Judge dismisses charges for duck boat tragedy

GALENA, Mo. (AP) — A judge has dismissed charges against three men prosecuted after a tourist boat sank and killed 17 people during a 2018 Missouri storm. KYTV-TV reports the judge dismissed the first-degree involuntary manslaughter charges against the men Tuesday. The three men, Kenneth McKee, Curtis Lanham and Charles Baltzell, were charged after a vessel known as a duck boat sank on Table Rock Lake near Branson. Prosecutors say the boat went onto the lake despite storm warnings. But the judge says there’s no evidence that staff knew about the threat of dangerous wind gusts. Riders from Missouri, Indiana, Illinois and Arkansas died.