💔 The Cruel Twist Behind NJ Siblings’ Final Boat Ride: A Loving Family Tradition, A Grandpa’s Decision, And A Tragedy No One Saw Coming
Heartbreaking Reason NJ Kids Were on Grandpa’s Boat Before Fatal DUI Crash
A simple request from two young children after a family dinner led them onto their grandfather’s boat — and into a tragedy that claimed both their lives.
Nine-year-old Mya Bella Golabek and her seven-year-old brother Sigmund Paul Golabek were thrown from the vessel when it struck a channel marker on Barnegat Bay. Their grandfather, Stephen Schneider, 64, has been charged with two counts of reckless vessel homicide after police determined he was operating the boat while impaired by alcohol.
Court documents and police accounts now reveal the heartbreaking sequence of events that placed the siblings on the boat that night.
A Family Dinner That Ended in Disaster
On the evening of July 19, 2026, the extended family gathered for dinner at MJ’s Restaurant Bar and Grill in Bayville, New Jersey. Mya and Sigmund arrived with their parents on a separate boat. Schneider and his wife Laurie came in their own 28- to 30-foot Tidewater center-console vessel.
After the meal, the children asked to go back to their grandparents’ house rather than return with their parents. The families split up. Mya and Sigmund, both wearing life jackets, climbed aboard their grandfather’s boat and took seats in the front.
Shortly after 9 p.m., while traveling at approximately 20 mph through Barnegat Bay, Schneider’s boat struck an illuminated Intracoastal Waterway channel marker. The impact ejected both children into the dark water. Schneider later told investigators he saw the marker only at the last second.
He and his wife entered the water and recovered the children, who were found face-down and unresponsive. CPR was started immediately, but both Mya and Sigmund were later pronounced dead at Community Medical Center in Toms River.
Alcohol Impairment Confirmed
Schneider told police he had consumed three beers — two Guinness and one Miller Lite — over roughly two hours during the dinner. Toxicology results told a different story. Although the exact blood-alcohol figure was redacted in some public documents, State Police confirmed that Schneider “was unfit to operate a motor vehicle and that his alertness, sense of care and caution, perception, judgment, response time and coordination were markedally impaired by alcohol.”
Later court proceedings revealed his BAC was 0.16 — twice the legal limit of 0.08 for operating a vessel in New Jersey.
Schneider was arrested and charged with two counts of reckless vessel homicide, operating a vessel under the influence, and reckless operation of a vessel. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
A Father’s Plea for His Father-in-Law
In a striking development, the children’s father submitted a letter to the court supporting Schneider’s release from jail pending trial. The letter described Schneider as a devoted father-in-law who had “been there for our family in ways that words cannot fully express” and expressed gratitude for the way he had loved the children.
At a detention hearing, Schneider’s attorney argued that the tragedy had “cut to the root of his family” and guaranteed that his client would never operate a boat or drink alcohol again. The judge granted conditional release, with restrictions on operating vessels or vehicles while Schneider undergoes assessment.
The Children Remembered
Mya and Sigmund were described by family as best friends who shared an unbreakable sibling bond. Photographs shared publicly show smiling children enjoying time on the water with their parents and grandparents — images that now carry an almost unbearable weight.
Their deaths have devastated two generations of the same family. The parents lost their only two children. The grandparents lost the grandchildren they were caring for that night, with one of them now facing homicide charges.
The Wider Context
Boating under the influence remains a persistent danger on New Jersey’s waterways. The combination of alcohol, darkness, and the need for constant vigilance around fixed navigational hazards can turn a routine trip home into catastrophe within seconds. In this case, the children’s request to ride with their grandparents — an ordinary, affectionate choice — placed them in the path of that danger.
Schneider’s home in Bayville is a waterfront property valued at around $1 million, reflecting a lifestyle closely tied to the bay. That connection has now been permanently altered by the events of July 19.
As the criminal case proceeds, the central facts remain stark: two children asked to go home with their grandfather after dinner. He had been drinking. The boat hit a lit channel marker. Both children died. The legal system will determine the full measure of responsibility. For the family, no verdict can restore what was lost in those dark waters on Barnegat Bay.