Doomed Man's Calls Save Fellow Passengers

A man who died after a pleasure boat ran aground and overturned on a Hudson River marsh helped save his fellow passengers by making 911 calls from his cell phone while he was trapped beneath the boat, officials ...

[Bob]

I'm curious as to what Frances Strek was doing.
"I just heard a lot of screaming,`Help, help, help,"' said Frances Streck of Highland Falls, who lives on the shore near the scene.
It takes over an hour to find these people and that is only by tracing this man's phone calls. Why did Frances not call 911 after she hears screaming for help. She could have told them exactly where they were and this man may be alive. I guess hearing people scream for help is not enough reason to call.
Unbelievable.

[Sandy Darlington]

Bob wrote:

I'm curious as to what Frances Strek was doing.
"I just heard a lot of screaming,`Help, help, help,"' said Frances Streck of Highland Falls, who lives on the shore near the scene.
It takes over an hour to find these people and that is only by tracing this man's phone calls. Why did Frances not call 911 after she hears screaming for help. She could have told them exactly where they were and this man may be alive. I guess hearing people scream for help is not enough reason to call.
Unbelievable.

What's really unbelievable is that, based on ZERO evidence, someone would automatically leap to the conclusion that the police were not called or that Fran did nothing else to try to help. If you knew anything about the marshes at Con's Hook, you'd undertand why it might take an hour (or more) to find a small overturned watercraft in that area. There is an ever-changing series of shallow streams snaking through the marsh, and the plethora of tall reeds & dense bushes makes it virtually impossible to determine exactly where a voice is coming from unless you happen to be floating right above the marsh.

You really shouldn't assume the worst about person, especially when you're talking about such a kind, concerned, elderly person who in fact did everything she could to try to help that boat's passengers.