A boating tragedy last week at Lake Barkley in western Kentucky left two people dead, including a Realtor for a Century 21 office. Three others were injured in the crash, including two Realtors and an administrative assistant for the same real estate office.
Leaders for the Kentucky Association of Realtors trade group, who participated last week in annual meetings at a Lake Barkley resort, cut short the annual conference after news of the boating incident.
A 21-foot boat owned by Robert “Bob” Reed Snow, a Realtor for Century 21 Service Realty of Paducah, Ky., reportedly struck rocks at the mouth of the Little River, near the Lake Barkley Marina, early Thursday morning. The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources reported that its officers responded to the accident at about 3:40 a.m. that morning. “Two persons died at the scene of the accident and three others were transported to hospitals for treatment of injuries ranging from minor to severe,” the department reported.
Snow’s wife, Johnna, 37, a real estate agent for the Century 21 office who had recently obtained her real estate license, and Adam Smith, 28, of Corbin, Ky., died at the scene of the crash. Bob Snow was treated at a local hospital for injuries and was released from the hospital Thursday morning. The Snows worked as a husband-and-wife real estate team and marketed themselves as “The Snow Team.”
Heather M. Reams, 24, an administrative assistant for Century 21 Service Realty, was airlifted to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, Tenn. following the accident. Reams remained in critical condition in the hospital’s trauma center today, said a hospital spokesman. Cobey D. Slankard, 31, a real estate agent for Century 21 Service Realty who was also injured in the crash, has also been released from the hospital “and will make a full recovery,” said Betty Higdon, co-owner and principal broker for Century 21 Service Realty.
Funeral services were held Sunday for Johnna Snow. Her family released a statement to a local television station, WPSD NewsChannel 6. “There has never been a more thoughtful or unselfish person. We are grieved beyond words and the many phone calls, visits and expressions of kindness remind us that her circle of influence extended much wider than this family. She will be missed by so many,” according to the statement.
Leaders for the state Realtor association learned about the boating accident early Thursday, said Glenn Akree, legal counsel for the association. “(We) posted notices that the meetings would be cancelled. We held a memorial and prayer service at 11 a.m. on Thursday and had over 100 people attending,” he said.
The meetings began Tuesday and were originally scheduled to end Friday. “We didn’t have the board meeting. The leadership team got together and made the determination that nothing on the agenda was so critical that we had to have it done last week, so they called off the (board) meeting,” he said.
The Realtor group has held its summer board meetings at the Lake Barkley resort for the past 20 years, Akree also said, and many Realtors bring their families to the resort during the annual Realtor meetings.
There are still few details about the boat crash. State Police spokesman Barry Meadows said today that investigators are still uncertain who was operating the boat at the time of the crash. There was no evidence of alcohol found at the site of the crash, Meadows said, and it is uncertain whether speed may have been a factor in the accident. Officers have said that visibility may have contributed to the accident, according to reports.
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