GRIM FINAL PHOTO CAPTURES 5 FRIENDS MOMENTS BEFORE TRAGEDY..! – A chilling photo has emerged showing five friends standing waist-deep in the Ohio River, fishing together just moments before they all tragically drowned.
A frequent boater on the Ohio waterway where five people drowned Sunday may have captured the last photo of the ill-fated group alive — as the second couple in the tragedy has been identified.
The image of five adults fishing in waist-deep water in the Scioto River is believed to be the two couples and their friend who died trying to rescue each other – leaving three young children orphaned.
“I believe the picture I took may have been the last picture of them being alive,” the pic’s photographer, Marcus L. Martin said.
Martin, who has boated along the river for 10 years, felt uneasy on Sunday when he saw the group deep in an area he knew to be treacherous, he told The Associated Press.
A group of people believed to be those who died in a recent drowning accident, are shown fishing.AP
“I just remember being taught that area was kind of dangerous, in the sense of there being steep slopes” and a quick drop-off into the river, the Baptist pastor said.
As he was boating along, Martin said saw the five adults in the water and two children on a nearby grassy bank — and the crew was still there two hours later when he returned.
Two married couples from Honduras were among the five adults who drowned while trying to save a struggling swimmer.Univision
“I don’t know what it was. I said, I just need to capture this picture,” he said.
With over a decade of experience voyaging through the Scioto River, Martin considered warning them of potential danger, but didn’t want to cross between him and two or three other boats nearby, causing too many waves.
Jose Mario Pineda Dias, 33, his wife, Marina Suyapa Regalad, 28, and their two children were joined by another married couple and an adult friend on the Scioto River.Univision
The pastor said he’s been losing sleep over the decision not to warn the group after the news broke of the drownings.
The unimaginable tragedy unfolded when one of the friends went in for a dip and began struggling to swim – prompting two of the remaining adults to try to save him, before the last two adults went in to try to save them. None of them – including two sets of parents – made it to the shore.
Authorities rushed to the scene around 9 p.m. after a motorist noticed a “clearly distraught” young child running along a nearby road and called 911.
The hysterical child said his “family was in the river,” while another young boy wrapped in a towel was screaming, “Mama! Mama!” according to the 911 caller.
First responders pulled two women from the river and transported them to nearby hospitals, where they were pronounced dead.
The bodies of three men were recovered the following day.
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Honduran authorities confirmed Tuesday that four of the five adults were Honduran nationals.
Jose Mario Pineda Dias, 33, and his wife Marina Suyapa Regalado, 28 were identified Tuesday as one of the drowned couples from Honduras — and the parents of the two children at the scene.
The second married couple, Miguel Ángel Guerra and Carmen Idalia Lara Ferrera, both 33, were identified by the Honduran president’s office and the Honduran foreign ministry, ABC News reported Wednesday. The couple has a 7-year-old daughter, according to a GoFundMe page set up for their loved ones.
The foreign ministry said it is cooperating with US authorities to bring the bodies back to Honduras and is supporting the two orphaned children still in the US.
Dias and Regalado’s children are currently in the care of the state of Ohio and arrangements will be made to reunite them with relatives in their home country, according to Flabia Zamora, the director of consular affairs at the Honduran Foreign Ministry.
The drownings remain under investigation. The river was running high and fast on Sunday, flowing at a rate of 350 cubic feet per second — more than double the average rate, according to data from a US Geological Survey water gauge at the nearby dam.
The fifth victim killed will be publicly identified pending family notification.
The Post reached out to the Honduran Foreign Affairs Ministry Wednesday night but did not immediately hear back.
With Post wires.
