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8 Killed in Lake Tahoe Tragedy Not Wearing Life Vests: NTSB

4 family members among those killed when boat capsized in sudden storm
Posted Jun 25, 2025 2:00 AM CDT
Updated Jul 24, 2025 3:00 AM CDT
Doordash Exec Among 8 Dead in Tahoe Tragedy
This undated photo provided by the Pickles family shows Josh Pickles, center, with his parents Terry Pickles, right, and mother Paula Bozinovich.   (Pickles Family via AP)
UPDATE Jul 24, 2025 3:00 AM CDT

None of the eight people killed last month in capsizing of a Lake Tahoe boat were wearing life vests at the time, the National Transportation Safety Board says in its preliminary report. The NTSB says the weather was mostly calm when the group of 10 set out from the marina around noon, but a sudden storm had whipped up whitecaps by two hours later, the AP reports. The boat was returning to shore around 2:30pm when it started to hail, and larger waves forced the boat sideways. "The boat took on water and some of the passengers attempted to bail the water out of the boat," the report says. "At one point, a particularly large wave overtook the boat." Of the two people rescued, one was wearing a life vest and the other was found clinging to one in the water.

Jun 25, 2025 2:00 AM CDT

A group of family and friends had gathered at Lake Tahoe over the weekend to celebrate Paula Bozinovich's 71st birthday. But the celebration turned horrific when a sudden storm picked up after 10 members of the group went out boating, and the vessel capsized amid 8-foot waves, killing eight of the 10. Among those killed were Bozinovich, her husband Terry Pickles, and their son Josh Pickles, an executive for DoorDash, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The younger Pickles' uncle, Peter Bayes, was also killed, as were family friends Timothy O'Leary, 71; Stephen Lindsay, 63; and couple Theresa Giullari, 66, and James Guck, 69.

Josh Pickles' wife, Jordan Sugar-Carlsgaard, had remained on land with the couple's 7-month-old daughter. In a statement obtained by ABC 7, she said of the victims, "No words can express the pain and anguish we feel knowing their lives were lost during what was meant to be a joyful time on the lake." DoorDash was also mourning the loss of the company's global head of strategic sourcing and procurement, calling him a "beloved colleague" who'd been with the company almost seven years. A family spokesperson says of the storm, which surprised even weather forecasters, "The waves were so big that the water came onboard and started to fill the boat up and stalled the engine."

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