Smaller boat at fault for crash that killed 2 on Lake Murray, report says

LAKE MURRAY, S.C. The S.C. Department of Natural Resources has concluded its investigation into a Lake Murray boat crash that killed 2 men, saying the operator of the smaller boat was at fault.

The conlusions support earlier statements from the agency on the details of the April 21 crash.

Danny Phillips, 37, was driving a 16-foot 1998 Stratos bass boat when it collided with a 32-foot 2013 Intrepid center console driven by Bruce Dyer around 11 p.m., the agency has said. Dyer is the president of Dick Dyer Toyota.

Shawn Lanier, 28, was a passenger in Phillips boat and also died in the crash. Ashley Wannamaker was the only person in the bass boat who survived.

The report stated the bass boat was in violation and did not yield the right of way to Dyer’s boat.

It also stated Phillips had high levels of marijuana in his system. On-the-scene tests showed Dyer had no signs of impairment.

Dyer told officers he saw the green lights of the bass boat and made a hard right turn, but the two boats collided bow to bow. Records from Dyer’s GPS showed his boat was traveling 34.7 mph at the time of impact.

The report noted Dyer called 911 after a “short search” for two female occupants who fell out of his boat and stayed on the scene until 6 a.m. to assist officers in the investigation.

No charges were filed in the case.

This story was originally published June 9, 2017 at 4:37 PM with the headline "Smaller boat at fault for crash that killed 2 on Lake Murray, report says."