THEY WENT OUT FOR ONE LAST BOAT RIDE — THEN A FAMILY’S NIGHT TURNED INTO A NIGHTMARE

BARNEGAT BAY, NEW JERSEY — It was supposed to be a simple family evening.

Dinner. Time with grandparents. A short boat ride home.

Instead, it became the final night of 9-year-old Mya Golabek and her 7-year-old brother, Sigmund.

According to court records, the siblings were aboard their grandfather Stephen Schneider’s boat when it struck a channel marker in the darkness of Barnegat Bay, sending both children into the water.

They were wearing life jackets.

But rescuers still found them unresponsive.

FROM A FAMILY DINNER TO A FATAL BOAT RIDE

Earlier that evening, Mya and Sigmund had been with their family at a restaurant in Bayville.

After dinner, the children wanted to return to their grandparents’ home by boat.

Their grandfather, 64-year-old Schneider, took them aboard his vessel and headed onto the bay.

It was a decision that seemed ordinary at the time.

Within minutes, everything changed.

The boat collided with a channel marker, throwing both children into the water.

Family members and first responders desperately tried to save them.

But neither child survived.

ALCOHOL BECOMES A CENTRAL QUESTION

Schneider reportedly told investigators that he had consumed three beers while at the restaurant.

But authorities later alleged that his blood-alcohol concentration was approximately 0.16%, twice New Jersey’s legal limit for driving.

Prosecutors say the level demonstrated significant impairment.

Schneider now faces charges including reckless vessel homicide in connection with the deaths of his grandchildren.

The defense has indicated that questions remain about the circumstances of the crash, including the condition and visibility of the channel marker.

THE MOST PAINFUL DETAIL

Mya and Sigmund had life jackets on when they entered the water.

Their family had taken precautions.

They were not alone.

They were with people who loved them.

Yet the darkness, the collision and the circumstances surrounding the boat’s operation created a tragedy from which their family will never recover.

THEIR FATHER’S EXTRAORDINARY REQUEST

The case became even more complicated when the children’s father asked that Schneider be released from jail.

It is a heartbreaking contradiction: a father mourning his two children while asking the court to show compassion toward the man accused of causing the crash that killed them.

A judge ultimately released Schneider under conditions while the case proceeds.

For the family, however, freedom for the accused does not mean freedom from grief.

TWO CHILDREN WHO SHOULD HAVE COME HOME

Mya and Sigmund left dinner expecting to spend more time with their grandparents.

Their family expected to see them again.

Instead, the boat ride became the last journey of their lives.

Now investigators and prosecutors are left to reconstruct the moments leading to the crash, while their family faces a much more personal reality:

Two children are gone. Two siblings who were supposed to grow up together will never get that chance.

And one ordinary family night on Barnegat Bay has become a tragedy that can never be undone.

Stephen Schneider has been charged in connection with the crash. The allegations against him remain subject to the criminal court process.