THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: MONDAY, June 20, 1994 TAG: 9406200043 SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS DATELINE: 940620 LENGTH: WARM SPRINGS
``It was one heck of a bolt to jolt them like that,'' said Bath County Sheriff's Lt. Noel Dunnagan. ``The pine bark was split all the way down.''
{REST} The lightning strike apparently occurred during a thunderstorm that swept the area about 2:30 p.m. Thursday. The bodies were discovered Friday afternoon after someone noticed a small boat tied to the shore of an island on Lake Moomaw across from the Bath County Beach, Dunnagan said.
The victims, all from West Virginia, were identified as Harrison L. Christian, 44; his wife, Sheila Kay, 37; and their son, Matthew, 10, all of Camden on Gauley. Also killed were Harrison Christian's uncle, Robert C. Johnson, and his wife, Marjorie, 63, of Princeton. Authorities said Johnson was in his 60s but that they did not know his exact age.
``It looked like they were fishing and got in the storm and sought refuge on the island,'' Dunnagan said. ``That was probably the worst place they could have gone.''
The family sought shelter in a grove of pines on the island, which is about 300 yards long and 100 yards wide, Dunnagan said. Their severely burned bodies were found within a 15-foot radius.
Dunnagan said a witness had seen lightning strike the island during the storm. ``He said there were two big bolts of lightning,'' Dunnagan said.
Charles Edwards of the National Weather Service said there were some strong storms across the area Thursday.
``The rule is, don't get under a tree,'' Edwards said. ``Lightning strikes at the highest peak.''
The West Virginia family was experienced in the outdoors, and they were frequent visitors to Lake Moomaw, a 2,350-acre reservoir on the Jackson River, said Jane Bay, Harrison Christian's sister.
``They loved fishing and camping; they mostly came to Moomaw,'' Bay said. ``They just came up that morning for a day trip. They were going to go back late that night because Harrison had to be at work.''
Dan Gregory, a former employer of Harrison Christian, said Christian was the director of security for High Power Energy Co. in Summersville, W.Va. Sheila Christian was a homemaker, and Matthew was a fifth-grader at Glade Elementary School in Cowen, W.Va., Bay said.
The Johnsons often drove from Princeton to meet the Christians in Camden on Gauley, then they would drive to Lake Moomaw, Gregory said.
``Harrison and Chester, they were more like brothers or real good buddies than uncle and nephew,'' he said. ``They were real close family.''
``There is a bright side,'' Gregory said. ``They were doing what they liked to do best, they were there as a family, and the coroner said they wouldn't have known a thing.''
by CNB