A major development has added new weight to the investigation into the Barnegat Bay boat crash that killed siblings Mya Golabek, 9, and Sigmund Golabek, 7. Newly released 911 audio captures the desperate moments immediately after the July 19 collision, when the children were thrown into the dark water after the family boat struck a channel marker.

In the call, the children’s grandmother, Laurie Schneider, can be heard urgently telling the dispatcher that one child was still in the water while Stephen Schneider was trying to rescue them. She also struggled to provide the precise location of the crash as the family attempted to pull the children from the water and perform CPR.

Another critical piece of evidence is Schneider’s alleged level of intoxication. Prosecutors have revealed that his blood-alcohol concentration was approximately 0.16, twice New Jersey’s legal limit for operating a vessel. Schneider reportedly told investigators that he had consumed three beers during dinner, making the toxicology evidence an important point in the prosecution’s case.

Schneider, 64, has since been charged with two counts of reckless vessel homicide, along with operating a vessel under the influence and reckless operation of a vessel. He surrendered to authorities on August 14 and was subsequently released from jail pending trial.

The children had been wearing life jackets, but the force of the collision threw both of them into Barnegat Bay. Their grandparents pulled them from the water and attempted CPR before the siblings were transported to a hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

Investigators are now examining the full timeline — including Schneider’s account of the evening, the boat’s movements, the channel marker collision, toxicology evidence and the newly released emergency call. Each piece could help establish exactly what happened in the moments before the crash.

Mya and Sigmund were remembered by their family as exceptionally close siblings and best friends. Their deaths have left their parents without their only two children, turning what began as a family boating trip into an unimaginable tragedy.