly identified.
The Honduran government said it is coordinating with the United States to return the victims’ remains to their home country, a process expected to take at least one month.
Two children — an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old who belonged to one of the couples — were left orphaned by the tragedy. Ohio authorities took the children into temporary custody, but arrangements were underway to reunite them with family members in Honduras.
