Second Tulare County victim named in Colorado River boat crash tragedy
The body of a Tulare man killed in the collision of two recreational boats on the Colorado River over the weekend was found Tuesday, as well as the body of a woman from Ventura County, authorities said.
They were found one day after the body of Visalia woman was recovered. Divers are still searching for a fourth victim.
The body of Brian Grabowski, 50, of Tulare was pulled from the river Tuesday, the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office in Kingman, Arizona said. That occurred one day after the body of Chrisi Lewis, 51, of Visalia, was found.
Meanwhile, the body of Kirra Drury, reportedly a resident of Oxnard, was also recovered Tuesday, according to the sheriff’s office.
The Visalia Times-Delta reported Tuesday that Raegan Heitzig of Ventura is still missing. Heitzig grew up in Visalia and graduated from El Diamante High. She’s 26 years old, according to public records.
They were among more than a dozen people ejected from two boats in the crash Saturday night. Both boats sank, and passing boaters pulled victims from the water. Nine people were injured. The river is along the California-Arizona border.
One boat carried 10 people and the other vessel had six aboard in a well-traveled stretch of the river, the sheriff’s office said.
None of the boaters was wearing a life jacket, which aren’t required but are recommended by authorities, Mohave County Sheriff Doug Shuster said.
The Tulare County Sheriff’s Office, meanwhile, confirmed Monday that Lewis is the step-daughter of former Sheriff Bill Wittman. She was employed as a nurse at Kaweah Delta Medical Center, according to a Facebook post by the hospital in Visalia.
“We are shocked and heartbroken to learn about the passing of one of our own in this weekend’s tragic Colorado River boat crash,” hospital CEO Gary Herbst wrote. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those who knew Chrisi Lewis and to the family and friends still searching the river for their loved ones. In Chrisi’s 22-year career at Kaweah Delta, she was one of our best and brightest and was responsible for saving hundreds of lives. Chrisi came to Kaweah Delta as a new graduate nurse and worked in the Intensive Care Unit. She most recently worked in our Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit as a Charge Nurse. She loved her patients, she was an invaluable team member, and she will be greatly missed.”
Lewis has three children, according to a GoFundMe page set up to help the family.
Grabowski owned Brian Grabowski & Associates, Inc., an orthotics and prosthesis service in Visalia.
He designed a prosthetic eye for Brianna Ramirez of Parlier, who lost an eye to a bullet. The Bee wrote an article about her recovery and her prosthetic eye.
Ramirez wrote on Twitter, “I’ll never understand why bad things happen to good people. Brian had a heart of absolute gold. This man did everything he could to help me love my appearance again and succeeded. There was not one thing you couldn’t love about this man. Fly high.”
According to Grabowski’s website, he is a native of Tulare County who lost his eye at a young age that led him to the profession. He was board-certified ocularist and board-approved diplomat ocularist.