On September 8, 2017 at approximately 4:52pm, the United States Coast Guard received a report from a privately owned vessel of a capsized boat and a unresponsive male floating in the Pacific Ocean near Government Point (Boiler Bay) north of Depoe Bay.
The US Coast Guard responded with a motor lifeboat and recovered the body, a deceased male identified as Robert Lawrence Zimmel, age 69, from Forest Grove.
The Coast Guard notified Oregon State Police and local partner agencies and a search of the area continued. The crew of a US Coast Guard helicopter spotted a second deceased male subject floating nearby. The second male subject was identified as James William Warren, age 81, from McMinnville. Warren was the registered owner of the boat. The Oregon State Police conducted a death investigation and were able to determine Zimmel and Warren were the only two occupants of the boat when it capsized. The reason the boat capsized has not been determined at this time and is still under investigation. Neither Zimmel or Warren were wearing life-vests when they were recovered and there is no evidence of foul play.
Assisting the Oregon State Police with the investigation were the United States Coast Guard, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, the McMinnville Police Department, and the Forest Grove Police Department.
