The Missouri attorney general has refiled criminal charges against three men involved in the 2018 deadly sinking of a tour boat near Branson.
News of Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt recharging the men comes after a circuit court judge dismissed all criminal charges against the boat's captain, Scott McKee; the general manager of Ride the Ducks Branson Curtis Lanham; and the manager on duty that day Charles Baltzell, the Associated Press reported.
Circuit Court Judge Alan Blankenship dismissed the charges on April 5 without prejudice, stating in his ruling that prosecutors did not have enough evidence to uphold the charges.
Two days later, Schmitt refiled the involuntary manslaughter charges, saying in a statement that his office is committed to seeking justice for those who died.
Seventeen people died when the duck boat capsized during a storm on Table Rock Lake on July 19, 2018.
A nearly two-year-long investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board found that the tour operator and its parent company were at fault blame because managers to the vessel's captain did not relay a severe weather forecast.
All three men face 17 counts each of first-degree involuntary manslaughter, with McKee also facing 12 counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
