National Park Service spokeswoman Christie Vanover said Thursday that investigators traced the Oct. 18 sinking of the 65-foot vessel at a Lake Mead marina to the failure of two hoses to drain water from a rear storage compartment.
Vanover says one hose was disabled by a kink. Another wasn't properly connected.
No one was on the boat and no one was injured when the 1996 Skipperliner, named Rendezvous, sank stern-first in 45 feet of water in a slip at the Temple Bar marina.
Newton's sister-in-law, Tricia McCrone, didn't immediately respond Thursday to messages.
She had said that Newton and his wife were vacationing out of the country when the boat sank.
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