Body pulled from water

VERMILION — A body found in Lake Erie on Thursday has been identified as a man who went missing in a boat crash last November. Wakeman resident James M. Muncy went missing after a fatal boat crash off of Cranberry Creek in Vermilion on Nov. 16. Two speedboats had collided around 8:30 p.m. that night, and a good Samaritan assisted Huron Fire and Coast Guard with retrieving people from the water. Wayde S. Lafferty, 55, of Vermilion was declared dead after being pulled from the water and two others were taken to the hospital to be treated for hypothermia and back injuries. Muncy, 54, remained missing after the Coast Guard searched for him by helicopter. Huron firefighters received a call just after 2 p.m. Thursday that a fisherman found a body in the water. Firefighters retrieved the body and found Muncy's driver's license in his pocket, Erie County Coroner Brian Baxter said. Baxter said the preliminary cause of death is drowning and a full autopsy should be completed by the end of the day Friday. The driver of the second boat, Matthew Mooney, 47, of Mansfield, was indicted in Erie County on two third-degree felonies of reckless homicide for Lafferty and Muncy, and a misdemeanor operation of a vessel in an unsafe manner. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment and has a pretrial hearing set for June 1.