The First Moments of the 911 Call: Rescue records reveal how Mya and Siggy were found after vanishing into the dark waters!
The First Moments of the 911 Call: Rescue records reveal how Mya and Siggy were found after vanishing into the dark waters!
After Stephen Schneider’s boat struck a channel marker, both children disappeared into Barnegat Bay.
Family members immediately began searching as emergency responders were summoned to the scene, eventually bringing Mya and Sigmund back onto the boat.
The location where the siblings were found, their safety equipment, and the chaotic initial moments of the rescue are now being examined alongside evidence from the crash.
The first few minutes following the collision may provide some of the clearest clues as to what happened underwater.
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The First Moments of the 911 Call: How Mya and Siggy Were Found in the Dark Waters of Barnegat Bay
In the chaotic minutes after Stephen Schneider’s Tidewater Custom 280 struck Intracoastal Waterway Channel Marker No. 39 on the evening of July 19, 2026, two children vanished into the dark waters of Barnegat Bay. Nine-year-old Mya Bella Golabek and her seven-year-old brother, Sigmund “Siggy” Paul Golabek, had been seated at the bow wearing life jackets. The impact ejected them overboard. What followed—the immediate search by family members, the 911 call, the recovery of the children, and the desperate attempts at resuscitation—has become a critical part of the official record. The first few minutes after the collision offer some of the clearest available details about where the siblings were found, the condition of their safety equipment, and the frantic efforts to bring them back onto the boat.
According to the affidavit of probable cause and statements given to investigators, Schneider was operating the 28-foot center-console vessel at approximately 20 mph when he saw the illuminated marker at the last second. The starboard bow struck the single-stanchion navigational aid shortly after 9 p.m. Both children were thrown into the water. Schneider later told police he immediately began searching, locating Sigmund first and then Mya. Both were face-down and unresponsive. CPR was started at once.
The 911 recordings released in the weeks after the crash capture the urgency of those initial moments from the perspective of the children’s grandmother, Laurie Schneider. In the call, she can be heard describing the scene: one child already recovered and on the boat, her husband in the water attempting to retrieve the second. When the dispatcher asked whether the children were unconscious, she confirmed that they were. She also referenced their location near channel marker 39, helping responders orient themselves in the darkness. The emergency call was placed around 9:09 p.m. New Jersey State Troopers were dispatched to the scene at 9:19 p.m. on the report of a serious vessel crash in the Berkeley Township area of the bay. Members of the U.S. Coast Guard and local first responders, including firefighters, also arrived.
Local officials later described the intensity of the on-scene response. Berkeley Township Councilman James Byrnes recounted that firefighters entered the water without hesitation. He noted that one child had a life jacket nearby during the resuscitation efforts. Officials have explained that life jackets are often removed during CPR to allow for proper chest compressions and airway management. Both children had been wearing life jackets when the boat left the area near MJ’s Restaurant Bar and Grill. The fact that the devices were present yet the children were found face-down and unresponsive has been noted in public accounts as a sobering detail of the recovery.
The sequence of recovery itself has drawn investigative attention. Schneider reported finding his grandson first, then his granddaughter, amid the darkness of the bay. Both were brought back onto the vessel. Resuscitation efforts continued as the group made their way toward shore or awaited additional help. The children were transported to Community Medical Center in Toms River with CPR in progress. Despite the rapid recovery and ongoing medical intervention, both were pronounced dead at the hospital.
These first minutes after the collision form a distinct chapter in the larger case. The physical positions of the children at the moment of impact—seated at the bow—help explain the force that ejected them. The immediate decision by Schneider to enter the water or search from the boat, the recovery of both children face-down, the confirmation of unconsciousness on the 911 call, and the presence of life jackets all contribute to the timeline investigators continue to refine. The chaotic nature of a nighttime recovery in open water, with limited visibility and the urgency of possible drowning or trauma, underscores why those early actions are examined closely.
Schneider later told investigators that the boat’s radar and an infrared/low-light night navigation camera had been activated before the crash. He also stated that he had lifelong experience on the water and was familiar with the route from the restaurant to the family home nearby. Those statements address the moments leading up to the impact. The 911 call and the recovery details address what happened immediately afterward. Together they create a continuous account from departure to the point at which emergency medical care took over.
Prosecutors have focused heavily on Schneider’s blood alcohol concentration of approximately 0.16 percent—twice the legal limit—and the toxicology conclusion that his judgment, response time, and coordination were markedly impaired. The defense has indicated interest in the physical conditions of the crash, including the lighting status of the channel marker and independent review of the toxicology evidence. The rescue records and 911 audio do not resolve those contested issues, but they do provide contemporaneous evidence of the children’s condition upon recovery and the speed with which family members and first responders acted.
The location near Marker 39 has been consistent across accounts. The grandmother’s reference to the marker during the emergency call helped pin the scene for responders. Officials have stated that the marker’s lights were functioning that night. The combination of a fixed, illuminated navigational aid, a reported speed of about 20 mph, and the operator’s claim of last-second recognition remains central to the legal questions surrounding recklessness and causation.
Safety equipment has also been part of the public discussion. Both children wore life jackets, a measure that reflects standard precautions for passengers on a motorboat. The devices did not prevent the fatal outcome once the children were in the water and found unresponsive. Investigators examining the first minutes after the collision consider not only whether the jackets were properly fitted and secured, but also the effects of the impact, the time spent in the water, and the possibility of traumatic injury in addition to submersion. The observation that a life jacket was nearby during CPR efforts is consistent with the practical realities of emergency medical response.
The broader context of the evening adds weight to the urgency of those first minutes. The family had just finished dinner. The children had chosen to ride with their grandparents rather than return with their parents on a separate boat. The intended trip was short. Within a brief span of time, an ordinary evening on the water became a search-and-rescue effort under emergency conditions. The 911 recordings preserve the raw immediacy of that transition: the confirmation of unconsciousness, the description of one child already recovered and the other still in the water, and the effort to communicate location to dispatchers.
First responders who entered the water and continued CPR carried the efforts from the boat to the hospital. The children arrived with resuscitation still underway. The medical outcome at Community Medical Center closed the immediate emergency phase of the incident. What remains is the formal investigation and the criminal case against Schneider, who faces two counts of second-degree reckless vessel homicide along with charges of operating a vessel under the influence and reckless operation of a vessel. He was released on conditions in mid-August pending trial, with a further court appearance scheduled in September.
The first moments after the collision do not answer every question about visibility from the helm, the precise contribution of alcohol impairment, or the performance of the boat’s electronic aids. They do, however, document the human response that followed the impact: the search in the dark water, the recovery of both children face-down, the immediate start of CPR, the emergency call that confirmed their condition and location, and the arrival of professional responders who continued the fight for the children’s lives. Those details form part of the evidentiary record that will be examined as the case proceeds.
Mya and Siggy left the restaurant area alive and seated at the bow. Minutes later they were recovered from Barnegat Bay unresponsive. The 911 call and the accounts of the recovery preserve the sequence of those critical minutes. Investigators continue to study the location where the siblings were found, the condition of their life jackets, the timeline of the search, and the chaotic initial efforts to save them. In the darkness of the bay that night, the first actions taken after the children disappeared into the water remain among the most concrete pieces of information available about what happened in the immediate aftermath of the crash.
