Investigators are trying to determine whether Saturday’s collision between a barge and a fishing boat that killed two people might have been the result of neglect or equipment failure.
After a grueling four-day search, rescue workers recovered the body of Soddy-Daisy resident Richard Wilkey, 42, Tuesday morning, floating near the Tennessee River’s east bank. His body was about a mile from where a nine-barge load pushed by a tugboat collided with his fishing boat.
The accident also claimed the life of Tim Spidle, 45, of Elizabethton, Tenn.
David “Chris” Wilkey, 37, Mr. Wilkey’s nephew, was aboard the fishing boat and survived.
The recovery of Richard Wilkey’s body leads to both “closure and the beginning of more questions,” said Tony Reavley, chief of field services for Hamilton County Emergency Management Services.