DoorDash executive among 8 killed in Lake Tahoe boat capsize

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A DoorDash Inc. executive was one of eight people killed over the weekend when his boat capsized on Lake Tahoe, authorities said Tuesday.

Joshua Anthony Pickles, 37, died June 21 when an unusually severe summer storm swept over the lake, causing sudden swells and fierce winds that overturned the boat he was on. Seven others were also killed. Video of the storm showed turbulent waves thrashing boats on the lake, a popular tourist destination that borders California and Nevada.

Pickles owned the 27-foot (8.2-meter) powerboat with his wife, Jordan Sugar-Carlsgaard, a senior executive assistant to the chief executive officer of Airbnb Inc. Sugar-Carlsgaard had stayed ashore with the couple’s seven-month-old child, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

“No words can express the pain and anguish we feel knowing their lives were lost,” Sugar-Carlsgaard said in a statement published by the newspaper.

Pickles was DoorDash’s global head of strategic sourcing and procurement, according to a LinkedIn page that has now been taken down.

“Josh loved his team and was an inspiration to everyone who had the privilege of knowing him,” DoorDash Chief Financial Officer Ravi Inukonda said in a statement. “Our thoughts and love are with his wife, his daughter, his family, and all who were close to him. We are working to support them through this incredibly difficult time.”

The other victims were identified as friends and family of Pickles who were celebrating a birthday.

“The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office extends its deepest heartfelt condolences to the families of those who were lost and all those who have been affected by this tragic event,” the agency said in a statement.

The summer weekend was especially deadly in the region. In a separate incident about 30 miles north of Lake Tahoe, three men died after jumping into a waterfall.

Millions visit the Lake Tahoe area each year for hiking and water sports framed by the Sierra Nevada mountains. The region is also a popular vacation home destination for billionaires and tech entrepreneurs from the San Francisco Bay Area.