The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office (EDSO) released the autopsies to South Tahoe Now for the eight people who died on Lake Tahoe during a sudden storm that capsized their boat on June 21, 2025, at Lester Beach near D.L. Bliss State Park.
Ten people were on board the 27-foot Chris-Craft vessel during an extreme weather event when 8-to 10-foot waves overtook the boat, tossing everyone overboard. Six people were located deceased in the water, two people were rescued and transferred to a local hospital and two people were missing and later found in the water, deceased.
The group of ten was out celebrating the 71st birthday of one of the victims, Paula Bozinovich. The group was on the boat “Over the Moon,” which was owned by her husband and son, Terry and Joshua Pickles. The National Traffic Safety Board said in its preliminiary report that the boat capsized at about 2:57 p.m. after setting off from a pier near Tahoe City at 10:40 a.m. The boat, captained by one of the boat’s two owners, had four adults on board at that time. They then stopped by two other marinas, with six additional passengers boarding at the second marina. The report stated they entered Emerald Bay and anchored for an estimated 1-1.5 hours. Sometime before 2 p.m., the clouds increased, and the operator decided to return to the marina where he had picked up the passengers. However, after getting underway, the winds, rain, and waves increased, and he decided to return to Emerald Bay. After about 10 minutes, the operator made a second attempt to return to the marina. The boat capsized at about 2:57 p.m.
The EDSO Coroner’s Office stated the cause of death of each victim was drowning. One of the survivors donned a personal floatation device (PFD) and distributed PFDs to everyone else in the boat. No one else immediately donned their PFD according to the report. The other survivor was found clinging to a PFD.
The Coroner’s Report did show that some of the victims had a blood alcohol level between .013% and .060 %. below the legal limit of .080%. Some also tested positive for some THC (common ingredient in marijuana), though the driver of the boat, Joshua Pickles, did not test positive for anything but caffeine.
Those who died in the accident:
- Peter Bayes, 72 – Lincoln, Calif.
- Terry Pickles, 73 – Redwood City, Calif.
- Joshua Pickles, 37 – San Francisco, Calif.
- Paula Bozinovich, 71 – Redwood City, Calif.
- Theresa Giullari, 66 – Honeoye, NY
- Stephen Lindsay, 63 – Springwater, NY
- James Guck. 69 – Honeoye, NY
- Timothy O’Leary, 71 – Auburn, Calif.
The two survivors were Amy Friduss, 40, of Rochester, New York and her mother, Julie Lindsay, 65, of Springwater, New York. They were treated at Barton Memorial Hospital.
