Ex-St. Charles woman charged in fatal rafting accident

A former St. Charles woman has been charged with operating a watercraft under the influence of alcohol after a rafting accident last week that killed one of her co-workers.

Janelle Veseling, 23, now of DeKalb, was one of two people rescued after their raft went over a low-head dam on the Vermilion River in LaSalle County Thursday.

But 36-year-old Jennifer Wehling of DeKalb became caught in the boil, an area of recirculating water beneath the dam. She was pronounced dead at a Peru hospital.

Wehling and Veseling, 23, taught at St. Mary School in DeKalb.

Also charged with operating a watercraft under the influence was Timothy Ruse, 38, of Sarasota, Fla., the third person in the raft.

They were among seven people rafting together. Boaters in the first raft moved to the right and passed through an opening in the dam, as instructed by signs on the river, according to the Illinois Conservation Police. Wehling's raft did not.

Results of drug and alcohol tests on Wehling are pending. Ruse's and Veseling's blood-alcohol concentrations were not available from police.

The accident came as the conservation police were beginning a campaign to catch people operating watercraft while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. It was part of a national drive called Operation Dry Water.

"Alcohol use is one of the leading factors in fatal recreational boating accidents nationwide. We recommend that all boat operators have a designated skipper on board," said Rafael Gutierrez, chief of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources' law enforcement office, in a prepared statement.

Operating watercraft under the influence is a Class A misdemeanor for the first offense. It is punishable by a maximum of six months to one year in jail and up to $2,500 in fines.

According to the National Association of Safe Boating Law Administrators, alcohol impairs a boater's judgment, balance, vision and reaction time. It increases fatigue and susceptibility to the effects of cold-water immersion. Sun, wind, noise, vibration and motion - stressors common to boating - intensify the effects of alcohol, drugs and some medications, the organization reports.

Veseling is the daughter of Acting St. Charles Fire Department Battalion Chief Leo Veseling and the niece of Naperville Fire Department Battalion Chief Mike Veseling. Her telephone number is unlisted, and a woman who answered the phone at Leo Veseling's house said, "We're not talking to anyone at this time."

A family of four nearly drowned at the same spot June 14. The father told police he saw the signs, but was unable to navigate to the passage in time. His wife and two young daughters were hospitalized, according to conservation police.