Best man’s body found a day after bride’s in N.Y. boat collision

PIERMONT, N.Y. — A day after a bride-to-be was pulled dead from the Hudson River, the body of her fiancé’s best man was found a mile downstream Sunday, the second victim of a nighttime crash involving a speedboat and a barge north of New York City.

The deadly collision left the groom-to-be grieving for his intended and his best friend, while facing surgery for his own injuries as another friend is charged with manslaughter — two weeks before the wedding day.

“I don’t think you can put words to what we have to tell these families,” Rockland County Sheriff Louis Falco said as he announced that a body believed to be that of Mark Lennon, 30, the best man, was found Sunday morning.

At the church where Lindsey Stewart and Brian Bond, both 30, would have been married Aug. 10, the pastor said their lives “were filled with hopes and dreams, and that has been snuffed away.”

Stewart, Bond, Lennon and three others were on a speedboat that crashed Friday night into a barge holding equipment for the construction of a replacement for the Tappan Zee.

The group had left the village of Piermont for a short trip aboard the 21-foot Stingray across the river to Tarrytown, about 50 kilometres north of New York City, authorities said.

Police said it was being piloted by Jojo John, 35, of Nyack, whom they suspect was intoxicated and who has been charged with vehicular manslaughter and vehicular assault.

Stewart and Lennon were thrown off the boat.

When the bodies were found, they did not have life vests on, said Sheriff’s Department Chief William Barbera.

Bond, John and two others, whose names have not been made public because they are witnesses, were injured and hospitalized.

One of the witnesses has been released from the hospital, Falco said Sunday.

Mitchell Turk, a friend of Bond’s family, said Bond would be undergoing surgery on Monday.

Turk, of Orangetown, said he visited with Bond’s mother on Sunday at her Pearl River home.

“It’s sad and quiet there, long faces,” he said. “They’re trying to carry on, doing as well as can be expected. I’m a little shaken. When you think of what they’ve lost, a daughter-in-law, Brian injured, it’s tough.”

Turk’s daughter, Sheryl Palacio, said she has known Bond, an art teacher, all her life.

“He’s an outstanding teacher, a wonderful, kind, respectful man,” she said.

She said Lennon was Bond’s best friend and John was “his other best friend.” She described the suspect as “a good man, happy and loving.”

She said John “would never, ever want to put his friends in danger.”