On the evening of July 23, 2025, 66-year-old Jerome P. Williams of Buffalo was on a 35-foot Scout boat in the upper Niagara River with 46-year-old Natalie Sansivero of Grand Island. At about 9:40 p.m. the boat struck a concrete abutment near Navy Island and the north Grand Island Bridge, throwing both people into the water.

A multiagency search and rescue response used boats, helicopters, and land units through the night and into the next day. The damaged boat was recovered, and after more than a day the operation shifted from rescue to recovery. Natalie Sansivero’s body was found in the river about a mile from the crash site on July 25, 2025. Jerome Williams remained missing despite continued searches, including underwater remotely operated vehicle scans of a nearby water intake system that yielded no result.

The New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigations is leading the inquiry. If anyone was on the upper Niagara River that night or has information about Jerome Williams’ last known movements, please come forward.