Leigh Kimmel says:

We found the boat almost by accident, tied up at an old pier that had fallen out of use as the park declined. We were old enough to be allowed to come and go without adult supervision, but young enough to be impetuous and convinced of our own immortality. So without a second thought we all climbed in and untied the rope.

In hindsight, everything that followed was unsurprising. We knew nothing about boating save what we’d read and seen on TV. We had no life jackets, not even a life preserver to toss to someone who fell overboard. All we had was the two oars we found in the boat, with which we set to rowing across the lake to the part of the shore where the little midway once stood, back when I was barely able to remember.

When that old boat capsized, the lake water drenched all our phones, leaving us with no way to call for help. Billy was on swim team, so he decided to swim for shore and get help. However, he failed to consider that a lake is a very different environment from even an Olympic-sized swimming pool.

When we failed to come home that evening, our parents notified the police. About an hour after dark, a helicopter overflew the lake, shining a spotlight on the surface. Once we were located, still clinging to the overturned boat’s hull, it was just a matter of sending a motorboat out to pull us out of the water, and we were taken to the emergency room to be treated for hypothermia and exposure.

Billy’s body was found two days later, about halfway to shore. The medical examiner concluded that the cold water was a sufficient shock to his system that he became incapacitated and drowned.