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DoorDash Exec Josh Pickles and 7 More Die in Lake Tahoe Boat Tragedy
It was a family birthday celebration that ended in tragedy.
Days after DoorDash executive Josh Pickles, 37, his parents Terry Pickles, 73, Paula Bozinovich, 71, his uncle Peter Bayes, 72, and four others, were killed in a boating accident in Lake Tahoe, their loved ones shared insight into the outing that was supposed to honor the Pickles family matriarch.
"This is a terrible heartbreaking tragedy that took the lives of Joshua Pickles, his father Terry, his mother Paula, his uncle Peter as well as friends and family, all of whom were out on the lake celebrating the 71st birthday of his mother," family spokesperson Sam Singer said in a statement to ABC7. "They love the lake. That adds to the tragedy that has occurred."
Family friends Timothy O'Leary, 71, James Guck, 69, Theresa Giullari, 66, and Stephen Lindsay, 63, were also killed when, according to the U.S. Coast Guard’s June 22 press release, the 27-foot Chris-Craft boat capsized as a result of a large swell stemming from strong weather on the lake. Two survivors were taken to a hospital, but their condition has not been shared.
Josh’s wife Jordan Sugar-Carlsgaard—who shares a 7-month-old with the late DoorDash exec—stayed on shore during the boat outing. Following the accident, she expressed the grief her family is going through.
"No words can express the pain and anguish we feel knowing their lives were lost during what was meant to be a joyful time on the lake,” Jordan told ABC7 in a statement. “Our hearts go out to those who tragically lost their lives and the two survivors of this unexpected and deadly storm on Lake Tahoe."
Josh’s colleagues at DoorDash also expressed their condolences.
Pickles and his parents, Paula Bozinovich and Terry Pickles. | Courtesy
"We are heartbroken by the tragic accident that took the life of our beloved colleague, Josh Pickles,” the company’s chief financial officer Ravi Inukonda told ABC7. “Josh loved his team and was an inspiration to everyone who had the privilege of knowing him. During his nearly seven years at DoorDash, he brought a contagious spirit that lifted those around him.”
He continued, “The loss of Josh is immeasurable. We miss him deeply and will carry his memory with us always. Our thoughts and love are with his wife, his daughter, his family, and all who were close to him. We are working to support them through this incredibly difficult time."
Read on for other boating accidents that have tragically claimed lives.
Pickles and his parents, Paula Bozinovich and Terry Pickles. | Courtesy
Lake Tahoe Boat Capsizing
In June 2025, a boat crash in Lake Tahoe took the lives of eight individuals, making it the deadliest sea tragedy in California since 2019. The victims included Doordash executive Josh Pickles, as well as his parents Terry Pickles and Paula Bozinovic, and his uncle Peter Bayes, the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office Coroner's Division confirmed to ABC 7 San Francisco at the time.
The family had been celebrating the 71st birthday of Pickles’ mother, a rep for the family told the outlet. Timothy O'Leary, James Guck, Theresa Giullari, and Stephen Lindsay were also killed in the crash. There were only two survivors.
AFP via Getty Images
Red Sea Tourist Disaster
A tourist submarine carrying 45 people crashed off in the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt in March 2025, killing six Russian tourists, the Egyptian governorate office confirmed to NBC News at the time. Of the 39 people who survived, local officials told the Associated Press that nine were injured, while the remaining 30 were returned to their hotels.
The vessel that crashed was owned by Sinbad Submarines, a tourist agency that offers recreational tours 25 meters below the sea surface for $70 per person. In a statement to Daily News Egypt following the crash, the company said of the six victims, “We sadly join the deceased families in mourning them with profound grief.”
Instagram/Kimberly Burch
Faster Pussycat Member Taime Downe's Fiancée’s Fatal Cruise Ship Fall
Kimberly Burch, the fiancée of Faster Pussycat member Taime Downe, fell from a Royal Carribean ‘80s-themed cruise ship off the coast of Miami in March 2025, her mother Carnell Burch confirmed to TMZ at the time.
In an interview two months later, Downe alleged that his fiancée’s death was “alcohol and prescription related.”
“It’s a rollercoaster,” Downe told SiriusXM's Trunk Nation with Eddie Trunk in May 2025 of his grieving process. “I'm hanging in there. I'm just taking it a day at a time."
ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images
Sicily Superyacht Sinking
Amid a freak storm in August 2024, a superyacht off the coast of Sicily containing 10 crew members as well as 12 passengers sank. The six victims of the catastrophe included tech CEO Mike Lynch, his daughter Hannah, New York-based attorney Christopher Morvillo and his wife Neda, as well as Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy.
Officials later determined that the accident was caused by a “waterspout,” or a tornado that can occur at sea. Salvo Cocina, the head of Sicily's civil protection agency, told NBC News at the time of the crash that the boat was “in the wrong place at the wrong time."
One of the lone survivors of the tragedy Charlotte Golunski—whose young daughter and partner also survived—described the storm to La Repubblica as feeling like “the end of the world.”
Titan Submersible Implosion
In June 2023, the disappearance of OceanGate’s Titan submersible, a deep-sea vessel designed to take tourists to the crash site of the Titanic, dominated the news cycle. After a four-day search—during which a tally was kept of the sub’s 96-hour oxygen supply—it was determined that the seacraft had imploded on itself, killing all five of the passengers.
The perished vessel carried OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, British businessman Hamish Harding, British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood as well as Titanic researcher Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
Less than a month after the implosion, OceanGate completely shut down its operations. In Implosion: Titanic Sub Disaster, a documentary released nearly two years after the tragedy, events that led to the crash, including a lack of attention to safety protocols by OceanGate, were examined. Additionally, footage from what the Coast Guard believes was the moment of the implosion was released.
In the clip, Rush’s wife Wendy Rush—a director for the submersible tourism company—who was monitoring the voyage from the OceanGate offices, noticed a loud crash as the submersible was set to hit 3,300 meters below sea level. Addressing her colleague Gary Foss, she said, “What was that bang?”
Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images
Naya Rivera’s Drowning
While on a boat trip on California's Lake Piru with her young son Josey, the Glee star disappeared, launching a lengthy investigation after authorities found her son alone on the boat in the middle of the lake July 8, 2020.
After five days of searching Ventura County Sheriff's department confirmed that Rivera’s body was found in the lake, floating at its surface. Rivera’s son—whom Rivera shared with ex Ryan Dorsey—shared amid the investigation that the pair had gone swimming in the lake that day and he remembered being helped back into the boat by his mom.
“There are a lot of currents on the lake that appear particularly in the afternoon,” Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub confirmed at a 2020 press conference. “We believe it was mid-afternoon when she disappeared, the idea perhaps being that the boat started drifting, it was unanchored, and that she mustered enough energy to get her son back onto the boat, but not enough to save herself."
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