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New York Times
16 hours ago
- Climate
- New York Times
How a Birthday Boat Ride on Lake Tahoe Turned Tragic
The weekend seemed perfect for a summer excursion on the azure waters of Lake Tahoe. Josh Pickles, a DoorDash executive, took several family members and friends on his boat to celebrate his mother's 71st birthday. His wife, Jordan Sugar-Carlsgaard, stayed home to care for their infant daughter. But sunshine suddenly gave way to a ferocious storm on Saturday afternoon that caught even longtime Tahoe residents by surprise. Thunder and lightning roared from the sky, dumping rain and snow. Waves as tall as eight feet ripped across the lake, according to some accounts. The day ended in a nightmare. Mr. Pickles's 27-foot-long boat capsized, tossing passengers into the frigid water toward the south end of the lake. He and his parents died, along with five of their guests. And Ms. Sugar-Carlsgaard, 38, suddenly found herself a widow with a seven-month-old baby. 'We are devastated by this tragedy,' she said in a statement. 'No words can express the pain and anguish we feel knowing their lives were lost during what was meant to be a joyful time on the lake.' Mr. Pickles was an experienced sailor but the gold Chris-Craft boat was still new to him, said Sam Singer, a family representative. He had operated it twice last year, and Saturday's outing was the first time he had taken it out this season. Like many who work in the tech industry, the couple split time between their homes in the Tahoe region and in the San Francisco Bay Area, where Ms. Sugar-Carlsgaard is an executive assistant at Airbnb, according Mr. Singer. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
CNN
21 hours ago
- Business
- CNN
4 family members celebrating a birthday are among the 8 dead from a boat capsize on Lake Tahoe
Four members of a family from Northern California who were celebrating a birthday were among eight people killed when a boat capsized on Lake Tahoe in California over the weekend during a sudden and fierce thunderstorm. Josh Pickles, 37, of San Francisco, his parents, 73-year-old Terry Pickles and 71-year-old Paula Bozinovich of Redwood City, and his uncle, 72-year-old Peter Bayes, of Lincoln, died Saturday, according to a family statement. 'No words can express the pain and anguish we feel knowing their lives were lost during what was meant to be a joyful time on the lake,' Josh Pickles' wife, Jordan Sugar-Carlsgaard, said in the statement Tuesday. 'Our hearts go out to those who tragically lost their lives and the two survivors of this unexpected and deadly storm on Lake Tahoe.' Two people were rescued immediately after the boat flipped over. Their identities and conditions were not known Tuesday. The group was celebrating Paula Bozinovich's birthday on her son's boat, which he bought about a year ago, said Sam Singer, a family spokesperson. Josh Pickles' wife had stayed at home taking care of their 7-month-old daughter, Singer said. The couple, who married in 2023, both worked at tech companies in San Francisco. Josh worked at DoorDash and Jordan at AirBNB, Singer said. They split their time between homes in the Bay Area and Lake Tahoe, where they had used their boat only twice before. Ravi Inukonda, Chief Financial Officer at DoorDash, said the death of Josh, who had worked at the company for nearly seven years, left them heartbroken. 'Josh loved his team and was an inspiration to everyone who had the privilege of knowing him,' Inukonda said in a statement. 'Our thoughts and love are with his wife, his daughter, his family, and all who were close to him.' Ten people were on board the 27-foot (8-meter) gold Chris-Craft vessel when it capsized Saturday afternoon near D.L. Bliss State Park on the lake's southwest edge as the storm whipped up high waves, U.S. Coast Guard officials said. 'The waves were so big that the water came onboard and started to fill the boat up and stalled the engine,' Singer said. Also killed were Timothy O'Leary, 71, of Auburn, California; Theresa Giullari, 66, and James Guck, 69, of Honeyoye, New York; and Stephen Lindsay, 63, of Springwater, New York, the coroner's office said Tuesday. The intensity of the thunderstorm surprised even forecasters, who had predicted rain but nothing like the squall that lashed the southern part of the lake around 3 p.m., said meteorologist Matthew Chyba with the National Weather Service office in Reno, Nevada. Winds topped 35 mph (56 kph) and waves swelled up more than 8 feet (2.5 meters). 'We weren't expecting it to be so strong,' Chyba said Monday. He said temperatures in the area were far below normal for this time of year, which could have contributed to the unstable air mass. Drowning and other accidental deaths occur each year on the lake but boating accidents with numerous fatalities are rare, said South Lake Tahoe Police Lt. Scott Crivelli. There are an average of six deaths on the lake each summer, though there were a record 15 fatalities in 2021, he said.
CNN
21 hours ago
- Business
- CNN
4 family members celebrating a birthday are among the 8 dead from a boat capsize on Lake Tahoe
FacebookTweetLink Follow Four members of a family from Northern California who were celebrating a birthday were among eight people killed when a boat capsized on Lake Tahoe in California over the weekend during a sudden and fierce thunderstorm. Josh Pickles, 37, of San Francisco, his parents, 73-year-old Terry Pickles and 71-year-old Paula Bozinovich of Redwood City, and his uncle, 72-year-old Peter Bayes, of Lincoln, died Saturday, according to a family statement. 'No words can express the pain and anguish we feel knowing their lives were lost during what was meant to be a joyful time on the lake,' Josh Pickles' wife, Jordan Sugar-Carlsgaard, said in the statement Tuesday. 'Our hearts go out to those who tragically lost their lives and the two survivors of this unexpected and deadly storm on Lake Tahoe.' Two people were rescued immediately after the boat flipped over. Their identities and conditions were not known Tuesday. The group was celebrating Paula Bozinovich's birthday on her son's boat, which he bought about a year ago, said Sam Singer, a family spokesperson. Josh Pickles' wife had stayed at home taking care of their 7-month-old daughter, Singer said. The couple, who married in 2023, both worked at tech companies in San Francisco. Josh worked at DoorDash and Jordan at AirBNB, Singer said. They split their time between homes in the Bay Area and Lake Tahoe, where they had used their boat only twice before. Ravi Inukonda, Chief Financial Officer at DoorDash, said the death of Josh, who had worked at the company for nearly seven years, left them heartbroken. 'Josh loved his team and was an inspiration to everyone who had the privilege of knowing him,' Inukonda said in a statement. 'Our thoughts and love are with his wife, his daughter, his family, and all who were close to him.' Ten people were on board the 27-foot (8-meter) gold Chris-Craft vessel when it capsized Saturday afternoon near D.L. Bliss State Park on the lake's southwest edge as the storm whipped up high waves, U.S. Coast Guard officials said. 'The waves were so big that the water came onboard and started to fill the boat up and stalled the engine,' Singer said. Also killed were Timothy O'Leary, 71, of Auburn, California; Theresa Giullari, 66, and James Guck, 69, of Honeyoye, New York; and Stephen Lindsay, 63, of Springwater, New York, the coroner's office said Tuesday. The intensity of the thunderstorm surprised even forecasters, who had predicted rain but nothing like the squall that lashed the southern part of the lake around 3 p.m., said meteorologist Matthew Chyba with the National Weather Service office in Reno, Nevada. Winds topped 35 mph (56 kph) and waves swelled up more than 8 feet (2.5 meters). 'We weren't expecting it to be so strong,' Chyba said Monday. He said temperatures in the area were far below normal for this time of year, which could have contributed to the unstable air mass. Drowning and other accidental deaths occur each year on the lake but boating accidents with numerous fatalities are rare, said South Lake Tahoe Police Lt. Scott Crivelli. There are an average of six deaths on the lake each summer, though there were a record 15 fatalities in 2021, he said.
Daily Mail
21 hours ago
- Daily Mail
DoorDash executive and his parents among victims named after Lake Tahoe boat sinking killed eight
A DoorDash executive and his parents have been identified as among those who lost their lives after their boat capsized on Lake Tahoe. Josh Pickles, 37, of San Francisco, and his parents Terry Pickles, 73, and Paula Bozinovich, 71, of Redwood City, were celebrating his mom's birthday when the vessel sank. The family died alongside seven others. The group were partying on a 27-foot Chris Craft boat on Saturday when weather conditions drastically changed. 'We are devastated by this tragedy. We lost my loving husband, Josh Pickles, his parents, Terry Pickles and Paula Bozinovich, and Uncle Peter Bayes, as well as friends in this tragedy,' Pickles' wife Jordan Sugar-Carlsgaard said in a statement. 'No words can express the pain and anguish we feel knowing their lives were lost during what was meant to be a joyful time on the lake.' The other victims were: Peter Bayes, 72, from Lincoln, California; Timothy O'Leary, 71, from Auburn, California; Theresa Giullari, 66, from Honeoye, New York; James Guck, 69, from Honeoye, New York; and Stephen Lindsay, 63, from Springwater, New York. Two people survived the tragedy. Sugar-Carlsgaard stayed on shore with her and Pickles' seven-month-old daughter. The day began sunny with calm waters before a freak storm rolled in bringing eight-foot waves and dangerous conditions. 'No words can express the pain and anguish we feel knowing their lives were lost during what was meant to be a joyful time on the lake,' Pickle's wife Jordan Sugar-Carlsgaard said in a statement (Pictured: Pickles with his parents) 'Usually, there are two or three-foot waves,' Tiger Gertz, of Saratoga, who was on the lake in a different boat, said, according to The Mercury News. 'These were like eight feet. It was definitely like an ocean in a storm. Not like a lake. It was very rough.' The captain of Gertz's boat told him that he had never seen waves this bad before. Gertz and his friends managed to scramble to safety in Emerald Bay where they waited for several hours. When they emerged from their hideout, they saw Pickles' overturned boat near DL Bliss State Park. 'It was bout 200 feet away. We didn't think anything of it. We had no idea eight people died,' he said. 'Then we saw the firetrucks. The boat was very close to the rocks. We thought people might have swam to shore.' Pickles' party had attempted to go back to shore when the boat capsized. The water came over the head of the boat and stalled the engine, family spokesperson Sam Singer said. 'The boat was taking on water. That's what caused it to capsize,' he said. Pickles and his wife purchased the crashed boat last year and it was only the third time the boat had been taken out since they bought it, Singer said. 'It's shockingly sad,' the family spokesperson said. 'The family is devastated and grieving.' The tragedy is believed to be the deadliest boating incident in the Golden State since 2019, when a 75-foot boat caught fire and sank near Santa Cruz Island, killing 34 people.
The Independent
a day ago
- Climate
- The Independent
4 members of a California family among the 8 dead in a boat capsize on Lake Tahoe during a storm
Four members of a family from Northern California were among eight people killed over the weekend when a boat capsized on Lake Tahoe in California during a sudden and fierce thunderstorm. Josh Pickles, 37, of San Francisco, his parents, 73-year-old Terry Pickles and 71-year-old Paula Bozinovich of Redwood City, and his uncle, 72-year-old Peter Bayes, of Lincoln, died Saturday, according to a family statement. 'No words can express the pain and anguish we feel knowing their lives were lost during what was meant to be a joyful time on the lake," Josh Pickles' widow, Jordan Sugar-Carlsgaard, said in the statement Tuesday. 'Our hearts go out to those who tragically lost their lives and the two survivors of this unexpected and deadly storm on Lake Tahoe.' Two people were rescued immediately after the boat flipped over. Their identities and conditions were not known Tuesday. Ten people were on board the 27-foot (8-meter) gold Chris-Craft vessel when it capsized Saturday afternoon near D.L. Bliss State Park on the lake's southwest edge as the storm whipped up high waves, U.S. Coast Guard officials said. Six bodies were recovered later Saturday, a seventh was found Sunday evening, and the eighth was located Monday, according to the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office. Also killed were Timothy O'Leary, 71, of Auburn, California; Theresa Giullari, 66, and James Guck, 69, of Honeyoye, New York; and Stephen Lindsay, 63, of Springwater, New York, the coroner's office said Tuesday. The intensity of the thunderstorm surprised even forecasters, who had predicted rain but nothing like the squall that lashed the southern part of the lake around 3 p.m., said meteorologist Matthew Chyba with the National Weather Service office in Reno, Nevada. Winds topped 35 mph (56 kph) and waves swelled up more than 8 feet (2.5 meters). 'We weren't expecting it to be so strong,' Chyba said Monday. He said temperatures in the area were far below normal for this time of year, which could have contributed to the unstable air mass. Drowning and other accidental deaths have occurred in recent years on the lake, but boating accidents with numerous fatalities are rare. The South Lake Tahoe Police Department told KCRA-TV in 2022 that there are an average of six deaths on the lake each summer, though there were a record 15 fatalities in 2021.
