Cause of death released for teenage boater found on Waccamaw

Drowning was the cause of death for a Murrells Inlet teen who was found Tuesday after going missing in the Waccamaw River following a boating crash Monday night.

An autopsy performed Wednesday morning revealed Jacob Perry Lee Causey’s cause of death was drowning after a small vessel he was operating struck Channel Marker 57 at Wacca Wache Marina in Murrells Inlet, said Kenny Johnson, Georgetown County Coroner.

Causey also suffered a minor head injury, most likely during the crash, according Johnson.

The incident and its exact cause were still under investigation by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Wednesday morning, according to Robert McCullough, DNR spokesman.

Friends waiting along the Waccamaw River Tuesday morning said Causey, who was an avid outdoorsman who knew the river well, had experienced some motor trouble with the boat he was operating prior to the crash, which happened about 8 p.m. Monday.

Anxiety swelled as many friends and family waited, and at times searched the dark waters themselves, prior to Causey’s discovery at about 10:50 a.m. Tuesday.

Causey’s discovery climaxed the search that began Monday night, was temporarily suspended overnight, and then resumed Tuesday morning, and an outpouring of emotion erupted as family and friends comforted one another and cried following his discovery.

Causey had a 20-year-old male friend on board during the incident, who was also tossed into the water during the crash; however, he was found immediately and taken to Grand Strand Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries, officials said.

Causey was a junior in high school at Calvary Christian School in Myrtle Beach and had been a student there since he was a toddler, according to Principal Mark Roland.

“Everyone is finding different, little ways to remember and honor him,” Roland said of students there Wednesday morning.