INDIANAPOLIS — One man is dead and another is in stable condition after a fishing boat capsized Thursday evening, prompting a water rescue in the White River.
Rescue crews and divers with the Indianapolis Fire Department were called around 7 p.m. to the 2100 block of S. White River Pkwy. E. Drive on the city’s near northwest side on report of a person in the water.
A witness who called 911 to report the incident said they saw a fishing boat flipped over and that two people were in the water.
Upon arrival, IFD rescue crews were able to locate one person, identified as an adult male, who had managed to stay with the boat until divers could rescue him and bring him to shore. That man, IFD’s Rita Reith said, was reported to be in stable condition.
The fisherman, who was the owner of the boat, told authorities that he had been out on the White River fishing for most of the day when he went back to shore to pick up a friend.
Five minutes after returning to the water, the man said his friend, another adult male, had started “freaking out” and jumped out of the boat. This caused the boat to flip, sending the other fisherman into the water as well.
Indiana DNR said in a release sent Friday that the small boat was overloaded and could not safely navigate the river current.
The man that was first pulled to shore by rescue crews was able to help pinpoint where his friend may be located in the water. That man, IFD said, was eventually pulled from the water and then taken to Eskenazi Hospital in critical condition.
The man, later identified by IFD as Martez L. Proctor-Cortez, 32, was pronounced dead on Thursday night at the hospital.
Proctor leaves behind a 6-year-old daughter and was due to be a father to a baby boy in October, his wife told the fire department.
According to DNR, Proctor was not wearing a life jacket.
“Indiana Conservation Officers urge everyone to wear a lifejacket when boating or around water,” the DNR release said.
