No criminal charges to be filed in Hilton Head’s double boating fatality on Skull Creek
State officials said they were not pursuing charges in last month’s double boating fatality off the coast of Hilton Head Island, confirming the boat’s operator was one of the people killed in the nighttime collision with a wooden channel marker.
A boating accident report released this week by the South Carolina Department of Resources said the 2024 Grady-White sport fishing boat was driven by its registered owner, 76-year-old Rick Montgomery, when it crashed into the channel marker around 9:45 p.m. June 27 in the waters of Skull Creek.
Rick Montgomery and his wife, 73-year-old Patsy Montgomery, died of drowning after being trapped underneath the capsized 23-foot boat, according to the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office. The couple lived for decades in Concord, North Carolina, before finding a new home in Sun City about seven years ago.
The boat’s two surviving occupants, both 65, were visiting the Montgomerys from China Grove, North Carolina, about an hour northeast of Charlotte. They were taken to Hilton Head Medical Center with head injuries and lacerations, the report says, but their status as of Thursday was unknown.
SCDNR investigators estimated the Grady-White was driving 30-39 mph when the bow struck a green reflective day marker, which are used to help boaters identify the edges of a channel. The boat was “propelled upwards” as the port-side hull continued to strike the marker, according to the crash report. The vessel then capsized to the starboard side, ejecting one occupant and trapping three others underneath the boat.
One person freed themselves from under the overturned Grady-White and found the other survivor. The couple treaded water in the area of the capsized boat as they dialed 911 and waited for help, according to the report.
Rescue crews then launched a multi-hour search for the Montgomerys, with helicopters and water teams patrolling most of the northern reaches of Skull Creek. The search ended with the discovery of Rick and Patsy’s bodies, along with their two pet dogs that were killed in the accident.
Investigators who authored the SCDNR crash report did not indicate any watercraft or human errors that contributed to the collision, noting that the Grady-White’s navigational lights were operational and turned on. The boat had a fire extinguisher and the required number of life jackets on board, the document says.
Boating conditions were described as relatively safe in the area of Skull Creek the night of June 27, including “good” visibility, “moderate” winds ranging from 7-14 mph and calm water conditions with a “moderate” current.
The report said Rick Montgomery had over 100 hours of experience driving the 2024 Grady-White. It estimated the crash caused $90,000 of damage to the motorboat; similar models from the boatbuilding company typically sell for upwards of $100,000.
Shortly after the crash, according to the report, the capsized boat drifted to the opposite end of Skull Creek and “came to rest on a shallow oyster bed.” SCDNR officials would take possession of the vessel the following day at the docks near Skull Creek Boathouse as they began their investigation.
The Montgomerys’ deaths were among the first recorded boating fatalities in Beaufort County since the high-profile 2019 boat crash that killed Mallory Beach. The 19-year-old was thrown into the waters of Archers Creek after the 17-foot Sea Hunt motorboat, driven by an allegedly inebriated Paul Murdaugh, collided with a piling of the R.C. Berkeley Bridge.
Remembering the Montgomerys
Patsy and Rick Montgomery were married for 55 years and had one daughter together. Before retiring to the Bluffton area — Patsy from Duke Energy and Rick from the swimming pool business — they spent most of their married life in North Carolina.
Loved ones remember the couple for their outstanding acts of kindness and deep devotion to their faith. They were active members and volunteers at the Beaufort campus of Community Bible Church, where their funeral services were held on Friday.
Friends reported an attendance of over 150 people at the couple’s services, which ended with their burials at the Beaufort National Cemetery. As a veteran of the U.S. Navy, Rick received military honors.
Daniel Barnhardt, a nephew of the Montgomerys, said Rick and Patsy were like second parents to him. He described his daily phone calls with the couple, where they shared how happy they were with their new life in Bluffton — spending their days traveling, cruising in their golf cart with their dogs and enjoying time on the water.
“The happiest they’d ever been was riding that boat back,” Barnhardt said, referencing the night of June 27. “I can guarantee you that.”
This story was originally published July 17, 2025 at 1:15 PM.
