Mom of 2 Found Dead Days After Boat Crash Near Niagara Falls. Search Continues for Missing Fiancé

"It is with heavy hearts we share the passing of a beautiful mother," a loved one wrote after Natalie M. Sansivero's body was found

NEED TO KNOW

• A woman's body has been found two days after the boat she and her fiancé were on crashed in the Niagara River on July 23
• The search is ongoing for the missing man, who is presumed dead
• “We're going to miss him big time,” a friend said

The body of a mother of two has been found two days after she and her fiancé were involved in a boat collision in the Niagara River in upstate New York. Search efforts are ongoing for the missing man.

On Friday, July 25, Natalie M. Sansivero, 46, was found dead about a mile from where the incident occurred in the river, not far from the famous Niagara Falls, the New York State Police said in a statement. The woman’s body was found in a type of overlook, Trooper James O’Callaghan, Public Information Officer of the New York State Police, tells PEOPLE.

“She's just passed the intakes, but before Niagara Falls,” says O’Callaghan, who explains that the intakes “suck in the water” before going to the Niagara Power Vista, a hydroelectric power station. 

Recovery efforts continue for 66-year-old Jerome P. Williams, who is Sansivero’s fiance, according to her family. He is presumed dead because of the length of time he’s been missing, O’Callaghan says. 

“Everyone's aware that we're looking for a male victim, but instead of doing a grid search, we're just doing coastal searches above the Niagara River and below the Niagara River,” he says. 

On the evening of Wednesday, July 23, the couple was on a 35-foot boat on the Niagara River when witnesses saw the vessel crash into a concrete abutment at around 9:38 p.m. local time, according to authorities. Williams, a prominent businessman from Buffalo, N.Y., is believed to have been operating the boat at the time of the collision, while Sansivero, who hails from Grand Island, N.Y., was also on board.

“We believe Mr. Williams was operating the boat, struck the concrete abutment, [which] did catastrophic damage to his boat,” says O’Callagahn. “Both him and the female victim were ejected from the boat, went into the water and did not resurface, according to eyewitnesses.” 

People who saw the crash attempted to assist the couple, but were unable to save them. Multiple agencies, including the New York State Police, the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office, the Erie County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Coast Guard responded to the emergency call. But the location of the crash — which took place near North Grand Island Bridge, where water flows towards the falls — inhibited search efforts.

“We have to be very careful. We cannot send divers into that area. So, a lot of it is boat patrol, sonar depth finding and things like that,” says the trooper of the initial search and rescue efforts, which became recovery efforts a few days ago. “It's all-encompassing. We've been using helicopters and different pieces of drone technology.” 

WKBW TV | Buffalo, NY/Youtube The wrecked boat after the fatal crash.|WKBW TV | Buffalo, NY/Youtube The wrecked boat after the fatal crash.

The investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing, O’Callagahn says. 

O’Callagahn tells PEOPLE the couple "frequented" the area, noting, “So, it's not like a new boater in this area, [who] didn't know that that was there. It was a pretty big object. So, we're looking into a lot of different reasons on why that would've happened.” 

PEOPLE has reached out to the County of Niagara Coroner's Office for additional information.

In a GoFundMe page, Sansivero’s family mourned the mother of two children. She leaves behind a daughter, Gianna, 21, and a son, Louis, 12. 

“It is with heavy hearts we share the passing of a beautiful mother, daughter, sister, cousin & friend to many,” wrote the organizer, who did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment. “Natalie Marie (Costa) Sansivero tragically left us in a boating accident on July 23rd, 2025 with her beloved fiancé Jerome (Jer) Williams.” 

The creator of the donation page added, “Let’s all give back the light and love Natalie shared with this world to her children at this time.”

Close friends of Williams told NBC affiliate WGRZ that he was an experienced boater. His unexpected death has shocked his loved ones.

“We're going to miss him big time,” Paul Cambria, who has been friends with Williams for more than 25 years, told the outlet. “I think the community will miss him. A guy like that brings value to the community."

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O’Callaghan urges caution to anyone who wants to venture into the popular boating area, which is within a few miles of Niagara Falls. The iconic tourist attraction has six million cubic feet of water go over the crestline every minute, according to the Niagara Parks website.

“The problem is, if something were to happen in that area, you have to acknowledge the fact that you're gonna go with the water flow,” he says. “And that flow goes right to the Niagara Falls.”