Rogers Co. Couple Says Their Lives Have Changed Since Witnessing Branson Duck Boat Tragedy

A Rogers County couple says the sinking of a duck boat in Branson is forever etched in their minds. Three years after the incident killed 17 people, charges were filed today against three people.

Friday, July 16th 2021, 6:13 pm

By: Amy Slanchik

ROGERS COUNTY, Oklahoma -

A Rogers County couple said their lives have changed since they witnessed the duck boat sink in Branson, Missouri nearly three years ago.

Missouri prosecutors filed charges against the captain, operations supervisor and general manager Friday.

July 19 will mark three years since the day the duck boat sank.

A couple News On 6 interviewed in 2018 said, today, they are anxious about being around water.

The Cooper family home in Foyil has plenty of options as the kids play outside this summer. But parents Telena and James said nearly three years after what they saw at Table Rock Lake, life is different for them.

"We have four kids now and none of them play with water, hardly at all,” Telena said. “Every time I see my kids around water, all that pops in my head is those poor little babies’ heads bobbing.”

Telena and James were in Branson for their wedding anniversary in 2018, when they witnessed the unimaginable as the duck boat sank in front of them.

"With how I can see it all, it feels like it was yesterday,” Telena said.

"That was the first time we were going to get on the Branson Belle, and that's something that we'll probably never do,” James said.

Friday, Missouri prosecutors charged Captain Scott McKee, Operations Supervisor Charles Baltzell and General Manager Curtis Lanham with 17 counts of Involuntary Manslaughter each. Missouri court documents said, "Captain McKee failed to exercise his duties and responsibilities... by entering the lake during a severe thunderstorm warning," and said Baltzell and Lanham failed to communicate severe weather conditions.

"It was one of those days, like it, to me it was completely obvious that you should not have been in the water at all,” Telena said.

While life is different for them, the couple knows it is forever changed for the victims' families. Of the 17 people who died, five were children.

"It might have been three years ago, but those babies didn't get forgotten,” Telena said.

"They're going to be on our mind probably forever,” James said.

News On 6 reached out by phone to the attorneys for all three men charged and did not immediately hear back.