Girl who fell off boat and died likely had carbon monoxide poisoning, WI cops say

An 11-year-old girl who died in a Wisconsin lake had likely been exposed to carbon monoxide before she fell off her boat, authorities say.

Maisy Livingston was found dead in Lake Alexander on Sunday, July 27, almost four hours after she fell off the back of the boat, according to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.

It’s believed she fell because she had “suffered sudden loss of consciousness due to carbon monoxide toxicity,” the sheriff said July 29.

Three others who were in the boat with Maisy also were treated for carbon monoxide poisoning, authorities said. They are expected to fully recovery.

The sheriff said carbon monoxide poisoning while boating is a “little known hazard.”

“Although it is not a common event, there are numerous documented incidents of boats moving at slow speeds for extended periods of time, allowing carbon monoxide to build up in, and around, a watercraft,” according to the sheriff. “This can occur even in open air boats which do not have an enclosed cabin area.”

Carbon monoxide is a “colorless, odorless and tasteless gas” that can enter a person’s lungs, blocking oxygen to their body, according to the U.S. Coast Guard’s Boating Safety Division. Prolonged exposure can result in death.

From 2000 to 2014, more than 140 people were poisoned to death in similar incidents while boating, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

Through a process called the “station wagon effect,” air will move around a boat and form a low-pressure area, officials say. Then, carbon monoxide from the boat’s exhaust will enter the area before feeding back into the boat.

“It’s really like putting yourself in the middle of a horror movie, like there’s this invisible monster that is trying to kill you and you have no defense against it,” Cassie Free, whose 9-year-old son died from carbon monoxide poisoning on an Oklahoma lake in 2020, told KOKI. “All you can do is make people aware that there’s a risk.”

Lake Alexander is about a 210-mile drive northwest from Milwaukee.