Grieving Families: ‘None of Them Saw the Barge’; Parents Ask for Public’s Help

In an emotional public letter, the grieving families of the two Rockland residents killed in Friday night’s tragic motorboat crash—which claimed the lives of Lindsey Stewart and Mark Lennon, both 30—are defending their late loved ones and imploring the public for help.

The accident occurred on July 26, when a motorboat in the Tappan Zee Bridge’s shadow slammed into a construction barge, killing two and seriously injuring four others. Stewart was slated to be married later this month, with Lennon as the groom's best man. The husband-to-be, Brian Bond, was injured in the crash.

The survivors were plucked from the Hudson’s choppy waters shortly after the collision; the bodies of Stewart and Lennon were found over the following weekend.

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“Our families are shattered by the horrible accident that took the lives of Lindsey Stewart and Mark Lennon and seriously injured and devastated so many others,” the open letters reads. The note was penned by the parents of Lennon and mother and step-father of Stewart.

But the missive quickly takes a more assertive tone.

“Compounding our agony is the rush, by some, to cast blame on or even malign the victims,” the families write. “While police have issued serious charges against the boat’s driver, toxicology results supporting those charges will not be available for days.”

The boat’s driver—Jojo John, 35, of Nyack—has been charged with a felony count of manslaughter. John was charged while recovery in Nyack Hospital.

The mourning parents then note they’ve spoken with survivors about Hudson conditions the night of the tragedy.

“Our conversations with some of the survivors of this accident, including Brian Bond, make two things quite clear: the passengers on the boat—all mature, respected professionals in their thirties—had consumed very little alcohol and considered themselves sober,” the letter reads.

“None of them saw the barge,” the parents add. “They did not brace for impact and could not identify what they had hit—even after impact—as they desperately worked to direct the first responders coming to their aid.”

Then, the families ask for the public’s help.

“We will never understand why this happened, but we do seek to understand exactly what happened to their aid,” the letter says. “To do that, we have a specific request of boaters who have firsthand knowledge of the barges our loved ones struck. 

"If you were out on the water, on or before the night of Friday, July 26, and have knowledge of the barges or the accident conditions, please share your information with us by sending an email to darkbarges@gmail.com.”