3 die in Lake of the Ozarks boat crash; driver charged

Police have charged an Overland Park, Kansas man for his role in a boat crash that killed three people and injured himself and one other passenger at Lake of the Ozarks.

The Kansas City Star reported Hayden Frazier, 22, who was driving the boat, was charged with three counts of boating while intoxicated, including death of another person, serious physical injury and negligent operation of a vessel.

Frazier is being held at the Camden County Jail, according to an arrest report.

Joseph LeMark, 23, and Daniel Lewis, 24, both of Overland Park, and Hailey Hochanadel, 21, of Olathe, died in the crash, according to police.

Passenger Ashley Lamb, 21, of Olathe, suffered serious injuries.

Frazier, who was ejected from the boat, was able to get back onto the vessel and paddle to a dock. He suffered moderate injuries.

A dive team was used Saturday morning to locate one of the victims, according to a tweet from the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Police received a call from a neighbor at 1:45 a.m. that a boat had struck a rock bluff.

"As to the circumstances leading up to (the crash), we just don’t know yet," Sgt. Scott White, spokesman for the patrol's Troop F, told The Kansas City Star.

Two of the people who died were found in the water, the Star reported. The third person was discovered in the boat.

According to the Star, the preliminary investigation shows that none of the people on the boat wore a life vest. Missouri law doesn't require occupants to do so, only to have one readily accessible for each person on the boat.

Lake of the Ozarks is about 200 miles west of Belleville.

This story was originally published May 19, 2018 at 11:52 AM with the headline "3 die in Lake of the Ozarks boat crash; driver charged."