Found Deceased TX - Matthew Meinert, 38, Denton County, 6 March 2017

[inmyhumbleopinion]

This definitely looks like the boat ran up on shore. Whether by accident or not, who knows at this point. I am not sure what to think. I don't know anyone that would put a toddler in a boat without a life jacket. Can a toddler remove a life jacket by himself? Were there fishing poles and tackle found in the boat? More questions than answers until Meinert is found.

Do you also see a rut in the sand?

Apologies in advance if this a silly question, but:

"Early Tuesday afternoon, game wardens drove his [Mr. Meinert's] boat under its own power to the boat ramp on the Trophy Club side of Grapevine Lake where Meinert’s pickup truck was still parked. They took the boat as evidence hoping it might provide more clues to what happened. Life jackets were found in the boat." (BBM)
http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/search-continues-for-missing-boaters-in-denton-creek/420356163

Is it likely that the boat would still be derivable after running up on shore? Wouldn't there be significant damage to the engine?

 

[101010]

I'm wandering how the phone, life vests and shoes were found in the boat (location). If the boat came up to the beach area fast would those items be scattered about?

That's what I was wondering too. I would think if the boat hit that hard that the little boy and phone (at least) would have flown out on impact. That is why I suggested above that perhaps the dad pulled the boat up there on purpose so they could fish off the bank. If so he could have taken the little boy's life jacket off once on shore and put it back in the boat. He could have also taken his son's shoes off and put them back in the boat. Maybe he waded out in the water and had a heart attack or something while his son was on shore.

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

This definitely looks like the boat ran up on shore. Whether by accident or not, who knows at this point. I am not sure what to think. I don't know anyone that would put a toddler in a boat without a life jacket. Can a toddler remove a life jacket by himself? Were there fishing poles and tackle found in the boat? More questions than answers until Meinert is found.

Do you also see a rut in the sand?

RBBM

"Meinert’s boat contained fishing gear, shoes and a cellphone, officials said." (BBM)
http://www.star-telegram.com/news/state/texas/article136872888.html#storylink=cpy

Also, "Life jackets were found in the boat."
http://www.kvue.com/news/local/search-continues-for-missing-boaters-in-denton-creek/420545762

It just seems so unlikely to me that all of these items would still be inside the boat after an accident ....

 

[Tbone144]

I'm wandering how the phone, life vests and shoes were found in the boat (location). If the boat came up to the beach area fast would those items be scattered about?

Excellent point. Would be nice to know if things were strewn about. How about that gas can, still upright. Was it strapped down? Across from where I work a guy has a similar boat. My husband at 6'1 and 230 strong pounds seems to think he could maneuver it fairly easily but not without leaving footprints. I know I couldn't. Did I miss MM's height and weight?

That nearby tree would make good winch but is it damaged or worn at all?

I like the idea of pulling up to fish from shore, still wouldn't let kid be out of lifevest. How much gear was in boat? How many rods? Did he pull up (way to far out of water to get it back in by practical purposes) to fish from that spot, the kids line got tangled and he decided to go out to grab lure? I hear about it on the San Jacinto all the time. People go out, don't realize the drop off go under and gasp in surprise. That's it. Or the current will grab them and they panic. Also explains the cellphone in the boat. "Crap, going to wade out to untangle line". Throw cellphone and shoes in boat.

Still conundrum on how far up that boat is. If bank is really steep with swift current may need most of it out to keep it from moving but that seems excessive.

 

[MIKAYOYO]

That's what I was wondering too. I would think if the boat hit that hard that the little boy and phone (at least) would have flown out on impact. That is why I suggested above that perhaps the dad pulled the boat up there on purpose so they could fish off the bank. If so he could have taken the little boy's life jacket off once on shore and put it back in the boat. He could have also taken his son's shoes off and put them back in the boat. Maybe he waded out in the water and had a heart attack or something while his son was on shore.

I just can't see him purposefully pulling the boat that far up intentionally to just wade and fish. That's my opinion. I'm troubled by this whole case. I don't really know what to think.

 

[JeannaT]

I just can't see him purposefully pulling the boat that far up intentionally to just wade and fish. That's my opinion. I'm troubled by this whole case. I don't really know what to think.

In another photo earlier in the thread, it showed a rescue boat pulled up there to investigate. They pulled to where you would if you wanted to get out of your boat, which was at the edge of the rock bank, not way up the hill. I don't know what to think either. This child looks old enough to tell some kind of story about what happened, he seems to be an older 2, but maybe he wasn't able to help tell the story.

 

[ninij9]

This definitely looks like the boat ran up on shore. Whether by accident or not, who knows at this point. I am not sure what to think. I don't know anyone that would put a toddler in a boat without a life jacket. Can a toddler remove a life jacket by himself? Were there fishing poles and tackle found in the boat? More questions than answers until Meinert is found.

Do you also see a rut in the sand?

Just got off work and saw your response. I DO see a rut!! I was hesitant to say so because it looks faint.

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[inmyhumbleopinion]

In another photo earlier in the thread, it showed a rescue boat pulled up there to investigate. They pulled to where you would if you wanted to get out of your boat, which was at the edge of the rock bank, not way up the hill. I don't know what to think either. This child looks old enough to tell some kind of story about what happened, he seems to be an older 2, but maybe he wasn't able to help tell the story.

Could this be the photo you are talking about?

 

[MIKAYOYO]

I don't see the rut but I see a kind of bump in the sand before the boat on the incline so again if the boat is going fast enough to get over that bump and at a rest on this hill, was there damage to the boat? How were the items inside found and were they in order or strewn about? I have a ton of questions here. Moo

 

[AmyPond]

In another photo earlier in the thread, it showed a rescue boat pulled up there to investigate. They pulled to where you would if you wanted to get out of your boat, which was at the edge of the rock bank, not way up the hill. I don't know what to think either. This child looks old enough to tell some kind of story about what happened, he seems to be an older 2, but maybe he wasn't able to help tell the story.

One of the articles stated that he was unable to tell them what happened. I think he only just turned two in December-ish.

 

[ninij9]

This is what I imagine in my head,
But that would surely have thrown the child and everything else overboard too. And the boat should be badly damaged.

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[MIKAYOYO]

This is what I imagine in my head,
But that would surely have thrown the child and everything else overboard too. And the boat should be badly damaged.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

I would agree if this was ocean type water but it's a creek. There's no wake, no waves. IMO

 

[ninij9]

I would agree if this was ocean type water but it's a creek. There's no wake, no waves. IMO

Arghhhhh. You are right. Googling again.🙄

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[Tbone144]

pic of boat:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4293048/Toddlerwent-missing-dad-fishing-trip.html

This picture the gas can is not backed into corner but sitting a foot or so forward. If I remember college physics correctly they should be able to calculate about the max speed of the boat based on the weight and the potential distance traveled of the gas can. If the gas can was strapped into place it negates all of it but if that's were he put it the boat wasn't moving forward. I generally have seen gas cans tucked at back against two solid walls for extra protection. If the can was tucked at back and traveled x distance based on the weight of the can; they should be able to roughly calculate how fast the boat was moving. The gas can was moving at y speed when it came to stop resulting in x distance.

Hubby disagrees. Granted you would have to calculate the friction from the bottom of the boat but I still think smarter people than me could calculate a max speed, even with the given geometry of the bank. It's been over 20 years since college physics but I remember launching a bunch of marbles at differing weights and geometries determining distance and then calculating force. Force = mass *acceleration so if you know the weight of the boat you should be able to calculate the acceleration based on the force. Right?

 

[MIKAYOYO]

I am truly having conflicted thoughts here. I hate to say that I hope he "surfaces" soon so I can get past the hinky. I'm 50/50 right now. Either way I hope they find him for his family's sake.

 

[101010]

I would agree if this was ocean type water but it's a creek. There's no wake, no waves. IMO

He could have hit a stump or something that sent him flying. I still think that at least the cell phone would have been thrown from the boat had that happened though.

I still wonder if dad didn't pull the boat up on the shore intentionally though. Stupid question but do bodies of water like this one have tides? Or is there a damn up stream that could cause the water level to rise and fall? Dad and son were out there in the evening so and isn't that high tide time? If so then maybe the water level was higher then than it was when the news photos were taken? If so then dad would not have drug the boat that far away from the water after all.

Also I think the rut on the ground is insignificant. Regardless if dad pulled the boat out of the water intentionally or if the boat ran ashore because dad fell overboard and the motor was still on, the rut would have been on the ground I would think. Regardless of how the boat got there, it didn't levitate to get to that position.

 

[MIKAYOYO]

He could have hit a stump or something that sent him flying. I still think that at least the cell phone would have been thrown from the boat had that happened though.

I still wonder if dad didn't pull the boat up on the shore intentionally though. Stupid question but do bodies of water like this one have tides? Or is there a damn up stream that could cause the water level to rise and fall? Dad and son were out there in the evening so and isn't that high tide time? If so then maybe the water level was higher then than it was when the news photos were taken? If so then dad would not have drug the boat that far away from the water after all.

Also I think the rut on the ground is insignificant. Regardless if dad pulled the boat out of the water intentionally or if the boat ran ashore because dad fell overboard and the motor was still on, the rut would have been on the ground I would think. Regardless of how the boat got there, it didn't levitate to get to that position.

No, there's no tide, no ebb and flow. The lakes haven't fluctuated because there's been no significant rain. It's a still Creek. My main hink is based on the search the night before and not finding anything and then finding the kid " nearby the boat" the next morning. Moo

 

[101010]

No, there's no tide, no ebb and flow. The lakes haven't fluctuated because there's been no significant rain. It's a still Creek. My main hink is based on the search the night before and not finding anything and then finding the kid " nearby the boat" the next morning. Moo

I know! That is my hink too! If the baby was found near the boat the morning after, where was he the night before? You would think the searches would have throughly searched that area then. I highly doubt the 2 year old wandered that far off for the night and then wandered back to the boat the next AM. At least I doubt he did that alone.

 

[jpo74]

To me, it looks like the boat was pulled ashore.

If the boat ran aground on it's own with the engine running, I would assume it would have hit the shoreline and be pushed sideways in the water, not travel some 15-20 feet up onto the shore and lay against tree roots, unless he was speeding, but even so, a boat that size in a creek wouldn't have a powerful engine.

:thinking:

also, if the boat was running whilst going onto land, there be marks left behind it. thank god that the little boy is ok, but worried about the father. if he is an avid boater, they should have had their life vests on. were the life vests neatly placked or astrewen? maybe they were taken off?

 

[jpo74]

oh and I am with you TGIR there is no way in he double hockey sticks I would EVER let my 2 yr old go out there W/O a life jacket to me that in itself is almost criminal.

maybe they had them on but were taken off? where was the life vests on the boat at? that would be telling if they were strewn about or neatly placed. im wondering why, near sunset, go out with a 2 yr old? what was the purpose in that?:thinking: