KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. – A Key Biscayne yacht captain is sharing insight into the area where 15-year-old Ella Adler lost her life over the weekend.
A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission report said she was wakeboarding with someone else when she fell into the water near the Nixon Beach Sandbar and was struck and killed by the passing boater, who never stopped to help.
“She had the wakeboard on, she had fallen off from being towed, and she was just in the water waiting to be recovered by her vessel,” FWC Officer George Reynaud told “Good Morning America” Wednesday. “She was in the water, with her life jacket on, with her wakeboard attached at the time of the impact.”
Reynaud said, “Nixon Beach does have a sandbar where boats go to congregate, however, they were outside of that area.”
The report, released Wednesday, identified the operator as Carlos Guillermo Alonso, 78, of Coral Gables.
Yacht captain Griffen Diaz spoke to Local 10 News on Wednesday. He said he was anchored at Nixon Beach, about a mile north of the crash, when it happened at around 4 p.m. Saturday.
“My heart goes out to this girl’s family and everyone who was involved,” Diaz said. “I have been really heartbroken about this story.”
Diaz said the water was choppy that day.
“The wind and the waves were coming out of the west which is very unusual for Biscayne Bay, it is a rare wind occurrence and it makes the bay a lot choppier,” he said.
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The yacht captain told Local 10 News the channel is known to be treacherous.
“It is pretty dangerous there to water ski because of the heavy traffic; I would never recommend it,” Diaz said, later adding, “The last thing someone would expect is to find (someone) waterskiing in the water in that heavy traffic area.”
Instead, he said, “If someone were to want to waterski or go tubing or any kind of water sports there’s an area right in front of Brickell, right in front of the apartment buildings in Brickell, actually just North of the Rickenbacker Causeway bridge and that is a safe area because it is away from a channel and it is a safe place to waterski.”
We’re also learning more about the boat towing Adler: a 42-foot Fjord.
“Which is not the ideal boat you want to be waterskiing on or pulling somebody with,” Diaz said. “The ideal waterskiing boat has one single engine and can turn on a dime and pick you right back up.”
Regarding the crash, he said, “If she let go of the rope or fell, and the captain did not notice, that would be negligent on his behalf because your eyes are locked on the person in tow and that is usually the rule we follow.”
Diaz said it’s possible that Alonso, who authorities said is cooperating with investigators, didn’t know he even hit Adler.
“The last thing someone would expect is to find a waterskier in the water in that heavy traffic area,” he said. “It was a four-engine boat, they could have been going at a high rate of speed (and) by the time they got close they didn’t even see her in the water.”
It’s not clear whether Alonso will be charged.