Loved ones are mourning a New Jersey man who died in a boating accident in the Cape May Harbor early Wednesday morning.
Police said Christopher Heitman, 45, of Cape May, was operating a 17-foot boat in the harbor at 2:21 a.m. when a dredge pipe broke free from its mooring and entered the channel. The boat struck the pipe and Heitman as well as another man on board both fell in the water.
While the other man was able to get back on the boat, Heitman was later found unresponsive in the water and pronounced dead.
NJ State Police and the U.S. Coast Guard are both investigating the incident. Investigators said it’s unclear exactly who was responsible for the dredging equipment or how the pipe became loose. It’s also unknown at this time if anything is being done to prevent something similar from happening again.
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“A lot of questions,” Captain Jack Moran with Sea Tow Cape May said. “As far as the dredge equipment, you know, they’ve been here all summer.”
Captain Moran said the harbor is used as a staging area for the equipment. He also said there have been other recent but far less serious boating mishaps.
“We’ve had several calls or responded to several calls with vessels that have hit certain parts of the dredge pipe on either side of the harbor here,” Captain Moran said. “Most of the equipment is clearly outside of the channel. But, you know, sometimes people do need to go outside the channel to get to marinas and things of that nature.”
Heitman's family told NBC10 he loved life as well as the water.
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“Our heart is broken,” Patricia Heitman, Heitman’s mother, told NBC10. “He’ll be well missed. He was wonderful.”
Heitman’s girlfriend, Shanette Robbolino, told NBC10 they were hoping to build a life together. She also said her 8-year-old son wanted Heitman to be his dad.
“He treated my son and I with such kindness and brought us into his life and his family’s life who are wonderful,” Robbolino said. “He was just a very generous, wonderful, kindhearted person and it’s a huge loss not to have him. Especially for my son and I.”
