Four weeks after the Oct. 8 drowning of Georgetown junior Robert Tremain (MSB ‘06), details surrounding the case still remain a mystery. The Metropolitan Police Department has continued to investigate and has not ruled out foul play.
“It is still classified as a death investigation, which means that it could be a homicide, a suicide or an accidental drowning,” Officer Kenny Bryson of MPD’s Public Information Office said.
Tremain died following a fall into the Anacostia River from “Off the Record,” a privately-owned 36-foot Carver Aft Cabin powerboat. He had been on a pleasure cruise that evening with the owner of the boat and seven other people, some of whom are students at George Washington University.
Tremain fell off of the boat as it neared James Creek Marina, which is located at 200 V Street S.W., to dock. Tremain’s body was found Oct. 12 near the Frederick Douglas Memorial Bridge.
The owner of the boat involved recounted the events of the night on the condition that his name would not be revealed. Still baffled as to how Tremain fell over the edge of the boat and drowned so quickly, he explained that the night started with a cruise on the Potomac River.
The owner, a middle-aged man from Fairfax County, Va, had invited friends to ride in the boat for the evening.
The boat departed from James Creek Marina with six passengers, including a woman who had attended high school with Tremain.
They drove to the Wall, a popular bar and restaurant destination on the Georgetown Waterfront, to pick up Tremain.
“I didn’t even know Bobby personally,” the boat owner said. “To be honest, I don’t know where he had been before he got on the boat.”
The boat returned to the marina at 2:30 a.m. Because the area surrounding the marina is a no-wake zone, the owner said he was driving at three to four miles per hour. As he was entering his designated slip, he heard the female passenger screaming that Bobby had fallen into the water.
“We threw him a life vest, it must have been five to 10 feet away, and he was swimming toward the boat,” he recalled. “But by the time she had jumped in, he had vanished.”
Clearly shaken by the night’s events, he explained that the boat’s substantial size would prevent a passenger from falling off easily.
“Above your knees, there’s a rail on the back of the boat,” he said. “You just don’t slip.”
One mystery remains: how did a simple fall into the river turn into a drowning?
“The area really doesn’t have fast currents,” the owner of the boat said. “The person doesn’t just go down.”
He noted that Tremain was wearing a backpack at the time of the fall.
While rumors have circulated around campus that alcohol was involved, there was no evidence of drinking on the boat, Greg Smith, Manager of James Creek Marina, said.
“I know nobody did anything stupid,” the boat owner added. “Nobody was drinking on the boat.”
The D.C. Chief Medical Examiner’s Office will issue a definitive ruling on the cause of death once forensic reports and lab results have been examined, according to Bryson.
A memorial service for Tremain was held in St. William’s Chapel on Oct. 21. Rev. Tim Godfrey, S.J., Director of Campus Ministry, attended a memorial service held in Tremain’s hometown of Bloomfield Hills, Mich. on Oct. 18.
“From what I could tell, he seemed to be a very nice person,” the owner said. “Even now, I still can’t go to sleep at night.”
