Furthermore, pulling TWO. When the first dumped they didn't go and immediately pick her up. Where are all the cellphone videos of the girls being towed? I find it hard to believe that a boat filled with teenagers wakeboarding and not a single one of them was filming it. Perhaps they don't want those videos out, because it might reveal other activities on the tow boat. The police could check if any cellphones were pinging the towers, get warrants and check if they have video or if videos have recently been deleted from said phone. This would rule out (or confirm) any questionable behavior on that tow boat. But it's much easier to put the blame on an old man.
@@macbook802 I disagree man . Not saying that age/ eye sight is not a part of it . But that’s a pretty big boat . And if the boat was not on plane and bow up for sure he didn’t see anything infront of him .
Have you researched this subject on eyesight of old geezer's? I'm 72 and I don't need glasses. Cataract surgery also is able to correct eye sight. Let's wait for the facts.
I have skied/wake boarded for 15 years or more. The tow driver is 100% responsible for the rider. You have to put the boat between the rider and any threat immediately after the rider goes down and protect them! You almost never see a boat driver who actually knows the rules and skills of towing! RULE 1 is to NEVER put a rider out in a medium to high traffic area! It is a recipe for disaster! I have seen it twice first hand! Both riders were killed.
Another point I got that the rich guy that hit her even if he dident see her when he was on plane you know just as well as I do thoes fiberglass boats whatever you hit the force verberate threw the whole boat and make a loud thump noise you know that he atleast felt it when he hit her just dident know what he hit and kept going and decided to play dumb
@@matthewowens455 Don't be deceptive... that boat was a 42 footer with 4 x 400Hp Mercury Verado Outboard Engines... so 1600Hp total... there's no way as the driver of such a powerful vessel you would notice or even hear any relatively small object that hits your hull. As a boat driver for more than 25 years now, I can't even remember how many times I have hit floating objects such as garbage debris, or fallen tree parts in the river, and could not distinguishing them from the hull hitting a wave. It all pretty much sounds the same.
It doesn't make the loss any easier, but at least the family of the girl isn't dealing with a callous, wreckless drunk. I'm betting the old man is devastated.
Eye sight and motor skills at that age and that boat with multiple blind spots. You constantly have to have your head on a swivel not just driving like you’re the only one on the water
@@PatrickPierceBateman Know that from all your years behind the helm do you? It's not as easy as you think to spot a person in the water. Or a lot of rescues would be a lot easier. Watch some videos of people in the water with a light chop. Then go return those video tapes after watching them.
The girls were being towed by a 42 foot Fjord and they were skiing doubles but then they dropped off a different times. So Ella was just sitting duck all that time it took for that big boat to turn around , pick up the closest skier and then go find her. It was an accident waiting to happen.
💯 Add to that towing skiers right next to a thoroughfare that they're sure to have seen at least 2 or 3 other boats as big or bigger go cruising through that day. Someone's common sense took a vacation.
Yeah idk why people aren't talking about the responsibility of the tow boat as much. While boaters share the responsibility, the tower arguably has a higher responsibility and should take certain precautions. If it is a crowded area in a busy time with large vessels then the tower should know better.
correct, and there was chop that day plus a hi traffic area for largish boats which throw up big wake waves , i believe he never saw her at all it's sad but it was just an unfortunate accident.
@@jamesm568 Again, not sensible. A young woman is dead because they (the wakeboarders) were taking risks. They took a risk and now someone is dead BECAUSE of that risk.
I was taught that when you fell from being towed, you lifted the ski (or wakeboard) vertically out of the water to make yourself visible. That and wear a neon colored ski vest. This is very important in choppy, crowded waterways. An unfortunate series of events, however it appears to be an accident with no malice involved. It's also important to understand a person in the water is much harder to see than a person on the street because a street is smooth and water can be choppy as well as the fact most of your body is hidden by the water.
facts everyone's quick to blame the old guy but it can be very hard to see a bobbing little head on the water with waves and other boats passing through the ski boat captain should never have taken the skiers out in a busy lane like that in the first place
Witnesses say that the girl was holding up her wakeboard straight up to make herself more visible and she was wearing a proper ski vest which is probably what killed her, since she couldn't dive down below the water surface to let the boat pass over her .. Just imagine yourself a mile offshore and just happened to fall in the water within a 8-foot wide area of water at that momoment in time a boat would be passing through..... the odds are astronomical
Same here. The older I get, the more I see a lack of boater education. Everyone is out for a good time without the slightest consideration nor effort put into skills, safety and responsibility. I realize I sound old saying that. But I've skied, wakeboarded and wake surfed for 40+ yrs all-in without incident...because my parents were sticklers for "Safety First, Fun Second" on the water, as I now am with my kids.
That's a very good point and especially that he had some speed on. I've hit chunks of debris in the water at speed that made a helluva clunk. However DID he call authorities WHEN he got back and heard about the accident? Sure the bottom area of the boat was a dark blue and the timing was correct as well.
@@leecowell8165 He has plausible deniability and there is no proof that he would ever have heard any news in regards to the crash. As far as he knew, it was a normal day... not everyone reads the news/media these days, it is mostly lies and grifts. I almost never watch TV anymore, same for millions of others. I don't see anything criminal with the old man's actions. He's probably suffering, too.
As a passenger on the tow boat the captain is always responsible.. 14 kids playing in a high boat traffic waterway is never a good idea.. 14 kids on any boat is pure chaos..
No he doesn’t. But have you even seen videos of old people killing others and showing zero fear or remorse? Being rich and old also can bring entitlement and the comfort of knowing you can do what you want and no one will stop you. Thats true inner peace which you could say this man seems to have, no matter what he’s done
No. It's like calling every car crash accident. It is not. If you take control of the boat you need to be aware of where you are going and what you are doing. He killed the girl. Jail time.
@@mc_sim The tow driver broke the law by leaving her to float unmarked in the water. Scuba requires flags, this likely does, too. You can't just leave swimmers floating to get hit, that's negligence. The old man saw nothing and was a victim himself... this is a tough one.
@@JoeGator23 broke the law? Do you realize that a boat is not a spaceship? It can't teleport. That it takes time to stop, turn around etc. ??? If the old man sees nothing ahead then he should stay at home.
*Who is expecting to have intension of running over a teen in a busy bay area ?? Who is expecting a teen to be in the water all by herself like this ...who is expecting to see her over the boat bow??*
I was in the Coast Guard and I did dozens of rescue missions and not seeing someone is easy even when you’re searching, just out boating he’s looking for other boats not people in the water. This could have happened to anyone.
@@michaelashley2855It’s clear to the boaters with adequate knowledge, that most of the commenters have little or no boating experience. Certainly not in South Florida in a 40 foot performance center console with quads, in an area as busy as this.
Where’s the boat and driver of the boat that was towing this teen??? Are they being questioned ? Did they not notice the teen fall in the water ? Did they not circle around ???
Facts why hasn’t that been questioned? A boat captain / driver is responsible for everyone on their vessel including those wakeboarding.. so it was also his responsibility to safely have/tow people on wakeboard…! He didn’t see a boat coming towards his wakeboarders?
They were circling around after she fell off. They were in a high traffic area, which is why they shouldn't have been doing it there in the first place. Have you ever gone wake boarding? You ALWAYS fall off, eventually. It takes a min for a boat to slow down and turn around, it doesn't exactly have brakes after all. Have you ever been on a boat?
I blame the captain of the 42 foot pulling those kids, heavy traffic area and a boat that cant turn fast enough to safely pick up a kid in the water. More money than brains.
I’m not a boater, but I was out once on the Mississippi with friends. There were slightly choppy waves and we hit a branch or something but didn’t realize it until pulling the boat out on the ramp. It cracked the fiberglass hull but no one on board thought it was anything A boat hitting something in the water sounds like riding over small waves if that’s all you’re hearing for a couple hours.
@@PatrickPierceBatemanfirstly, center consoles (the guys type of boat) can have poor close range visibility. It also depends the speed limit at which the waters were governed at, and lastly the tow boat is responsible for all the people wakeboarding.
The two girls were being towed by a 42ft Fjord in the Biscayne Bay. Other news reports said there was a large group of individuals on the 42ft Fjord. More than likely the people on the Fjord have video of where they were being towed. My initial thoughts were, what is a 42ft boat towing people in the bay? That is not the boat for towed water sports plus it will take forever to turn around, additionally we’re they in the channel doing this ? A 42ft Fjord can not traverse all over the bay, and probably is near the channel or inter coastal water ways.
Many factors made it the perfect storm for that terrible accident. I can't see any blame on the old man. Large open body of water. To large of a craft to be pulling skiers. Pulling doubles. Larger than normal swells in the water. Common sense wasn't a factor......
The 'towing' captain holds the major responsibility for the safety of those being towed. My rule I do not tow inside a channel. (between markers). Much like rollerskating on the interstate.
I knew it. It was a accident and i bet yall he didn't realised until the news was describing his boat. Sad the girl die but this old men don't deserve murder charges
you don't wake board in a heavy boating traffic area . simple. they should be looking at the negligence of the captain of the wake boading vessel. both of these vessels are large and you just don't tow people through a heavy traffic area. stupid. i feel for the girl and the family. RIP. ie, you don't go skate boarding in the middle of I-95, do you?
I have no doubt that he didn’t know he hit her! The bow of his boat rides high. The fault lies with the driver of the other boat and with the spotter on the boat watching the girls.
I’m sure the old guy didn’t even know he possibly hit someone! And why was the other boat towing skiers where they were. As a captain and skier it is your responsibility to make sure the area you are in is safe!
LEAVE THIS GUY ALONE, how stupid can people be! A 42-foot boat with a bunch of teens SKIING. IN a high traffic area? where is the investigation and publicity of the idiot that was the captain of that boat??? Scumbag lawyers will always look for the money. The plaintiff should PAY ALL cost of lawyers involved in a yet to be determined another frivolous lawsuit.
Accidents happen all the time, unfortunately it's part of life and how we all learn things. I feel sorry for all concerned but I really do think that the fault is in the towboats driver who should have used common sense. I'm sure this gentleman feels terrible about what happened.
When I used to tandem ski if the other skier fell you dropped the rope too and stayed together. Boat immediately turned around. Tow boat should be facing charges.
With what? It's a common ski area and it's not banned and there is no evidence that the boat was operating in a reckless manner. It's only a matter of opinion whether or not you can ski in that area.
@@jamesm568 They left an unmarked swimmer in the water. Even scuba requires a flag. Liability is all on the tow boat. The other boat driver saw nothing and broke no laws as per his video. He had no idea that someone would be stupid enough to drop passengers off to float freely in a traffic area and leave.
He will be exonerated. I wonder how far away the derelict skipper on the victim's boat was from the victim and the other skier. If the distance was great, that signifies significant negligence on the part of the skipper of the boat the victim was skiing behind
@@badm0t0rf1ng3r Correct but our Google boater crowd has no idea about our protocols. Imagine what they would say if the video showed him washing her down post run. In fact it's more of a surprise that he didn't wash it down.
Lack of communication between the Captain/spotter of the towing boat and the skiiers. When skiing "Doubles" (two or more skiiers) if One skiier falls or drops off, the other skier is supposed to drop off as well, ASSUMING the Captain/spotter KNOWS they have dropped.
When I was younger we would be on Lake Mead in Nevada , We always had someone on a jet ski close by circling the downed skier , we had an extra layer of safety !
Really takes the winds out of the line that he was covering for someone else? All a bunch of loonies. I've said it before, almost no way you could find this dude criminally liable.
@drdrew3 doubtful if that would have the legs to make it to court. If the family decided to push civil action it would be more likely to be against the boat towing the girl.
Sad but some states do not have tough enough laws on tow boats. From years of water skiing, I can tell you that it is dangerous not to have a Driver plus a Spotter on the boat at all times while using a boat for towing. It is impossible to drive a boat and watch a skier or wake boarder 100% of the time. It is the job of the spotter to watch for a fall and immediately tell the driver so the driver can quickly turn the boat around to cover the person in the water. A person in the water is very hard to see and could easily be hit by another boat!
Who ever was driving the boat towing the girls is responsible. There is supposed to be a spotter besides the driver when towing a skier. When I was a teen, I was skiing behind a boat that two friends were operating. They werent paying attention when I fell. I was left bobbing out in a busy water way for about 15 minutes before they finally came back. Whenever boats approached me, I would hold the ski way up so boats could see me.
If he had known, he would have stopped! Why wouldn’t he? Not stopping is worse. He had nothing to hide and he didn’t do it on purpose so surely he would have stopped had he known. Have some faith in humanity people!
@fposmith in the bay, while traveling, your view of what's in front of you is limited to about 30 yards out if your view is from the pilot's position. Meaning you would not be about to see what's directly in front of you.
Money says the old man would have no idea what the flag would have meant no matter how big it was. Just like dive flags everybody’s clueless. That why they need mandatory boating licenses period
I don’t see the guy acting scared or trying to cover anything up. I drive a 44 ft sedan bridge and it would be easy to miss seeing a kayak or paddle boarder in the bay when you are focusing on all the other boat traffic. The number of power boats, sail boats, kayaks, paddle boards and jet skis makes for dangerous water conditions when people aren’t paying attention to those around them.
You actually believe video these days. Anything and everything can be changed and it would take an expert to see it. This guy has the money to do anything!
Being towed behind a boat is statistically very dangerous.. Leaving someone to tread water in the middle of Biscayne bay is negligent homicide by the operator!
🥺Poor people - all who are involved - if only we could rewind, go back in time and erase those life-changing 30 minutes from that timeline - 30 minutes is all it took to change everyone's lives. 🙏🙏
As a boat Capt for 45 years, I can tell you I have similar close call incidents with Jetskiers, wake boarders, skiers, and even kayaks where the offenders are doing these activities in the middle of tight channels (where the deep water is for boats to run). What they don’t understand is, not only is visibility difficult when running most boats, we often can’t slow down or stop because the water is to shallow. If you slow down the boat comes off plane and drops down into the water, if it’s shallow like many places in back bays are, the boat will get stuck. DO THESE ACTIVITIES IN SAFE PLACES!!! NOT IN THE MIDDEL OF TRAFFIC CHANNELS.
I dont blame the old dude. They were trying to show off double skiiing on a almost yaht. Boat was too big to maneuver and shouldnt have been towing in that area. It was an accident and videos before and after basically prove it. Cameras are like god. Always watching.
One of my first cases as a law enforcement officer, way back in 1978, was of a 16 year old, star high school football player, killed by the prop of a speedboat. Very dangerous activity, this boating. Be careful out there, folks.
boats hit manatees all the time and they're 13 feet long and 1300lbs but a 5ft 5inch tall girl that weighs 115lbs you're suppose to see. Everyone is looking in the wrong direction because it's easier to blame an old man than find real answers.
I've been out on Key Biscayne bay ... it's a mad house on NORMAL weekends . Sry for the loss of this girl but the negligence goes to the driver who was pulling this skier!
Hey reporters, have you asked any questions to the captain of the boat towing the girls? Were they drinking? Was it a legal charter? Per maritime law, the captain is responsible for everyone on their boat!
I don’t know the rules in the US, but here in my country (Europe) you need a captain and a 2nd person to monitor when water skiing. The captain can’t always see if there’s an emergency, if someone drops off or where they are in the water. Also, it would be interesting to know if the accident happened in a marked water skiing area (in the nautical chart or by sign), in this case the captain who ran over the girl had to be extra careful. The boat seems to be quite powerful (4 motors), so if the girl was floating at a random place in the open waters, and the captain had some decent speed with the bow lifting, it would be very hard to spot her. But if it was a marked area, or anything else indicating that there may be people in the water, he’s expected to watch out and adjust his speed.
How didn’t anyone scream and yell or track him down? Was the girl literally just chilling solo no one on site of her? Something is off, if I’m towing someone I’m getting them in 10 seconds if the fall and never take my eye off them. How know one followed that guy back seems weird.
tell me how long it would take you to turn around a 42' boat. Also let me know if you can hear anyone yelling from 200 yards away with 4, 400 HP motors screaming full throttle. I'm not surprised one bit no one followed him. Its just another quad center console, seen a million of em. Everyone is out their doing their own thing not watching what every boat on the water is doing.
What?!?!? If you run over a pedestrian in the roadway but don't "realize" it ... that makes you innocent? The operator is responsible for EVERYTHING relegated to that boat. If he didn't see her then he wasn't paying attention well enough. If can't see that far or that fast he is incompetent to operate an 800-plus horse power boat.
@@kenmartin6597you cant see in front of a big boat like that ken. And you cant hear anyone over the 4 engines in the back. If anyone is responsible it was the boat towing her. Have you even been on a boat that big? You know the nose of a boat rises up right?
@@GoblinStomp Noise has zero to do with it. Unless she fell in the water 20 feet in front of whomever hit her they had plenty of time and distance to react. I've gone 89mph on a boat, fast enough? I've live on the the Great Lakes and I am on Lake St Clair year round. (going tomorrow morning) I've been in and own many different sizes and class of boat. From canoes to a 52 foot Tiara, big enough?. It is YOUR responsibility to see what's in front of you. It is a terrible accident because he didn't MEAN to hit her of course. But far from innocent.
I'd say the size of the craft should be taken into consideration, way to hard to see a small floating body, probably only shoulders and head above water.
The authorities are not even sure if it was him who hit her, the “I believe it was him” argument is not going to cut it very much longer. 🤷♂️ you either have concrete evidence of malicious intent or don’t have a case.
I believe it was an accident and he (or the person who hit her) had no clue. They seized his boat, so I'm sure they can test it for evidence. Regardless, there seems to be zero malicious intent for a case against him. I hope they're looking into the captain of the tow boat, as well.
I would like to know if they were skiing within the channel markers. Which for an experienced boater with a boat that size, I would assume he would be in the marked channel. If they were skiing within the channel, that is absolutely reckless on the tow boat side.
My daughters have asked to be towed since day 1 of my boat purchase. Answer has always been NO. Just for this reason and no, this isnt a rare occurrence.
Blaming the old guy is like chopping your fingers off while cutting onions and blaming the knife manufacturer. RIP young lady. Hopefully society will learn to be more careful when having fun.
Unfortunately this appears to be a case of a senior citizen, with possible less than perfect eyesight, not seeing the young girl in the water. Tragic indeed for everyone involved.
Or the video was shot on a different day. You can't believe the time and day stamp on a video. It will say what ever you set it for. I have two cameras that have the incorrect time and day. I have just been too lazy to reset them. And this video wasn't discovered by the Police. It was given to the Police by the Lawyer. So there is no chain of custody on the video !
The fact he can launch and dock a boat that size solo tells you he’s a very experienced captain. His insurer will still accept liability and pay out seven figures, not because he was negligent per se, but because it was his vessel under his control that caused a fatal injury. Carrier for the tow boat will pay out as well. Hopefully both vessels have plenty of liability coverage.
