Boat Found in Fatal River Boat Crash

BRICK TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP)  -- Authorities on Monday tracked down a boat believed to have been involved in a fatal hit-and-run crash on the Metedeconk River.


Steve Sandberg Reports

The 27-foot Imperial speed boat was damaged when authorities found it in a private garage at a Brick Township home, New Jersey State Police spokesmen said.

State police didn't immediately identify the boat's owner, a 29-year-old who contacted police through his lawyer and directed them to his residence.

The boat displayed damage that was consistent with the early Sunday collision, which killed one person and injured four. But state police spokesmen were holding back on saying they had found the boat they were looking for. The boat's owner had not been charged as of Monday evening.

The discovery of the boat ended a search that was in its second day, as the U.S. Coast Guard, state police and the Brick fire department searched marinas and lagoons in the area for the craft that struck a 17-foot, single motor Boston Whaler in a small strait between the mainland of Brick Township and Herring Island.

The collision at about 1:15 a.m. Sunday killed Robert Post, 49, of Essex Fells. The other four people aboard the boat that was struck -- Post's wife and three of the couple's friends -- sustained various injuries.

Two of the injured -- Post's wife Bonnie, 52, and Joan Farren, 46, of St. Davids, Pa. -- remained at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune on Monday evening. Hospital spokesman Rob Cavanaugh told The Star-Ledger of Newark that Post was in fair condition, while Farren was in serious condition.

The others injured were identified as Cliff Farren, 45, of St. Davids, Pa., and Karen Kelly of Norcross, Ga.