Final Moments: Mya and Siggy were sitting at the bow of the boat just seconds before Stephen Schneider’s vessel slammed into a marker!
Final Moments: Mya and Siggy were sitting at the bow of the boat just seconds before Stephen Schneider’s vessel slammed into a marker!
According to reports, 9-year-old Mya and 7-year-old Sigmund were seated at the front of Schneider’s 9-meter boat as it traveled across Barnegat Bay.
Moments later, the impact threw both children into the dark water, making their exact positions on the vessel a crucial clue in the reconstruction of the scene.
Investigators are currently gathering information to piece together what the children could see, what Schneider could see from the helm, and the events of the seconds immediately preceding the crash.
A witness account is shedding chilling new light on the final moments of the July 19th accident.
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On the evening of July 19, 2026, the waters of Barnegat Bay near Berkeley Township, New Jersey, appeared calm under the gathering dusk. A short boat ride home after a family dinner was about to end in irreversible tragedy. Nine-year-old Mya Bella Golabek and her seven-year-old brother, Sigmund “Siggy” Paul Golabek, sat at the bow of their grandfather’s 28- to 30-foot Tidewater Custom 280 center-console boat. Both wore life jackets. Moments later, the vessel struck an illuminated Intracoastal Waterway channel marker at approximately 20 mph. The impact threw the siblings into the dark water. Their exact positions at the front of the boat have become a critical element in reconstructing the final seconds before the crash.
According to the affidavit of probable cause and statements provided to investigators, the children had chosen to ride with their grandparents rather than return with their parents on a separate vessel. The family had gathered for dinner at MJ’s Restaurant Bar and Grill on Bay Boulevard in Berkeley. Mya and Siggy arrived with their parents, Sigmund and Jennifer Golabek, while Stephen Schneider, then 63 or 64, and his wife Laurie Schneider, 64, of the Bayville section of Berkeley, arrived on their own Tidewater. After the meal, the children expressed a desire to go to their grandparents’ nearby waterfront home. They boarded the grandparents’ boat, took seats at the front, and the short trip began shortly after 9 p.m.
Schneider later told detectives he was operating the vessel at about 20 mph when he saw Intracoastal Waterway Channel Marker No. 39 “at the last second.” The marker, described in court documents as a single-stanchion illuminated navigational aid, was struck by the starboard bow. Local officials, including Berkeley Township Councilman James Byrnes, confirmed that the marker’s lights were functioning properly that night. The force of the collision ejected both children overboard into the bay.
In the darkness that followed, Schneider and his wife entered the water or searched from the boat and located the children. Schneider reported finding Sigmund first, then Mya. Both were face-down and unresponsive. CPR was begun immediately. First responders, including firefighters who entered the water, continued resuscitation efforts. One child was observed with a life jacket nearby during the response. The siblings were transported to Community Medical Center in Toms River, where they were pronounced dead.
The positions of Mya and Siggy at the bow are central to the ongoing examination of what each person on the vessel could see in the critical seconds before impact. Investigators are working to determine lines of sight from the helm, where Schneider sat, and from the forward seating area occupied by the children. Visibility conditions after 9 p.m., the relative height and lighting of the marker, the boat’s speed and heading, and any possible obstruction or distraction are all factors under review. Schneider’s own account—that he perceived the marker only at the final moment—forms one piece of that reconstruction. Toxicology findings later provided another.
Schneider told investigators he had consumed two Guinness beers and one Miller Lite over roughly two hours at the restaurant. A toxicology report concluded that his alertness, judgment, response time, and coordination were “markedly impaired by alcohol.” Prosecutors later stated his blood alcohol content was approximately 0.16 percent, twice New Jersey’s legal limit of 0.08 percent for operating a vessel. On August 14, 2026, Schneider was charged with two counts of second-degree reckless vessel homicide (also referred to as death by vessel), operating a vessel under the influence, and reckless operation of a vessel. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
He was held at the Ocean County Jail until a detention hearing on or about August 19. Ocean County Assistant Prosecutor Kate Burke argued against release, emphasizing the BAC level and the catastrophic outcome. The judge ordered conditional release pending trial. Conditions included a temporary prohibition on operating a boat or motor vehicle while Schneider completed a court-ordered assessment. Defense attorney William Cunningham noted that the children’s parents had written letters supporting their grandfather’s release while the case proceeds. Schneider is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The tragedy has been felt deeply in the Lacey and Berkeley communities. Obituaries for Mya and Siggy described an “unbreakable bond.” Family members remembered them as sweet, active children who shared laughter, adventures, and a closeness that made them best friends as well as siblings. Mya enjoyed softball, basketball, swimming, the beach, crabbing, crafting, and drawing. Siggy, born November 29, 2018, was remembered for filling hearts with laughter and love. Visitation and funeral services were held in Forked River shortly after the crash. Community members left tributes and expressed shared grief for a family that lost its only two children in a single evening.
The sequence of events—from the restaurant departure to the moment of impact—has drawn attention to several practical and investigative questions. The children were seated forward, a common position on a center-console boat for open views and breeze, yet one that places occupants closest to any frontal collision. Both wore life jackets, a safety measure that did not prevent the fatal outcome once they were in the water and found unresponsive. The short distance of the intended trip, the known presence of channel markers in the Intracoastal Waterway, and the nighttime conditions all form part of the context authorities continue to examine.
New Jersey State Police and supporting agencies responded to the scene after a report of a serious vessel crash around 9:19 p.m. The U.S. Coast Guard was also involved in the initial response. The investigation has included statements from those on board, toxicology analysis, examination of the vessel and the marker, and reconstruction of the vessel’s path and speed. Court documents released in connection with the charges have provided the public with Schneider’s account of the evening, the children’s seating positions, the approximate speed, and the sequence of finding the children in the water.
Boating on Barnegat Bay and the broader Intracoastal Waterway is a familiar summer activity for many local families. Channel markers exist precisely to guide vessels through navigable water and away from shallows or hazards. An illuminated marker operating as designed should, under normal conditions of attention and visibility, be detectable in time for corrective action at the speeds reported. The combination of alcohol impairment findings and the operator’s statement that the marker was seen only at the last second has placed the question of situational awareness at the center of the case.
As the legal process continues, the focus for many remains on the two children who occupied the bow seats in those final seconds. Their decision to ride with their grandparents, the ordinary pleasure of sitting forward on a mild evening ride, and the sudden violence of the impact have been described in official accounts with stark clarity. Schneider’s search for them in the dark water, the discovery of both face-down, and the unsuccessful attempts at revival complete a timeline that investigators continue to refine.
The case has also prompted broader reflection on alcohol use and vessel operation. New Jersey law treats operation of a vessel under the influence seriously, with limits parallel to those for motor vehicles. The toxicology conclusions in this matter—that judgment, response time, and coordination were markedly impaired—underscore why such laws exist. Prosecutors have characterized the outcome as catastrophic. The defense and the family context, including parental support for release pending trial, will shape the proceedings that follow.
Mya Bella Golabek and Sigmund Paul Golabek left behind parents, grandparents, and a community that has expressed both mourning and a desire for accountability. Their positions at the bow, the functioning lights of Marker 39, the reported speed of roughly 20 mph, and the alcohol findings form the factual core of the reconstruction. What the children could see, what the operator could see from the helm, and the precise sequence of the seconds immediately preceding the strike remain subjects of official inquiry. The affidavit and related reports have already established key elements: the family dinner, the children’s request to ride with their grandparents, their seating at the front in life jackets, the late recognition of the marker, the starboard-bow impact, the ejection into the water, and the recovery of two unresponsive children.
In the weeks since July 19, the story has moved from the initial emergency response through charging, detention, and conditional release. Each new disclosure from court documents has added detail to the picture of that evening without altering the fundamental outcome. Two young siblings who shared an unbreakable bond were thrown from the bow of a boat into Barnegat Bay and did not survive. The investigation continues to piece together the final moments with the precision required for both justice and understanding. The marker still stands as a navigational aid. The water that received Mya and Siggy that night continues to carry the memory of a short ride that never reached home.
The tragedy illustrates how ordinary decisions—where to sit, which boat to board, whether to consume alcohol before operating a vessel—can intersect with environmental and human factors in ways that leave lasting consequences. For the Golabek and Schneider families, the consequences are permanent. For investigators, the work of establishing a complete and accurate account of those critical seconds remains ongoing. The positions of the children at the bow stand as both a factual detail and a poignant marker of the last moments of their lives on the water.
