Jefferson was seen at approximately 20:00 on his sailboat with two friends approximately 1 mile east of Schuyler Island when they went to an open area of Lake Champlain. The boat hit very rough water and flipped over twice. Jeff and his friends were all wearing life jackets so they decided to abandon the boat and swim to the nearest island. The two friends he was with were swimming ahead of him and saw Jeff swimming behind them most of the way. Both friends made it to Schuyler Island but Jeff never did. Jeff's life jacket was later found by the Coast Guard.