Chock Used To Hold Car Was Removed Before It Fell Off Ferry

TACOMA - The wheel chock used to prevent a car from moving was removed just before a car rolled off a private ferry into the water, killing a Herron Island woman, Pierce County sheriff's deputies say.

Rosemary McGuinn, 64, drowned after her car rolled off the ferry traveling from Herron Island to the Key Peninsula on Friday.

Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said investigators determined that a ferry worker removed the wheel chock, a triangular block placed against a car's tire, just before the accident. McGuinn's car was in neutral at the time, he said.

The findings will be sent to the U.S. Coast Guard's marine-safety office, which is reviewing the accident.

The ferry is operated by Herron Maintenance, the homeowner's association that runs Herron Island.

The accident happened as the ferry, the Charlie Wells, was about 30 yards from the ferry dock. Investigators believe McGuinn might not have realized her car was moving until too late because of the motion of the ferry, Troyer said.

The car, with McGuinn and her 51-year-old caregiver inside, rolled off and quickly sank in about 30 feet of water. The caregiver tried to save McGuinn but could not. Two other people dived from the ferry and tried to rescue McGuinn, but were unsuccessful.

A sheriff's deputy on the department's dive team pulled McGuinn from the car about 15 minutes after it went under. She was alive when pulled to shore but did not survive.