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TEEN BALLERINA MOWED DOWN BY MYSTERY BOAT JUST DISCOVERED · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

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Speaker 1: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace Bombshell Tonight. Teen ballerina Ella
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Speaker 1: just fifteen, hit and killed by a speeding luxury boat
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Speaker 1: as Ella waterskied at a birthday party. The boat jets off,
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Speaker 1: leaving Ella for dead, but after a massive search, the vessel.
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Speaker 2: Just spotted is jogged at a four million dollar Coral
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Speaker 2: Gables compound.
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Speaker 1: According to experts, there is no way the driver did
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Speaker 1: not know he mowed over the teen ballerina Ella. Good evening,
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Speaker 1: I Nancy Grace, this is Crime Stories. Thank you for
0:45
Speaker 1: being with us.
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Speaker 3: All those significant progress has been made. This is still
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Speaker 3: an active investigation. We are asking anyone who witnessed the
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Speaker 3: accident or may have video footage to call the Wildlife
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Speaker 3: on ther hotline at eight eight eight four zero four
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Speaker 3: three nine two four, Miami Day Crimestoppers at three h
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Speaker 3: five four seven one A four seven seven. Our hearts
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Speaker 3: and prayers are with the family and friends of Ella
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Speaker 3: Alder and they remain in our thoughts during this difficult time.
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Speaker 1: I just cannot imagine what Ella's parents and family are
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Speaker 1: going through to lose your child at age fifteen, just
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Speaker 1: fifteen years old, and this girl.
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Speaker 2: Was a star.
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Speaker 1: We keep saying we keep hearing teen Ballerina. That's because
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Speaker 1: Ella had starred in so many very serious and very
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Speaker 1: sophisticated ballet performances. Just an amazing talent, the apple of
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Speaker 1: her parents eye.
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Speaker 2: Of course, that could be said.
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Speaker 1: Have millions of fifteen year olds, they're the apple of
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Speaker 1: their parent's eye.
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Speaker 2: But the dichotomy of.
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Speaker 1: The sharp contrast of letting your little girl go to
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Speaker 1: a birthday party. She's an avid skier, avid swimmer, and
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Speaker 1: then to find out she's dead, and how in the
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Speaker 1: hay could the boater speed away as if nothing happened.
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Speaker 2: I don't believe that for one minute. What exactly did happen?
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Speaker 4: Listen?
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Speaker 5: Ella makes a good run on the wakeboard but eventually
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Speaker 5: ends up in the water, still wearing a life vest.
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Speaker 5: Ella makes it back over to the board and clings
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Speaker 5: to it while she's towed back up to the yacht.
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Speaker 5: While Ella's waiting in the water, another boat gets dangerously
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Speaker 5: close to her and shows no sign of stopping. Moments later,
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Speaker 5: the boat strikes Ella, forcing her underneath. When Ella floats
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Speaker 5: back up to the surface, she's limp and there's blood
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Speaker 5: in the water. Ella dies before they make it back
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Speaker 5: to shore.
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Speaker 1: Joining me an all Star panel makes sense of what
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Speaker 1: we know right now, but for straight out to Crime
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Speaker 1: online dot Com investigation reporter who has been on the
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Speaker 1: case since the very beginning when we heard Ella, a
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Speaker 1: fifteen year old little girl, had been killed, Sidney Sumner
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Speaker 1: joining us. Sidney, leave me up to the moment where
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Speaker 1: Ella is struck by a boat and according to reports
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Speaker 1: that I have no reason to disbelieve the boater just
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Speaker 1: took off in the last hours after a massive search,
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Speaker 1: that boat has been spotted outside a four million dollar mansion.
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Speaker 2: Okay, hit me, Sidney.
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Speaker 6: Nancy. Ella is fifteen years old and she is joined
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Speaker 6: by a group of twelve friends to celebrate a birthday.
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Speaker 6: They were driven on a boat.
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Speaker 2: It's unclear if this is one of the girl's.
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Speaker 6: Fathers or maybe a rental company that was out driving
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Speaker 6: the girls, but they took to Biscayne Bay in the
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Speaker 6: late afternoon, around four thirty pm. So the girls were
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Speaker 6: on this boat taking turns wakeboarding, so standing on one
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Speaker 6: board not two water skis a board and holding a
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Speaker 6: tow line behind the boat, and one of her friends
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Speaker 6: were behind the boat being towed. They both fell off
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Speaker 6: at different times in different places in the water and
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Speaker 6: We're waiting to be picked back up and get back
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Speaker 6: in the boat. At this point, Ella is hit by
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Speaker 6: a forty foot Boston whaler boat that goes directly over
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Speaker 6: at the top of her. She disappears below the water,
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Speaker 6: and when she floats back to the surface, there's lots
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Speaker 6: of blood in the water and Ella is limp Guys.
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Speaker 1: Sydney Sumner joining me crimeonline dot Com investigative reporter. But
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Speaker 1: for just one moment, I just want to talk about
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Speaker 1: Ella to Daniel Grammis joining US high profile maritime lawyer,
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Speaker 1: and he's actually born and raised in this area in Miami. Daniel,
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Speaker 1: do you have children, Not yet, Nancy, but if I did,
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Speaker 1: I probably would not have been taking him to that
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Speaker 1: area to do the way for and it is a
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Speaker 1: high traffic area. Okay, Daniel, That is not at all
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Speaker 1: what I was going to ask you regarding what Elli's
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Speaker 1: family has been going through. And I'm detecting your suggestion
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Speaker 1: that somehow this is the family or the birthday party
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Speaker 1: hosts thought it is not. There were many boats out,
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Speaker 1: there were many people skiing, water boarding, swimming. This is
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Speaker 1: a recreational area. I am a very avid diver all
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Speaker 1: around the world, swimmer water enthusiasts. Let me just say,
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Speaker 1: and there is no circumstance in a recreational water area
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Speaker 1: that a boater should be at that speed, much less
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Speaker 1: leave the scene of a crash.
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Speaker 2: Bam.
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Speaker 1: This was not an air where the children should not
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Speaker 1: have been swimming.
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Speaker 2: Where are you? Where are you getting that well?
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Speaker 7: I definitely agree that the vessel that hit Ella is
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Speaker 7: at fault. They were reckless. They should have had a
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Speaker 7: look out and ultimately it is on them to avoid
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Speaker 7: hitting Ella. And this is reckless operation. And we don't
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Speaker 7: know yet whether or not it was a hit and run,
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Speaker 7: but I think it's likely.
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Speaker 1: We don't know if it's a hit and run. What
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Speaker 1: you believe all the witnesses are lying. No, they said
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Speaker 1: Ella was hit, there was blood and the water, and
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Speaker 1: the driver took off.
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Speaker 2: That's a hit and run.
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Speaker 7: It is as of right now, that's what we're going
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Speaker 7: to label it. We haven't got any facts whether or
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Speaker 7: not the driver.
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Speaker 2: Knew the authorities.
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Speaker 1: If there was nothing wrong with what the boat did,
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Speaker 1: do you think we would have had a helicopters overhead
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Speaker 1: and the coast guard and everybody else looking for the boat. No,
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Speaker 1: they were looking for the boat because it hit Ella
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Speaker 1: and took off.
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Speaker 3: You know what.
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Speaker 1: That's not even when I was going to talk about
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Speaker 1: you know what, Dan, don't move, But trust me, I'm
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Speaker 1: going to circle back with you. Joining right now is
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Speaker 1: doctor Michelle Dupre, forensic pathologist, medical examiner, Lucky for me,
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Speaker 1: detective out of Lexington County Sheriff's Department, and literally the
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Speaker 1: author of Homicide.
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Speaker 2: Investigation Field Guide. She wrote the book.
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Speaker 1: But doctor Dupre, on a personal note, you have handled
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Speaker 1: so many child autopsies and when I look at this girl, beautiful,
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Speaker 1: perfectly straight teeth, gorgeous outfit, professional photo. The parents have
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Speaker 1: invested doctor Dupree all of their love, all of their hopes.
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Speaker 1: They've transferred their own dreams to making her dreams come true,
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Speaker 1: working long hours to support her, not only in school
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Speaker 1: where she was a star student.
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Speaker 2: But in her ballet.
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Speaker 1: Listen, doctor Dupree, you've heard me talk about it. Lucy
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Speaker 1: is a football manager and John David plays multiple sports.
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Speaker 1: They're both honor students. You know how hard that is
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Speaker 1: for the parent to try to make help them make
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Speaker 1: their dreams come true. I mean that's a parent's focus,
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Speaker 1: their goal. And now they find out Ella's at this
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Speaker 1: birthday party and this happens to her. I mean, I
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Speaker 1: don't know how you handle dealing with parents in these
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Speaker 1: autopsies of children.
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Speaker 2: Nancy.
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Speaker 8: This is such a tragic case for a beautiful young lady,
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Speaker 8: and it's difficult. It weighs on I'm sure all of
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Speaker 8: us who do these kinds of things, and you have
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Speaker 8: to talk to the parents, but at least what we
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Speaker 8: try to do is give them some closure, to give
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Speaker 8: them some answer that word closure, because it really isn't.
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Speaker 8: But we try to help them as best we can
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Speaker 8: during these difficult times. And she was a beautiful young lady.
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Speaker 8: Such a horrible story.
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Speaker 2: Crime stories with Nancy Grace.
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Speaker 1: To think this little girl was out there first of all,
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Speaker 1: joining me in addition to a high profile lawyer, maritime
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Speaker 1: lawyer Daniel Grammis from Miami Sidney Sumner and doctor Dupree
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Speaker 1: joining me right now is Phil Odem voting accident reconstructionist.
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Speaker 1: He's the owner of H two to Investigations and former
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Speaker 1: law enforcement Phil, thank you so much for being with us.
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Speaker 1: You see voting accidents all the time, you investigate them,
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Speaker 1: you solve them. That's what you do, that's what you eat,
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Speaker 1: what you breathe and what you live.
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Speaker 2: How do you deal with parents like Ellis? I mean,
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Speaker 2: I don't know.
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Speaker 1: How they put one foot in front of the other
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Speaker 1: after finding out their little girls out there swimming and waterboarding,
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Speaker 1: and the next thing you know, there's literally blood in
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Speaker 1: the water and all you see is elbows.
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Speaker 2: And tailhole of the driver the boat. He's gone.
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Speaker 9: Compassion. That's the word all in word I can think
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Speaker 9: of is compassion. You have to deal with these folks.
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Speaker 9: I have children.
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Speaker 10: I can't imagine what it's like losing a child, but
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Speaker 10: you have to take it in very small steps and
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Speaker 10: try to give the family the answers the best that
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Speaker 10: you can get them.
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Speaker 1: You know, I'm trying to figure out exactly what happened,
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Speaker 1: phil Odom, because there is no way that this driver
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Speaker 1: did not know what happened.
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Speaker 11: Listen, the boat that hit Ellen never slowed down despite
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Speaker 11: a legal requirement to stop, call law enforcement and give aid.
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Speaker 11: Maritime lawyers have contested claims the boat operator may not
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Speaker 11: have realized they hit someone, seeing anyone on board would
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Speaker 11: have felt the hit. A witness saw a fishing boat
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Speaker 11: past the gray yacht, then heard screams and distress calls
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Speaker 11: over the Yachts Radio. They described the boat as a
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Speaker 11: light blue center console with dark blue bottom paint and
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Speaker 11: three or four outboard engines.
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Speaker 1: Okay, I need to understand that description. It's not just
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Speaker 1: a little fishing boat. This is a full on yacht.
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Speaker 1: Well what is that with three outboard engines?
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Speaker 2: Phil? What is that?
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Speaker 7: Actually? Four?
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Speaker 2: Four?
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Speaker 10: There was actually four, not three. I couldn't see the
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Speaker 10: horse power. But your question is how does that happen?
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Speaker 10: It's called in attention and my federal law rule five,
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Speaker 10: the operator a vessel must maintain a bomber lookout at
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Speaker 10: all times. The only way that this could have happened
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Speaker 10: was through inattention. He did not see her in the water,
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Speaker 10: which she was.
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Speaker 9: Obligated to do.
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Speaker 1: You know, we earlier heard Daniel Grammis state that they
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Speaker 1: shouldn't have been out there boating because of the area. Okay,
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Speaker 1: technical legal term objection, that's what I call BS that
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Speaker 1: I could smell it all the way here in this
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Speaker 1: studio where this occurred is not far offshore. It's near
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Speaker 1: a beach area, and.
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Speaker 2: It's a recreational area.
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Speaker 1: There's no reason that Ella and her birthday party group
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Speaker 1: should not.
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Speaker 2: Have been there. Phil odom I agree with you one
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Speaker 2: hundred percent.
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Speaker 9: It's all about waters.
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Speaker 10: Obviously, you can ski in that area, four in that area,
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Speaker 10: and if there is that type of traffic out there,
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Speaker 10: then every operator of a boat should be in full attention.
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Speaker 10: They should be more aware of their surroundings than if
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Speaker 10: they were in very open water but no traffic depity
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Speaker 10: or anything.
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Speaker 9: But somebody fell asleep with the switch and wasn't paying attention,
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Speaker 9: and that's how this accident occurred.
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Speaker 1: Now, when you say four outboard motors, why does one
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Speaker 1: vessel one yacht need for outboard motors? What does that indicate?
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Speaker 1: How much what a yacht like this cost? And what's
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Speaker 1: the difference between a boat and a yacht.
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Speaker 10: Nay, I can't afford a boat like that, so I
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Speaker 10: can't tell you the amount of money, but probably close
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Speaker 10: to the millions.
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Speaker 9: And the reason for the four outboards. And again I
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Speaker 9: don't know a horse power it is to go fast.
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Speaker 10: When you have a boat like that, it is four
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Speaker 10: foot long and you want to go fast, you need
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Speaker 10: that type of horsepower.
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Speaker 9: To go fast.
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Speaker 1: Guys, how could he possibly have not known he had
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Speaker 1: struck down Ella? It reminds me of a similar case
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Speaker 1: dealing with a car. The defendis name. I will never
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Speaker 1: forget her. Shante Mallard. Listen Schante.
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Speaker 12: Mallard drives home, a route she has taken many times,
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Speaker 12: but this night she strikes Gregory Glenn Biggs, who's walking
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Speaker 12: along the highway. His body is propelled partially through the windshield,
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Speaker 12: but Biggs does not die on impact. Instead of pulling
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Speaker 12: over and calling police, Mallard stops and tries to pull
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Speaker 12: the moaning man off her car. When she can't dislodge
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Speaker 12: the seriously wounded and bleeding man from her windshield, Mallard
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Speaker 12: drives home, parks in the garage, and leaves Biggs there
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Speaker 12: for hours to die.
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Speaker 1: You know, I'm just trying to figure out, Tom, you
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Speaker 1: are the boning accident construction constructionists feel odum of H
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Speaker 1: two investigations, but back to high profile maritime lawyer joining
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Speaker 1: us out of this jurisdiction, Daniel Grammis. Daniel, based on
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Speaker 1: what our accident reconstruction is is telling us, how could
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Speaker 1: the driver possibly have not known he hit Ella.
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Speaker 7: I think he did know. I think the forensic data
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Speaker 7: of the Alphor engines is going to show in the
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Speaker 7: RPM's john you know, even in a vessel that's about
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Speaker 7: thirty pounds. When you hit a hard object like that,
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Speaker 7: you feel it. So you know, all this conversation that
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Speaker 7: he may not have heard it, I don't really buy it.
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Speaker 9: You know.
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Speaker 7: I'm a voter myself, and you hit the smallest thing
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Speaker 7: and you feel those vibrations, and no matter what, if
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Speaker 7: you had the proper lookout, you would have seen her. So,
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Speaker 7: no matter what, it was careless operation on the vessel operator.
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Speaker 12: All motor boats in Florida are required to be registered
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Speaker 12: and numbered by the County tax Collector's office within thirty
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Speaker 12: days of purchase. Owners are required to paint its number
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Speaker 12: on both sides of the boat above the waterline, similar
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Speaker 12: to a car's license plate. Owners must renew the registration annually,
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Speaker 12: display a tag, and keep the registration documents on board.
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Speaker 1: It appears to me, and I'm going to go to
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Speaker 1: Daniel Grammus on this, who is a high profile maritime
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Speaker 1: lawyer born and raised in this jurisdiction, Miami, Avid voter, Daniel,
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Speaker 1: it seems to me like he had.
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Speaker 2: His boat his yacht.
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Speaker 1: Excuse me, I know you boat owners are very particular
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Speaker 1: about calling your.
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Speaker 2: Yacht a boat.
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Speaker 1: He had his yacht in a private docking area kind
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Speaker 1: of an inlet of sorts.
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Speaker 7: Yes, he had the convenience of having his vessel right
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Speaker 7: behind his house, which you know, in a situation like this,
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Speaker 7: he was able to get away pretty easily. And you know,
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Speaker 7: they didn't find the vessel until two days later, which
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Speaker 7: to me is very suspicious.
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Speaker 1: What do you mean by that, because I feel the
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Speaker 1: same way, Daniel. I kind of hate to agree with
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Speaker 1: you on anything, but I.
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Speaker 2: Found that very suspicious too. Why do you say that.
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Speaker 7: Well, you know, all these reports were coming out in
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Speaker 7: the local news. This was not something that was a secret,
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Speaker 7: and we knew about the description of this vessel, and
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Speaker 7: we knew about the path of that the vessel was
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Speaker 7: likely going. If you're that operator and you truly had
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Speaker 7: nothing and you didn't do anything wrong or per se,
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Speaker 7: the conversation is, then you would come forward a lot
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Speaker 7: quicker and say, hey, that might have been me. I
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Speaker 7: didn't notice, But that's not what we had here. We
16:55
Speaker 7: had time to think about how we're going to approach
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Speaker 7: this situation. And two days later, in fact, I don't
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Speaker 7: even think this person came forward. I think the FWC
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Speaker 7: was the one that actually found the vessel. And then
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Speaker 7: quote unquote, we see cooperation, which to the extent we
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Speaker 7: don't know yet, but we will find out.
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Speaker 1: When you say FWC, Daniel, to what are you referring to?
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Speaker 7: The FWC is the Florida Fish and Wildlife Control here
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Speaker 7: in Florida and the patrol our waters are surrounding waters,
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Speaker 7: including fishery regulations and also enforcing the laws on the water.
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Speaker 1: Daniel, I want to follow up on what you just said.
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Speaker 1: Let me put it to you the way I would
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Speaker 1: tell a jerry. This guy had to be hiding under
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Speaker 1: a rock in a cave on the other side of
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Speaker 1: the world, with no cable and no Internet, not to
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Speaker 1: know that his yacht was under suspicion that he was
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Speaker 1: being looked for. So I know you're normally the one
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Speaker 1: doing the cross examination, Daniel Grammos. But was the defendant
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Speaker 1: under a rock in a cave on the other side
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Speaker 1: of the world without internet or cable that's a yes.
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Speaker 7: No, it doesn't make sense to me. I don't think
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Speaker 7: he is.
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Speaker 2: I mean I'm taking that as a note.
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Speaker 7: Look at where he's at on the water the house.
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Speaker 1: Yes, as Daniel described it, he had the convenience of
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Speaker 1: docking right outside his house and walking I don't know.
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Speaker 1: It looks like thirty forty maybe fifty feet into his mansion, passing.
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Speaker 2: By his pool en route.
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Speaker 1: That said, I guarantee you they've got internet.
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Speaker 2: And gable in there. So what leads you to believe
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Speaker 2: you know?
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Speaker 1: Let me ask phil Odom phil Otum joining me in
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Speaker 1: addition to Daniel Grammys said doctor dupree phil I agree
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Speaker 1: with Grammys.
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Speaker 2: This guy didn't say, look, I hit the girl. I
18:57
Speaker 2: didn't mean to. At first. I wasn't sure what happened.
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Speaker 1: Then I realized what happened, and I panicked and I ran,
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Speaker 1: here's my yacht. I did it, and I don't want
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Speaker 1: to cause the family any more grief. Now that I
19:09
Speaker 1: could have respected well.
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Speaker 9: Could be an easier way to do it too. He
19:13
Speaker 9: had to have known exactly what Rowby was taking. Even
19:16
Speaker 9: if he truly believed he did hit.
19:18
Speaker 10: Her or did nothing, then why wouldn't he call forlornificial
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Speaker 10: wildlife and go, hey, I was in this area, I
19:26
Speaker 10: owned this hype of boat.
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Speaker 9: Would you guys like to come out and look.
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Speaker 10: At That would have been upfront, That would have been honest.
19:33
Speaker 10: That would have put a little more credibility in a story.
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Speaker 10: But when he wasted two days and as you said,
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Speaker 10: it put him out of lot with no internet know anything.
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Speaker 10: That had to be a big story of Florida. It's
19:43
Speaker 10: a story you're in Texas. For him not to put
19:46
Speaker 10: two and two together, I don't want to tell you.
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Speaker 1: You know another thing, Doctor Michelle Dupree, forensic pathologists, medical
19:53
Speaker 1: examiner and author of Homicide Investigation Field Guide. And you
19:59
Speaker 1: have a recent book, what's the name of your knee book,
20:02
Speaker 1: doctor Dupree, about Alex Murdog.
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Speaker 2: It's called Money, Mischief and Murder. The Downfall of the
20:08
Speaker 2: Murdog Dynasty. The rest of the story.
20:10
Speaker 1: I live through the trial. I can't guarantee I'm going
20:13
Speaker 1: to read a book about it. But doctor Dupre, I've
20:16
Speaker 1: certainly poured over your Homicide Investigation Field Guide. Doctor Dupree,
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Speaker 1: You've handled so many boating accident cases and.
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Speaker 2: Car crash cases.
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Speaker 1: Very often people may not hear that they hit someone,
20:32
Speaker 1: but certainly you can feel it.
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Speaker 2: I mean, if you.
20:35
Speaker 1: Ever hit anything with your car, you don't necessarily have
20:38
Speaker 1: to hear it, you can feel it. That's what Graham's
20:41
Speaker 1: was saying earlier.
20:42
Speaker 8: Absolutely, absolutely, there had to be something you know you
20:47
Speaker 8: can tell when you get something absolutely.
20:49
Speaker 1: Even on a boat, Doctor Dupree, You've handled so many
20:52
Speaker 1: water deaths.
20:53
Speaker 2: I want to talk to you about that.
20:55
Speaker 1: In fact, you handled and investigated the death of Malory Beach.
21:04
Speaker 1: You know, outside the investigation, there is something very different,
21:10
Speaker 1: very unique. It's a whole another animal. And I know
21:13
Speaker 1: when I dealt with drowning homicides or water related homicides,
21:19
Speaker 1: gathering the evidence, it's a whole another skill set and prosecuting,
21:27
Speaker 1: investigating any mishap on the water.
21:30
Speaker 2: Explain that. I compare it to the cases you've handled well, Nancy.
21:34
Speaker 8: Of course, with the water, a lot of the forensic
21:36
Speaker 8: evidence is literally washed away. As you know, in any
21:41
Speaker 8: crime like this, the body itself can tell us so
21:44
Speaker 8: many things, but when it's been in the water, when
21:47
Speaker 8: there's been a tragedy like this, so much of that
21:50
Speaker 8: is taken away. And these these are typically significant injuries
21:54
Speaker 8: to the person, and then that water just takes away
21:57
Speaker 8: some of the evidence, the forensic evidence that we my mind,
22:01
Speaker 8: that makes it much more difficult.
22:03
Speaker 1: Another thing I don't understand, and maybe Daniel or Field
22:06
Speaker 1: could jump in and clear this up for me. I
22:08
Speaker 1: thought that boats are like vehicles. For instance, you know,
22:12
Speaker 1: you have to register your vehicle, you have to have
22:16
Speaker 1: insurance on it, and you've got the ven number and
22:18
Speaker 1: everything else on that insurance. Don't boats have to be
22:22
Speaker 1: registered and identified in much the same way to you, Daniel,
22:27
Speaker 1: Isn't that correct?
22:28
Speaker 7: Yes, that's correct. So they do require registration, but you know,
22:34
Speaker 7: as far as whether or not they're going to have
22:36
Speaker 7: the same requirements as a car, they're a little bit different.
22:41
Speaker 7: And how they can register you can do state, federal,
22:44
Speaker 7: or even some vessels they can register them in foreign
22:47
Speaker 7: countries for legal benefits. But you know, they have to
22:51
Speaker 7: properly display what's called in Florida we call FL numbers
22:56
Speaker 7: on the sides of the vessel.
22:57
Speaker 9: And let us document it.
22:59
Speaker 10: If it's that they don't have to display ANFL number
23:02
Speaker 10: or number on the side.
23:04
Speaker 13: The owners of the home where the boat was located
23:07
Speaker 13: have been identified as Carlos Alonso and his wife, Magali Alonso.
23:12
Speaker 13: The Miami Herald reports that a child of the Alonzo's
23:15
Speaker 13: has a boat registered to him. Authorities have said the
23:19
Speaker 13: owners are cooperating with the investigation, but have not identified
23:23
Speaker 13: who the owners are or who was driving at the
23:26
Speaker 13: time of Ella's death.
23:28
Speaker 2: Then, how is that cooperating.
23:30
Speaker 1: If they are cooperating, they would tell us who are
23:32
Speaker 1: the owners and who was driving.
23:35
Speaker 2: So I don't know that taking off at a high.
23:38
Speaker 1: Speed and hiding your boat in an obscure docking position
23:44
Speaker 1: is really cooperating. But that said, joining me, Sidney Simoner,
23:49
Speaker 1: crime online dot Com investigative reporter. Sydney tell me about
23:52
Speaker 1: the search for the boat that has just been spotted
23:55
Speaker 1: and recovered Nancy.
23:56
Speaker 6: FWC Chairman Rodney Barretto has described that search as good
24:01
Speaker 6: old fashioned police work. Once they had a physical description
24:04
Speaker 6: of the boat they were looking for, officers were dispatched
24:08
Speaker 6: to all of the canals from South Miami to Coconut
24:11
Speaker 6: Grove to try and locate this boat.
24:13
Speaker 1: Dispatch who was dispatched, Sydney FWC officers? Okay, dispatch from
24:18
Speaker 1: where to where?
24:19
Speaker 6: South Miami all the way to Coconut Grove.
24:21
Speaker 2: Okay.
24:22
Speaker 1: Daniel Graham's joining US maritime lawyer in this jurisdiction?
24:26
Speaker 2: How big?
24:28
Speaker 1: How large of a swath of water is that? How
24:34
Speaker 1: where were they looking?
24:36
Speaker 7: It's a pretty large area. You know, Miami has a
24:38
Speaker 7: lot of waterfront homes in the area, so at least
24:43
Speaker 7: a day to find the vessel in this area.
24:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, Sydney. How long was the search? Didn't
24:49
Speaker 2: they go for several days? That is correct, Nancy.
24:52
Speaker 12: I believe we learned where the boat was.
24:54
Speaker 6: Located on Tuesday, and this accident was Saturday, so there
24:58
Speaker 6: was definitely a significant amount of times searching for this boat.
25:01
Speaker 1: Guys, we are taking a look at the search for
25:05
Speaker 1: the boat that, according to authorities FWC ran down a
25:10
Speaker 1: teen girl ballerina, a gorgeous little girl. Right now, we're
25:17
Speaker 1: sifting through the intricacies of how the.
25:19
Speaker 2: Boat was the yacht was found. Why is that important?
25:24
Speaker 1: Because if there is a jury trial, or if there
25:27
Speaker 1: is a plea of any sort, the boat driver, the
25:32
Speaker 1: yacht driver is going to fall under suspicion, obviously, And
25:37
Speaker 1: to me, Daniel Grammas, the fact that authorities, the FWC
25:41
Speaker 1: had to search for days to find this guy. They
25:45
Speaker 1: finally find him through water searches and through aerial searches
25:50
Speaker 1: and as they say, good old fashioned police work. If
25:53
Speaker 1: this guy was cooperating, they wouldn't have had to do
25:56
Speaker 1: all that, Daniel.
25:57
Speaker 7: Well, Nancy, in situations like this, we you know, I
26:00
Speaker 7: represent the victims, but you know, anticipating the defenses his
26:04
Speaker 7: defense is going to be that he didn't see Ella,
26:08
Speaker 7: perhaps the vote was on autopilot, and that there was
26:11
Speaker 7: no opportunity to see here because the wakeboarding vote had
26:15
Speaker 7: dropped her right in front of the vessel and he
26:18
Speaker 7: had no opportunity to avoid and didn't notice at the
26:21
Speaker 7: time of navigating the vessel. That's what I would assume
26:24
Speaker 7: his defense is going to be when the time comes.
26:26
Speaker 1: So, Daniel Graham is a maritime lawyer joining us out
26:30
Speaker 1: of the Miami area. Daniel, do you believe that there
26:34
Speaker 1: is any way that's not going to be brought up
26:39
Speaker 1: at a plea or a trial that he basically hid
26:43
Speaker 1: out while the Coast Guard and the FWC are turning
26:48
Speaker 1: the world upside down to find him.
26:50
Speaker 7: No, all these sorts of factors would come into play,
26:53
Speaker 7: especially out of sentencing hearing, regarding how he came forward,
26:57
Speaker 7: what are the circumstances, and what was said to me
27:00
Speaker 7: after the incident. So all of these are going to
27:03
Speaker 7: be factors that if he is convicted and there goes
27:06
Speaker 7: to a sentencing hearing, you know, all the facts that
27:09
Speaker 7: we have are going to be put forth before judge.
27:12
Speaker 1: Well, Daniel Grammas, I don't know that We're going to
27:13
Speaker 1: have to wait for sentencing, because wouldn't you agree that
27:18
Speaker 1: in so many felony cases, evidence of flight is introduced
27:23
Speaker 1: In many jurisdictions. Of course, the prosecutor can't argue that
27:28
Speaker 1: flight equals a dish of guilt. But I mean, you know,
27:33
Speaker 1: when the Florida Highway Patrol comes up behind you, Daniel Grammas,
27:37
Speaker 1: you might tap the brakes a little bit, but you
27:39
Speaker 1: don't take off a ninety mph do you?
27:42
Speaker 2: Because you have no reason to take off. I assume
27:45
Speaker 2: right A hit and.
27:46
Speaker 7: Run is an aggravating circumstance to a crime like this
27:50
Speaker 7: is be one that they would take into consideration and sentencing.
27:53
Speaker 7: Of course, his anticipated defense is going to say, well,
27:55
Speaker 7: I didn't know, I didn't realize what happened, never all
28:00
Speaker 7: what happened, and just kept on going my merry way
28:02
Speaker 7: to my house in Coral Giebles.
28:03
Speaker 1: You know another thing he could argue, and I certainly
28:06
Speaker 1: don't want to give them fuel.
28:07
Speaker 2: For fodder, but.
28:10
Speaker 1: Daniel, he could blame those four outboard motors that phil
28:15
Speaker 1: Odin was just describing, talk about the noise that they created,
28:20
Speaker 1: claim that he was listening to music and because it
28:24
Speaker 1: was outside on the water. He had it cranked up
28:26
Speaker 1: really loudly. Then he would be asked, you didn't feel anything.
28:31
Speaker 1: I find that hard to believe, and he could very
28:34
Speaker 1: easily argue it was choppy. I was feeling all sorts
28:38
Speaker 1: of bumps and ups and downs on the choppy water.
28:41
Speaker 2: I didn't feel anything. Can't you just see that unfolding
28:45
Speaker 2: in court, Daniel.
28:46
Speaker 7: Yeah, I can, and I can see. The opposite argument
28:49
Speaker 7: to that is there's a huge difference between a light
28:51
Speaker 7: chop of water and hitting an object in the water
28:54
Speaker 7: like a person. The displacement of the water when it
28:57
Speaker 7: hits the boat, the v shaped hole is need to
29:00
Speaker 7: disperse that water. When you get an object, the vibrations
29:03
Speaker 7: that that sends to the vessel is far different from
29:06
Speaker 7: when you hit a chop. So you know, that would
29:08
Speaker 7: be the counter argument too. I didn't realize. It just
29:11
Speaker 7: felt like I hit, you know, with some sort of
29:13
Speaker 7: way or light chop.
29:14
Speaker 11: In an incident report, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
29:17
Speaker 11: Commission has identified the boater that hit and killed Ella Adler.
29:21
Speaker 11: Carlos Alonso, the homeowner where the boat was found, admitted
29:24
Speaker 11: he was driving the boat alone Saturday, May eleventh, neighbors
29:28
Speaker 11: describe Alonzo as a family man and experienced voter, adding
29:31
Speaker 11: that he is devastated by what happened. There has been
29:34
Speaker 11: no word if any criminal charges will be filed.
29:37
Speaker 2: Okay, I would like to believe that, I really would.
29:40
Speaker 1: But if you're devastated about what happened, then why are
29:44
Speaker 1: you hiding and not coming forward to ases?
29:47
Speaker 2: Suffering of the parents They just had to bury their.
29:50
Speaker 1: Fifteay year old little girl, just fifteen gorgeous little girl,
29:57
Speaker 1: the product of so much love, gone, gone forever. Joining
30:04
Speaker 1: me is an all star panel, But I want to
30:07
Speaker 1: go to boating accident reconstructionist owner H two zero investigations
30:11
Speaker 1: phil odem.
30:12
Speaker 2: Phiel what evidence?
30:15
Speaker 1: We all can relate to evidence on a car because
30:19
Speaker 1: we hear about it all the time. You've got a
30:21
Speaker 1: broken front light, you have possibly blood on the car,
30:27
Speaker 1: you have a.
30:28
Speaker 2: Dent in the car.
30:30
Speaker 1: We know what we're looking at for a car, a
30:33
Speaker 1: vehicular homicide hitting run.
30:35
Speaker 2: But on a boat, you're out.
30:36
Speaker 1: In the water, which makes this type of investigation so
30:40
Speaker 1: much more difficult because the evidence is lost.
30:45
Speaker 9: It's going to be on the underside of or boat.
30:48
Speaker 10: The evidence is going to be strations or transfers on
30:51
Speaker 10: the whole boat.
30:54
Speaker 9: The color of the weightboard will play a big part
30:57
Speaker 9: of it, what color personal.
31:00
Speaker 10: Flotation device was, and any anything else of color. Also,
31:07
Speaker 10: we're unsure that this particular point in time, but it
31:10
Speaker 10: sounds like there's probably a pops right, so she or
31:15
Speaker 10: her wayboard went into a prop here. Other biological evidence
31:21
Speaker 10: could be there. You're going to want to get that
31:23
Speaker 10: boat out of water as soon as you can in
31:26
Speaker 10: order to start analyzing that and get your forensics people
31:30
Speaker 10: out there, along with her clothing that she was worn
31:33
Speaker 10: that will.
31:33
Speaker 2: Be gotten it autop So the clothing is important.
31:36
Speaker 10: Why Phil, Because you'll be able to match the striations
31:41
Speaker 10: or what actually caused it. I actually had a case
31:44
Speaker 10: where I had a person could ran over by a
31:46
Speaker 10: boat and the buckle, which was made of black plastic.
31:51
Speaker 10: The personal flotation device wants to push you up above
31:54
Speaker 10: the water, and the boat's actually holding you below the water, so.
31:58
Speaker 9: That creates a certain a force on the.
32:01
Speaker 10: Whole of the boat, and that buckle actually melted and
32:04
Speaker 10: you could follow the path of the person that got
32:07
Speaker 10: hit all the way underneath the hole to.
32:09
Speaker 9: The back of the boat.
32:10
Speaker 1: Daniel Grammis, maritime lawyer, are you familiar with what Phil
32:15
Speaker 1: is saying? How could her swimsuit be a value in
32:21
Speaker 1: gathering evidence? And what can you tell us about striations
32:25
Speaker 1: and marks on the underside of the boat that the
32:28
Speaker 1: FWC and authorities will be looking for.
32:31
Speaker 7: Sure, you're going to look forward any of the clothing
32:34
Speaker 7: or any of the wakeboard, any markings on the vessel
32:37
Speaker 7: itself into the props on the skegs of the outboard engines.
32:42
Speaker 7: But also I think it's important to get the electronical
32:44
Speaker 7: data from the vessel, including the GPS navigational chart plotter data.
32:50
Speaker 7: It's going to show the route that matches up with
32:53
Speaker 7: where Ella was wayboarding in the area where she was found,
32:57
Speaker 7: and then also the outboard engine data, because if Ella
33:00
Speaker 7: was hit by the prop or her way forward winning
33:03
Speaker 7: the prop, we're going to see some sort of disturbance
33:06
Speaker 7: in the RPMs and the performance of the motors, and
33:09
Speaker 7: if it matches up with what we see in the
33:12
Speaker 7: GPS data, and they're going to be able to use
33:14
Speaker 7: that as circumstantial evidence.
33:23
Speaker 2: Crime stories.
33:24
Speaker 1: With Nancy Gray, Daniel Grammas, and Phil odom and now
33:31
Speaker 1: joining us, noown medical examiner, doctor Kendall Crowns joining us
33:37
Speaker 1: out of Terrance County. That's fort Worth who is a
33:41
Speaker 1: lecturer at the medical School at TCU, Doctor Kendall Crowns,
33:45
Speaker 1: thanks for joining. You know, I just was thinking, Daniel,
33:49
Speaker 1: about a recent case that all of us on the
33:52
Speaker 1: panel to day worked, and that was the Alex and
33:56
Speaker 1: Murdoch double murder of his wife Maggie and son Paul.
34:00
Speaker 1: In that case, it was amazing, Daniel, the level of
34:05
Speaker 1: sophisticated data that was taken from his vehicle.
34:10
Speaker 2: I believe it was a suburban vehicle.
34:12
Speaker 1: The nav system showed us every time the window was
34:15
Speaker 1: rolled up or down to throw out his wife's cell
34:18
Speaker 1: phone along the side of the street, when he sped up,
34:21
Speaker 1: when he slowed down, when he opened a door, when
34:23
Speaker 1: he put it in part or drive. I'm thinking about
34:26
Speaker 1: what must be a very sophisticated electronic system and data
34:31
Speaker 1: system on.
34:32
Speaker 2: A yacht that costs as much money.
34:34
Speaker 1: And I'm wondering about the jump in the RPMs also,
34:40
Speaker 1: so what could be obtained specifically from the black box,
34:46
Speaker 1: so to speak, from this yacht. What can I learn
34:50
Speaker 1: about the precise moment that Ella was struck.
34:54
Speaker 7: Yeah, like you said, the jump in the RPM, You're
34:56
Speaker 7: going to see some sort of issue there if there
34:58
Speaker 7: was a problem skeg engine encounter with Ella. Also, what's
35:04
Speaker 7: going to be interesting is whether or not there was
35:06
Speaker 7: any sort of increase in speed, because we have this
35:11
Speaker 7: theory that we were concerned about whether or not it's
35:14
Speaker 7: a hit and run, and if you increase speed after
35:17
Speaker 7: this incident, that's going to be a likely circumstantial factor.
35:20
Speaker 7: That's going to say, why did you increase your speed
35:23
Speaker 7: right after this incident? You know, what's your answer to that?
35:27
Speaker 7: And that's going to be a very important answer to
35:29
Speaker 7: that question.
35:30
Speaker 1: Now I see, Daniel, why you win so many cases?
35:36
Speaker 2: Another thing I heard which is food for thought.
35:39
Speaker 1: No word on charges and joining me now are now
35:44
Speaker 1: medical examiner who has handled countless water desk including water homicide.
35:50
Speaker 1: Doctor Kendall Crowns joining us out of Terran County. Doctor
35:55
Speaker 1: Kendall Crowns, thank you so much for being with us.
35:58
Speaker 1: Tell me about what you have gleaned regarding this case
36:01
Speaker 1: and other cases similar to it that you have performed
36:05
Speaker 1: the autopsies.
36:07
Speaker 4: So anytime you have an individual struck by a boat,
36:09
Speaker 4: you get the standard blunt force injuries, fractures of the skull,
36:13
Speaker 4: fractures of the ribs, things of that nature. But then
36:16
Speaker 4: also you have the additional effect of the propeller from
36:21
Speaker 4: the motor boat. But this is a propeller from a
36:24
Speaker 4: motor boat that I had case from a few years ago.
36:27
Speaker 4: But what happens is the propellers spinning through the water,
36:31
Speaker 4: it'll come into contact with the body and the prop
36:34
Speaker 4: blades will actually cut into the body hatchets, if you will,
36:39
Speaker 4: and leave these gigantic lines on the face and on
36:43
Speaker 4: the body, and then can even make a large enough
36:48
Speaker 4: cut into the body where it will eviscerate out the organs.
36:51
Speaker 4: So you have that blunt force injury component from the
36:54
Speaker 4: boat striking the individual, and then you have the kind
36:57
Speaker 4: of chop wound effect from the propeller braides as it
37:01
Speaker 4: crosses over the body.
37:02
Speaker 1: Doctor Crowns, I know that you have performed around ten
37:07
Speaker 1: thousand autopsies, actually more. But when a death occurs in
37:14
Speaker 1: the water, is it more difficult to get evidence from
37:18
Speaker 1: the victim's body.
37:19
Speaker 4: It can be because you have the effect of them
37:22
Speaker 4: being in the water, which can wash away evidence. And
37:24
Speaker 4: then if recovery takes a while, you have the loss
37:28
Speaker 4: of blood seeping out of the body, and it will
37:31
Speaker 4: change the look of the wounds, so you're unsure if
37:34
Speaker 4: they happened at the time of death or if it's
37:36
Speaker 4: something that happened later. And then you get the added
37:39
Speaker 4: effect of the local fish and turtles all beginning to
37:44
Speaker 4: bite or chew at the body. So if recovery takes
37:47
Speaker 4: a while, the more evidence is lost, the longer the
37:50
Speaker 4: body sits in that water.
37:51
Speaker 1: Luckily, in this case, doctor crowns Ella was taken out
37:56
Speaker 1: of the water almost immediately, but there was blood in
38:01
Speaker 1: the water, so this was not, for instance, a closed
38:05
Speaker 1: head injury where someone is hit by the boat and
38:10
Speaker 1: they suffer a brain a blow to the head causing
38:15
Speaker 1: in closed head injury. So explain to me what you
38:20
Speaker 1: believe was the cause of the blood in the water.
38:23
Speaker 2: It had to be from a propeller, do you agree, yes, she.
38:26
Speaker 7: Would have been exposed to the propeller blades if she
38:29
Speaker 7: went under the vessel, which is likely. The propellers create
38:33
Speaker 7: some sort of suctions and the body would have likely
38:35
Speaker 7: have been sucked into those propellers. Those bleeds hit also
38:39
Speaker 7: the skeg which is right behind the propeller, and cause
38:42
Speaker 7: some serious damage.
38:43
Speaker 9: To the body.
38:44
Speaker 1: As you all know a jury or judge can consider
38:50
Speaker 1: behavior before, during, and after an incident. If you know
38:57
Speaker 1: or think you know anything to help Elli's family in
39:02
Speaker 1: this case, or to help the FWC as they build
39:06
Speaker 1: their case, please dial eight eight eight for zero four
39:12
Speaker 1: three nine two two repeat eight eight eight four zero
39:17
Speaker 1: four three nine two two. We stop and remember American
39:24
Speaker 1: hero Sergeant Philip Dale Nicks Colfax, North Carolina. Sergeant Nicks
39:30
Speaker 1: shot and killed attempting to intervene in a crime at
39:35
Speaker 1: a gas station. He survived by his grieving wife Kelly,
39:41
Speaker 1: and beloved son Will American hero Sergeant Philip Dale Nicks.
39:50
Speaker 1: I want to thank our guests today, maritime lawyer Daniel Grammis,
39:56
Speaker 1: voting reconstructionist H two O Investigations, feel odem doctor Michelle Dupre,
40:03
Speaker 1: Sidney Sumner, and a renowned medical examiner, doctor Kendall Crowns.
40:10
Speaker 1: Thank you to them, but especially to you for being
40:14
Speaker 1: with us tonight and everyone joining us seeking justice.
40:20
Speaker 2: Nancy Gray signing off, good night,