- Ella Adler, 15, was killed in a hit-and-run boat crash near Key Biscayne on May 11
- A reward has been issued for the boater who remains at large
- Maritime attorney Michael Winkleman insisted the pilot would have felt impact
The hit-and-run boat driver who struck and killed a teenage water-skier must have known they hit someone, an expert claims.
Talented ballerina Ella Riley Adler, 15, died on Saturday after a vessel plowed into her while she was in the water.
The culprit sped off immediately after, leading many to speculate they did not realize what had happened.
However, maritime attorney Michael Winkleman has quashed this theory, stating it would be difficult for the pilot not to have felt the impact.
‘I find that extremely hard to believe because hitting a person is a large object, you would definitely feel that especially if you are going at any type of a rate of speed,’ he told NBC Miami. ‘So it’s really hard for me to imagine that.’
Adler, a student at Miami’s Ransom Everglades School, was killed while waterskiing off the coast of Key Biscayne near Miami Beach.
Winkleman explained that while other water sports require a dive flag to be hoisted to alert other boaters someone is in the water, this does not apply to water skiing.
‘A lot of it falls on the driver of the vessel, who is actually waterskiing to keep an accurate lookout,’ Winkleman said.
‘You are generally required to have someone on the backend keeping eye on the water-skier themselves, and you are generally going to do it in areas that are generally safe to do something like this, including Nixon Beach — a very common area to do water sports like that.’
The horrific collision occurred at around 4.30pm. Witnesses reported seeing ‘a lot of blood in the water,’ in the aftermath and the boater remains at large.
Adler’s devastated family and friends gathered to mourn their loss at a funeral service on Monday morning at Temple Beth Sholom in Miami Beach.
The teen was described as a hard worker, a magnificent dancer, and someone overflowing with kindness and warmth.
She was a high achiever, involved in many different organizations and clubs, including her school’s Jewish Student Association, the debate team and the Miami City Ballet.
‘Ella Adler was not just a beloved student and a magnificent dancer who graced our stage in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker; she was an integral part of our family,’ said Billy Zavelson, a spokesperson for the Miami City Ballet.
Rachel Rodriguez, the Head of School at Ransom Everglades, also shared the school community’s collective grief over Adler’s untimely death.
‘Our hearts are broken and our community has been devastated by this tragedy. Ella shined in our classrooms and on our stages,’ Rodriguez said.
Fellow student Myles Gilber branded the boater, ‘evil’.
‘How can you not have a conscience to want to help the girl that you just hit with your boat?’ he said.
Adler, who was celebrating a friend’s birthday on a family boat, was wearing a life vest and water skis at the time of the collision, according to George Reynaud, Public Information Officer for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Reynaud described the boat that hit Adler, which was last seen in the Nixon Beach area heading west, as ‘white to light blue in color, with a blue or dark blue bottom paint, and possibly having two to four white outboard engines.’
Police canvassed the marinas near the scene of the hit and run on Monday, but they haven’t yet located the boater.
There is a $20,000 reward for information about the boater and the vessel itself, 7 News Miami reported Monday.
A crime stopping organization in Miami-Dade and the Florida Keys is offering an additional $5,000 reward.
