THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 22, 1995 TAG: 9508220279
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TERRI WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
Family members and friends held agonizing vigils Monday at the homes of two cousins who were presumed to have drowned Sunday night after their 15-foot boat capsized during a fishing trip in the choppy James River.
Three other relatives were rescued Sunday after clinging for seven hours to an abandoned lighthouse.
Missing were Prentis ``Pete'' Hopkins, 26, of 1100 block Blythewood Drive, and Jonathan Carey, 18, of the 1500 block of Lake Speight.
Neither was wearing a life jacket when the boat went down, a Virginia Marine Resources Commission patrol officer said. Neither the boat nor debris had been found Monday.
Three men and two boys were in the boat when a wave went over its bow, about one-half mile from the Suffolk side of the Monitor-Merrimac Bridge-Tunnel, officials of the VMRC said.
Carey is a recent graduate of Lakeland High School, and Hopkins has worked a number of jobs, including construction, and has a son, relatives said.
Richard Wynn Carroll, 30, and his son, Richard Wynn Carroll Jr., 9, of the 600 block of Adkins Circle; and Solomon Wesley Darden, 12, of the 2200 block of Arizona Avenue, clung to the small lighthouse, which has a largely submerged foundation of piled rocks. Pushed against the structure by waves, they hung on from 1 a.m. to 8 a.m., when they were spotted by a private boat and rescued by the Coast Guard.
The Carrolls were wearing life jackets, and they and Darden swam to the Middle Ground Lighthouse, the patrol officer said. They were treated at Riverside Regional Medical Center on Sunday and released.
At her home at Suffolk Station Apartments, in the 100 block of Forest Oak Lane, Miriam Hopkins, 25, and other family members tried to remain hopeful. ``We just hope they find them,'' said a weary Hopkins. ``The worse thing is not knowing.''
Among the visitors was Solomon Darden, who said his son, Solomon Wesley Darden, was fairing well after the accident. ``My family is doing OK right now,'' he said, ``but it's mixed emotions because there are others who are still out there.''
Joseph Stokes, a cousin of the missing men, was troubled that he didn't know how the incident happened. ``It's trying; it's hard,'' he said. ``All I know is they were on a boat. There's not much you can do with a capsized boat. You keep holding on and holding on, and you get tired.''
Other family members gathered at homes in Lake Kennedy and Hollywood. A steady stream of well wishers drove by to embrace family members and to offer support.
Eula Mae Hopkins, grandmother of both missing men, sat quietly in a wheelchair, a member of her church nearby.
``It's really gotten next to me,'' Hopkins said softly. ``My heart just is aching.''
Grateful that grandson Solomon Wesley Hopkins was saved, she said, ``I'm proud of him because he did try to survive and help in every way he could . .
Rescue workers with the commission, the Coast Guard and Newport News police have searched for the men and their open-bow, fiberglass boat since Sunday. On Monday, workers dragged the bottom of the James, and an airplane began searching at mid-afternoon, said VRMC spokesman Wilford Kale.
Throughout the day, the commission reported to the missing men's families. ``Two hours can seem like six hours when you're a family member,'' Kale said.
The boat was believed by family members to have been borrowed, and it was unclear how much boating experience the relatives had. A small-craft advisory, warning of heavy surf as winds reached 20 to 30 knots, was posted when the men set off, about 12:30 a.m., from the Peterson Yacht Basin at 16th Street in Newport News. Some experienced mariners later said they had trouble navigating the waterway in larger boats.
About an hour after they embarked, Kales said, waves pushed by steady northeast winds and a rapidly ebbing tide overwashed the boat, and it capsized. ``At the James River, off Jamestown Island, the currents can be real vicious at rip tide,'' Kale said. ``People need to ascertain conditions before they go fishing.''
KEYWORDS: BOATING ACCIDENT by CNB