After a Florida Keys boat fire, rescuers couldn’t find a woman. Now her family knows
Crews on Friday pulled a woman’s body out of the burned wreckage of a yacht that went up in flames while docked at a Florida Keys marina.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office didn’t confirm the woman’s identification, but 51-year-old Linda Vella from St. Petersburg has been missing since the the 100-foot Viking boat was destroyed Wednesday while docked at the Perry Hotel & Marina at 7101 Shrimp Rd. on Stock Island just after midnight Wednesday.
Her husband, Michael Kenneth Robson, 58, and son, Anthony Joseph Vella, 21, got off the boat, but they remain hospitalized in a Miami-Dade County burn center, Vella’s daughter, Lisamarie Vella, said in a GoFundMe post.
According to the post, the two men are in critical condition.
“We all love u. You were the best mom. The best friend. You were all I had. You were the glue that kept our family together,” wrote Lisamarie Vella. “I don’t no how I’m going to live this life with out. I ask you all to pray for my family [as] they they recover fast and that we all mentally get through this.”
The family’s pet dog also died in the fire, according to the daughter.
The woman’s body was removed from the boat Friday after what remained of it was lifted from the water, said Keys sheriff’s office spokesman Adam Linhardt.
“Investigators believed Vella was unable to escape the fire and was still aboard the vessel during the ensuing search,” Linhardt said in a statement.
Linhardt said that along with the sheriff’s office dive team and major crimes detectives, TowBoat US, Monroe County Fire Rescue and the state Fire Marshal’s Office took part in the search.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
This story was originally published July 28, 2023 at 5:45 PM with the headline "After a Florida Keys boat fire, rescuers couldn’t find a woman. Now her family knows."
