BERKELEY COUNTY, SC — A sheriff’s office says a 53-year-old grandmother’s actions were ‘unacceptable and criminally negligent’ after she and a 12-year-old became stranded on jet skis Tuesday.
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Around 12:30 p.m., Berkeley County deputies in South Carolina, along with multiple agencies, including the US Coast Guard, were called to help stranded jet ski operator, Anne Lachell Sellers, 53, of Moncks Corner, SC and her 12-year-old granddaughter.
Deputies said Sellers called 911, stating that she and her granddaughter were stranded on her jet ski and that her granddaughter had tried to swim back to shore for help.
However, BCSO said Sellers lied during the investigation. Deputies learned that Sellers and the child took separate jet skis, and one of them was not working properly.
According to officials, when both of them became stranded, Sellers told her granddaughter to “swim back to the boat landing for help."
Despite hazardous conditions such as strong currents, high winds, and known wildlife threats in the area, Sellers still told the 12-year-old to do it, deputies said.
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Multiple marine vessels and drones were deployed to search for the 12-year-old.
Officials said the child was found in marshland 600 yards from the boat ramp. She did have cuts and bruises to her arms and legs and was taken to the hospital for medical treatment.
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“Careless decisions that endanger the lives of juveniles will not be tolerated, and we will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law,” Berkeley County Sheriff Duane Lewis stated. “Not only was this child’s life put at risk, but so were the lives of our first responders who entered dangerous conditions to conduct the rescue. These actions are unacceptable and criminally negligent.”
The South Carolina Department of Social Services was notified of the incident.
Sellers was booked into the Hill-Finklea Detention Center to await a bond hearing.
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