Girl, 8, dies in Lake Mead accident

Tuesday, May 28, 2002 | 9:24 a.m.

An 8-year-old Las Vegas girl was killed Monday in an apparent boating accident at Lake Mead, National Park Service officials said.

The tragedy was the only serious incident at the lake over the Memorial Day weekend, officials said.

The Park Service and the Nevada Division of Wildlife are investigating the 3 p.m. accident that claimed the life of Brooke D. Jones in Sandy Cove near Callville Bay, Park Service spokeswoman Karla Norris said.

"There will be an investigation, but at this point it looks like an accident," Norris said.

Two boats were beached at the shoreline when one apparently backed up over the child, who was swimming nearby, Norris said.

The boat's driver did not appear impaired by drugs or alcohol, she said.

"We've got our grief counselors with the family," Norris said.

While two launch ramps at Government Wash and Pearce Ferry were closed, the rest were operating with limited space as the lake's water continued to drop, Ranger Scott Teodorski said.

A steady stream of boaters either launched or retrieved their craft throughout the day.

Lake visitors were polite to each other and there were no reports of other violence, Teodorski said.

"It's been real slow," he said.

Ron Deeb, assistant general manager at Callville Bay, said it was a quiet weekend.

"I haven't seen a helicopter all weekend" coming to pick up an injured vacationer, Deeb said, looking from his office window into the clear blue sky over the bay. It's his fourth summer on the lake and he's seen plenty of medical airlifts, he said.

While boaters dipped into and out of the water in steady streams, lines rarely lasted more than five minutes in the launch areas.

Las Vegas residents Jim and Darlene DeCanio said they noticed the drop in the numbers. They have been coming to Lake Mead for two years since arriving from Chicago.

"A month ago the docks were more crowded," Jim DeCanio said. "We moved out here for the boating. We love boating and we never could use anything in Chicago."

Air Force Airman Jason Davis said it was his second time at the lake in a month. "I think it's great," the visitor from California said.

The state wildlife and Park Service officers were out in force to ensure that boating, swimming and water skiing stayed as safe as possible.

Tickets were issued when children 12 and under were not wearing life jackets.

"We are adopting a no-tolerance policy when it comes to life jackets," said David Piffner, supervising game warden for the Nevada Division of Wildlife, who noted they are just as important in boats as seat belts are in cars.

The wildlife division also is offering an incentive for boaters to keep the life jackets on: through Sept. 2 prizes up to $1,000 are being awarded if every person onboard is wearing a serviceable life jacket, Piffner said.

Cool breezes and highs in the low 90s made the lake outings enjoyable for those who made the trip, but at the Las Vegas Bay Marina the water sported a greenish hue -- algae.

"Is it my sunglasses?" one woman asked, removing them and peering into the greenish tinge of the low waves.

The algae blooms as the lake's water begins to warm up most years, park officials said, but usually dies in the heat of the summer.

The green algae isn't dangerous or toxic and it feeds baby fish.

Last year, however, the algae stayed thick until July.