Judge dismisses criminal counts in Missouri duck boat deaths
A federal judge has dismissed charges against three men in connection with their involvement in a 2018 Missouri boat accident that killed 17 people, including nine members of the same family. U.S. District Judge Doug Harpool filed an order Wednesday upholding a recommendation made in September. Kenneth Scott McKee, of Verona, the captain of the duck boat; Curtis Lanham, of Galena, the general manager of the boat’s operator, Ride the Ducks Branson; and Charles Baltzell, of Kirbyville, the manager on duty that day, were charged with neglect and misconduct after the vessel sank on Table Rock Lake near Branson when a storm rolled into the area. The duck boat is hauled out of the water on July 23, 2018, at Table Rock Lake in Branson, Mo.