Duck boat owner settles with Missouri family

The company that owns the duck boat that sank in Table Rock Lake near Branson in July, killing 17 people, has settled the first of several lawsuits filed in the accident.

The three adult daughters of 65-year-old William Bright and his 63-year-old wife, Janice Bright, of Higginsville, Missouri, filed suit soon after the accident on July 19. Adam Graves, an attorney for the family, told the Kansas City Star that the settlement with Ripley Entertainment was finalized Thursday.

Terms were not disclosed. A Ripley spokeswoman declined to comment.

Three others named in the suit will remain defendants: Ride the Ducks International LLC; the captain of the duck boat, Kenneth Scott McKee; and the driver on land, Robert Williams, who died when the boat sank.

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