Hudson River speedboat crash: Body of would-be best man found; skipper who was charged with vehicular manslaughter has prior dug arrest

 

A jet skier spotted the body of Mark Lennon about a mile south of where the speedboat carrying bride Lindsey Stewart and her fiance Brian Bond collided with a construction barge near the Tappan Zee Bridge Friday night. Stewart was also killed, but Bond and three others survived.

Authorities found the body of Mark Lennon on Sunday in wake of Friday night's tragic speedboat crash.

The body of the best man killed in a horrific boat crash on the Hudson River that left a bride-to-be dead dead was pulled from the water Sunday — as authorities revealed the skipper of the doomed vessel had a prior drug arrest.

A jet skier spotted the body of Mark Lennon, 30, just after 11 a.m. about a mile south of where the speedboat carrying bride Lindsey Stewart and her fiance Brian Bond, collided with a construction barge near the Tappan Zee Bridge Friday night.

“The (Lennon) family is distraught and devastated, like any family would be,” said Rockland County Sheriff Louis Falco. “Nothing but time will heal this and I don't think it will ever be forgotten.”

Mark Lennon was supposed to be the best man in a wedding two weeks from now.

Stewart and Lennon’s bodies were found about a mile and a half apart.

The skipper of the boat, Jojo John, 35 of Nyack, has been charged with vehicular manslaughter. Cops say he was intoxicated.

The Rockland County Sheriff released a mugshot of John from a previous drug-related arrest, but would not elaborate on the nature of the prior charges.

Uncredited Mugshot of prior drug arrest for Jojo John, who was skipper of the doomed speedboat.

 

Bond, 36, and two others also survived the crash. The pair of passengers have not been identified because police consider them witnesses to a crime.

Meanwhile friends of Stewart, 30, and Bond grieved at the church that the couple had attended their entire lives.
 

 

Facebook Lindsey Stewart and Brian Bond were due to be married in two weeks. Stewart died in the speedboat crash while Bond survived.

 

During a somber Sunday sermon at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Pearl River, N.Y., Pastor John Havrilla urged attendees to pray for the Bond and Stewart families. Bond suffered a broken eye socket in the crash but survived, along with John and two others. The other pair of passengers have not been identified by cops because they are considered witnesses to a crime.

“God has called us here today to be a praying community for two beautiful young people whose lives were filled with hopes and dreams. And that has been snuffed,” said Havrilla.

The pastor said after the service the couple had recently shared a story about a recent retreat to Wildwood, N.J., where they planned their wedding.

Edgar Sandoval A small memorial outside Lindsey Stewart's home in Piermont, N.Y.

 

"It was an especially happy time in their lives," Havrilla said. "They were delightfully, incredibly happy. Lindsey in particular — she was a sweetheart."

Stewart and Bond were lifelong friends who fell in love around four years ago, according to the fallen bride’s stepmother.

Havrilla said Lindsey was in the church's youth program and that Bond made his confirmation at the church.

Lindsey Stewart (above) and Bond were lifelong friends who fell in love around four years ago.

He planned to visit Lindsey’s heartbroken family Sunday afternoon.

Dorothy Mordeci, 57, said the congregation would be praying for the families.

"It's devastating. It makes you think of your own kids. You're thankful your kids are okay," she said. "We have to pray for Brian's healing now."