FROM FAMILY BOAT TRIP TO HOMICIDE CHARGES: WHAT HAPPENED ON BARNEGAT BAY?

What began as a summer evening on the Jersey Shore ended with two children dead — and weeks later, their grandfather is now facing criminal charges.

On July 19, 2026, a 30-foot Tidewater Custom 280 was traveling through the Intracoastal Waterway in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, when it struck a channel marker shortly after 9 p.m.

The impact threw two children into the dark water.

They were 9-year-old Mya Bella Golabek and 7-year-old Sigmund “Siggy” Paul Golabek.

THE NIGHT EVERYTHING CHANGED

According to New Jersey State Police, the boat was being operated by Stephen Schneider, then 63, of Bayville.

His wife, Laurie Schneider, was also aboard.

The collision sent both children overboard.

Schneider and Laurie located the children in the water and brought them back toward shore while emergency crews rushed to the scene.

Both children were taken to a nearby hospital.

They did not survive.

THEN THE INVESTIGATION TOOK A DIFFERENT TURN

Initially, authorities had not announced criminal charges.

The crash remained under investigation while marine investigators worked to determine what caused the boat to strike the channel marker.

But the investigation later produced a major development.

Schneider was accused of operating the vessel while impaired by alcohol and voluntarily surrendered to police.

He now faces two counts of second-degree reckless vessel homicide, along with charges related to operating a vessel under the influence and reckless operation.

That transformed the case from a devastating boating accident into a criminal prosecution.

 THE CHANNEL MARKER IS ALSO PART OF THE STORY

One detail has attracted particular attention.

Local officials said the channel marker involved in the collision was functioning properly and its lights were working.

That matters because investigators must determine not simply that the boat struck the marker, but why it happened.

Was visibility a factor?

Was speed involved?

Was impairment involved?

Or were there other circumstances that contributed to the collision?

The criminal charges now provide prosecutors with an allegation about one important factor — but the case still has to proceed through the legal system.

TWO CHILDREN WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN HEADING HOME

Mya and Siggy were remembered by their family and community as children with very different personalities but a close sibling bond.

Mya was described as energetic and competitive, with a love of sports and art.

Siggy was remembered as shy, adventurous and imaginative.

Their deaths devastated a community that had watched the rescue effort unfold that night.

Their obituaries focused not on the circumstances of the crash, but on the lives they had lived.

 A GRANDPARENT NOW FACES THE COURTS

The case presents an especially painful question because the person accused of causing the crash was reportedly not a stranger.

He was their grandfather.

That does not determine guilt.

The charges are allegations, and Schneider remains entitled to the full legal process.

But the prosecution will now have to establish what happened on the water that night and whether his alleged impairment and operation of the boat meet the legal requirements for the charges filed against him.

 THE QUESTIONS THAT REMAIN

Why did the boat hit a functioning channel marker?

What evidence supports the allegation that Schneider was impaired?

How quickly were the children recovered from the water?

What evidence will prosecutors present in court?

And how will a family cope when a tragedy on the water becomes a criminal case?

What is no longer in dispute is the heartbreaking outcome:

Two children went out on a family boat trip and never came home.

The investigation has since moved into the courtroom, where evidence — rather than speculation — will determine what happened.

Independent commentary based on publicly reported information. Criminal charges are allegations, and Schneider is entitled to due process.