A 24-year-old man involved in a tragic pipe accident that killed a young woman has committed suicide on the day of her funeral, DailyMail.com has revealed.
Tony Dindia was reportedly piloting the vessel carrying 24-year-old Kaileigh Seidel on Oregon’s Willamette River on June 22 when the vessel collided with another boat.
Seidel, originally from Vancouver, Washington, died around 8 p.m. from the impact. Her family had called for Dindia to be charged with manslaughter.
But a second tragedy struck before legal action could be taken. Officers were called to Dindia’s home in Sandy, Oregon, and discovered that he had died on July 14 — the day of Seidel’s funeral.
Seidel’s relatives and Dindia’s friends confirmed that he had committed suicide.
“It’s very sad,” Seidel’s aunt, Rachelle Hunsperger, told DailyMail.com. “It’s not the kind of justice we were hoping for. Now his family has to go through what we’re going through.”
Tony Dindia, 24, committed suicide after being involved in a tubing accident on June 22.
Tony Dindia was reportedly piloting the vessel that was towing Kaileigh Seidel (pictured) on Oregon’s Willamette River on June 22 when they collided with another boat and she died
Seidel’s friend Millie Lovea, who was on the boat and witnessed the crash, remembered her as someone who “left an impression on the hearts of others.” (Pictured: Lovea and Seidel together just three hours before the fatal crash)
Dindia’s friend, Chase Tiffany, remembered him as “a wonderful man who was outgoing and adventurous.”
“Tony was a great person through and through, I looked up to him and his achievements,” Tiffany told DailyMail.com.
‘Tony will be greatly missed by all who had the honor of knowing him.’
Meanwhile, Seidel’s family released hundreds of pink balloons in her memory outside Reign Church in her hometown on July 14.
They didn’t know that Dindia had also died a few hours earlier.
Seidel’s shocked friend Millie Lovea, who was on the boat and witnessed the horrific crash, shared videos of the gathering on Facebook and remembered her as someone who had left “an imprint on the hearts of others.”
“Her love of adventure and zest for life were truly inspiring and that is what we did on that boat until the very end,” Lovea wrote.
‘Kaileigh faced every challenge with courage and grace, always seeing a silver lining, even in the darkest of times.
“Her strength and resilience were a testament to her character, and she never stopped going out of her way to serve those she cared about.”
Dindia’s death followed calls for an investigation into the events of June 22.
Dindia was piloting the vessel towing Kaileigh Seidel (pictured) on Oregon’s Willamette River on June 22 when they veered off course and collided with another boat
Seidel, of Vancouver, Washington, died around 8 p.m. from the impact, police said. Her family had called for manslaughter charges against the driver.
Seidel’s family released pink balloons in her memory outside Reign Church in Vancouver, Washington, on July 14. Dindia committed suicide the same day.
The fatal accident also came just weeks before TV chef Naomi Pomeroy, 50, died while tubing in the same river with her husband and a friend.
The Benton County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Pomeroy’s body was recovered from the water near Corvallis around 8:25 p.m. Saturday.
Seidel’s girlfriend Lovea described what happened on June 22, saying the driver took a turn too fast.
She claimed that Seidel begged Dindia to slow down and drive less erratically, but he didn’t listen.
“My beautiful best friend and I had just gone out on the water and were having a great time, when everything changed in the blink of an eye,” she said.
‘Seeing my friend in pain and feeling helpless is something I can’t shake. Calling her family was even worse.
‘I am overwhelmed with guilt and sadness and wonder why things happened the way they did.
‘I keep replaying the events in my mind and wondering what I could have done differently or better to save her.
“Survivor’s guilt is real, and I will carry that with me every day.”
Officers were called to Dindia’s home in Sandy, Oregon, and discovered that he had died on July 14, the day of Seidel’s funeral.
Seidel’s family members said they were saddened to learn that Dindia, of Sandy, Oregon, had committed suicide on July 14, the day of Seidel’s funeral.
The boat collision occurred on the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon
The river runs right through the center of Portland, Oregon’s largest city
Pictured: Lovea and friends at the celebration of Seidel’s life on July 14
“Survivor’s guilt is real, and it’s something I’ll carry with me every day,” Lovea said. Pictured: Lovea (left) and Seidel (right) enjoy a drink with a friend
Photos Seidel posted before the accident show the duo laughing and smiling, just three hours before she died.
Rachelle Hunsperger, Seidel’s aunt, said after hearing Lovea’s story that the driver should be charged for causing her death before Dindia’s suicide.
Hunsperger told KPTV that Seidel is not normally one to worry, and if she was begging the driver to slow down, it must have been very dangerous.
“That just doesn’t seem like her at all. She was always saying, ‘Let’s go, let’s have fun.’ If she told someone to slow down, she was probably scared,” she said.
“This was not a simple accident. I feel like someone is definitely at fault and I hope that comes out.”
Seidel’s sister Aliyah also lashed out at the boat driver, who did not know Seidel well, over their alleged dangerous behavior.
“She was so innocent and was taken so violently by someone else’s reckless decision,” she told the local news station.
“She was very spontaneous and she loved to have fun. She was invited on a boat and she had no idea that it would be the last day of her life.”
Since the tragic news of Dindia’s death broke, Seidel’s friends and family have expressed their deep sadness at the news of his passing.
You can get support through the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling 988.