Investigators say boaters talked to injured swimmer before she died in Pineview Reservoir

PINEVIEW — Boaters who hit and killed a University of Utah scientist swimming here over the weekend were seen stopping and talking to the woman before leaving her in the water, a witness told police.

Esther Fujimoto, an avid swimmer and accomplished molecular biologist, was hit and killed Aug. 21. She was swimming, one of her favorite pastimes, 200 to 300 feet offshore when she was hit by a boat.

After she was hit, a resident on shore who heard her cries for help, rowed a boat to her to assist until rescue crews could arrive.

"I heard some screaming from down behind the house," said the man, who asked not to be identified. "It sounded like she was in a lot of pain."

Before the man with the rowboat went into the water, he saw the blue and white boat believed to have hit Fujimoto. He told police the boat had a driver and two passengers, and they stopped to talk to her, said Weber County Sheriff's Lt. Mark Lowther.

"They asked, 'Lady, are you OK? Lady, are you all right?'" the man said. "And then they took off real fast. That's the last I saw of them."

The man told police it was obvious from the shore that Fujimoto was severely injured, and it should have been evident right away to those in the boat.

"I believe they knew she was injured," Lowther said. "Just her voice and her cries for help."

By the time the man rowed his boat to Fujimoto, he could tell right away that she needed medical attention.

"When I pulled up alongside of her, she said, 'Help me. Help me.' That was it," the man said. "That's all she said. … She never said another word."

The search for the three people in the motor boat continued Wednesday. The only description investigators have released is that the boat was blue and white.

The Weber County Sheriff's Office has received numerous tips from people who know someone with a blue and white boat. But there is other information detectives have about the boat that they are not releasing to ensure they find the right one.

Rather than checking every blue and white boat in the state, Lowther said, it would be better if the three men just came out of hiding.

"We want to get these three or someone who knows about them to come forward so they can give their side of the story," he said.

Lowther said investigators were sure there were people in the community who know who the boaters were.

"We need these people to come forward now so that the family of Ms. Fujimoto can have some closure over what happened to her," he said.

Anyone with information can contact the sheriff's office at 801-778-6648 or 801-778-6631.

Contributing: Mike Anderson

E-mail: preavy@desnews.com

Twitter: DNewsCrimeTeam