CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said Tuesday that they’ve identified a boat of interest in a fatal hit-and-run near Key Biscayne over the weekend. It’s since been taken into investigators’ custody.
Ella Adler, 15, a student at Ransom Everglades High School in Coconut Grove, was waterskiing Saturday near the Nixon Beach Sandbar off Key Biscayne when the boater struck and killed her. Her funeral was held on Monday.
Investigators say she fell into the water while being towed and was hit by the passing boater, who never stopped to help. The boat had been described as a “center console, light blue, possible blue bottom paint (vessel) with two or possibly up to four outboard engines.”
An FWC source tells Local 10 News that authorities located a vessel in Coral Gables matching the boat’s description. Video from Sky 10 showed FWC investigators on the boat, which was docked outside of a home in the 11000 block of Tanya Street in the gated Hammock Oaks neighborhood.
The boat was later brought to the U.S. Coast Guard facility in Miami Beach, where it was loaded onto a trailer and towed away.
Authorities said Tuesday that the boat’s owner “is cooperating with the investigation.”
Adler was remembered as the great-granddaughter of Holocaust survivors and the granddaughter of the U.S. Ambassador to Belgium, Michael Adler.
First Lady Jill Biden’s motorcade was observed driving in Miami Beach on Tuesday as she traveled to sit shiva with Adler’s family.
U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Florida, and Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava paid their respects as well at Monday’s service at Temple Beth Sholom in Miami Beach.
Adler’s parents, in a statement, said, “The world lost a star this weekend. Ella was beautiful and shined brightly. In her 15 years she gave us more light than we could have ever dreamed. While we cope with this unspeakable tragedy, we hope the public will help us find the person who took her from us.”
Local 10 News spoke to Levine Cava on Tuesday, who called Adler’s death “heartbreaking for us as a community.”
“Ella Adler was an extraordinary young woman. She was a role model for so many,” the mayor said. “She is mourned by everyone who had the opportunity to know her and it’s just unfathomable that this senseless act now led to the end of a life so young and (with) so much promise.”
According to the FWC, while investigators have identified a boat matching the vessel’s description, they’re asking members of the public who have video footage or information to call the agency at 888-404-3922 or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.