Gas Generators Strike Again
Once again it happened on a houseboat, and once again the killer seems to have been a gas generator. Last Tuesday night, March 23rd, three adults were found dead on their houseboat which was floating 200 feet offshore in Huntington Harbor, New York. From the picture the boat seems to be an older model and we assume the same is true of its generator. Once again BoatTEST.com urges all boaters with non-CO safe gas generators aboard to turn them into scrap immediately. The life you save may be yours, a loved one, or the unfortunate and unaware person who buys the boat from you when you go to sell it.
 This houseboat |
HUNTINGTON, N.Y. (CBS News, March 24) ―
Three people were found dead on a house boat on Long Island, and a hidden danger may be to blame. The small houseboat has become the focus of a triple-fatal carbon monoxide poisoning investigation.
The police presence in Huntington Harbor is a troubling indication that something went wrong Tuesday night on Huntington Bay. A small houseboat has become the focus of a triple-fatal carbon monoxide poisoning investigation.
"There's no indication on the boat of any drug use," Sergeant Thomas Groneman, of the Suffolk County Police Department's Homicide Squad, said. "There's some alcohol on the boat, but there's no indication of any drug use."
Detectives received a 911 call at around 8:50 p.m. Tuesday. When they arrived at the scene, they saw a man trying to help an unconscious woman on the boat, which at the time was floating about 200 feet off-shore. They rowed out to the boat, and discovered two more unconscious people – and a gas generator. The early determination was carbon monoxide poisoning.
"There was a phone call made by one of the victims' friends, that they were concerned that they didn't show up at a meeting," Sgt. Groneman said.
The victims have been identified as 43-year-old Juan Torres of Huntington, and 45-year-old Patrick Franklin and his 44-year-old wife, Susan, both of Port Jefferson.
Carbon monoxide is an odorless gas that, if inhaled and particularly while sleeping or intoxicated, can cause sudden illness or even death. It's found in combustion fumes produced by stoves, motor vehicles, and gasoline engines.
"I do have carbon monoxide detectors…. Concern to all boaters," Huntington resident Gene Kinney said.
The Suffolk County Police Department is continuing its investigation. The next step involves taking the boat out of the water.
Investigators will try to determine what went wrong inside the cabin, and will probably inspect the generator to see if it malfunctioned.