A Baptist pastor, Marcus L. Martin, felt instant trepidation when he saw five adults wading in the Scioto River. He believes the people he captured in a photo to be the ill-fated group that drowned that day.

Pastor May Have Taken ‘The Last Picture’ of the Group

Martin and his family floated away to enjoy a beautiful summer evening. But when they returned past the spot about two hours later and saw the group still wading in the river, Martin thought to snap a photo.

Martin said he knows the area well from 10 years of boating there and considered warning the people of the potential danger. However, there were two or three boats between him and them, and he didn’t want to cross between them and cause too many waves in the water.

Delaware County Sheriff Jeffrey Balzer has said authorities believe one of the adults began struggling to swim, and the others successively went to that person’s aid. All five were swept under and died.

Honduran authorities confirmed that four of the five adults were Honduran citizens. The names of the other couple and the fifth individual would be released once their families could be notified of their deaths.

An 8-year-old and a 10-year-old, children of one of the couples, were orphaned by the tragedy. The youngsters have been in the care of Franklin County Children Services since Monday, and the agency is working with relatives and family friends in Columbus who are providing them with a temporary home.

Original reporting: Texarkana Gazette — read the source article.