Two out of three ain't bad! 
2003 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance
Three brothers rented a canoe at a popular Indianapolis park. The canoe was equipped with three lifevests. While fishing, the canoe capsized. Two of the brothers drowned, and the third survived while holding onto the canoe. These Darwin candidates failed to wear their lifevests, despite the fact that they could not swim. It is unfortunate that one of the brothers remains in the gene pool; however, two out of three ain't bad! The full text from the Indianapolis Star is set forth below.
2 brothers drown at reservoir
Third brother survives by hanging on to canoe that overturned about 100 yards from shore.
By Kevin O'Neal
kevin.oneal@indystar.com
June 17, 2002
Two of three brothers who rented a canoe at Eagle Creek Park drowned Sunday afternoon after the canoe capsized.
The bodies of Humberto Martinez, 26, and Arely Martinez, 22, were found about four hours after the accident, which was reported at 2:13 p.m.
Several people rushed to help but could rescue only one man -- Javier Martinez, 23 -- who was clinging to the capsized canoe.
He later told firefighters that a shift in the wind forced the canoe to capsize. That's when onlooker Coy Franklin tried to help.
"I jumped in and looked for five or 10 minutes, but I didn't find anything. The water was very murky, and I couldn't see much," said Franklin, a sailing teacher at a nearby marina.
The drownings happened on a sunny and mild day that brought large crowds to the park and to Eagle Creek Reservoir. But the clear sky was offset by the cold and murky water that hindered the search.
The brothers rented a 10-foot canoe at the marina at the end of 7602 Walnut Point Road. They were about 100 yards from the eastern shore when the canoe capsized for undetermined reasons.
The men apparently were not wearing life jackets, said Deputy Chief Dawn Smith of the Pike Township Fire Department. She added that the canoe was equipped with life jackets, as required by state regulations.
At 2:13 p.m. Sunday a person on a pontoon boat called 911 to report a man struggling in the water. Others at the marina realized there was trouble when they heard the calls for help.
"A lot of people thought they were messing around," said park worker Doug Mills. "They were yelling, but nobody could tell they were calling for help. They didn't speak very good English."
A woman swam to the canoe, where one of the three men was hanging on with one arm and holding on to a life vest with the other. Franklin got in a pontoon boat with another man and rushed to the canoe, where he jumped into the water and searched until he got tired.
The rescuers got the man on the canoe back to shore but could not find the two others.
Pike Township firefighters, who had to take their large firetrucks through winding two-lane roads to get to the scene, reached the marina 11 minutes after the 2:13 p.m. dispatch. Divers were searching the water within nine minutes, Smith said.
The canoe had been in the north section of the reservoir's rowing course. The water there is 15 to 25 feet deep, and visibility was just a few inches, divers said.
The search involved as many as 40 police officers and firefighters. Among them were divers who had to search in uncertain waters Friday, when Indianapolis firefighter Paul K. Jolliff drowned in a training dive.
"It's tough, just knowing the possibilities and the dangers involved," said Indiana Conservation 1st Sgt. Paul Bykowski, one of the divers who searched the reservoir. "What happened on Friday lets us know that this is not a totally easy or safe occupation."
Submitted on 06/17/2002
Submitted by:
Don
Reference:
Indianapolis Star - 06/07/02
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