Arrests Made In Missing Boater's Death
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Two people, who were on a boat when a passenger fell over and was later found dead, have been charged with manslaughter.
Russell Bruce, a Miami nightclub owner, surrendered to Miami-Dade police on Friday morning, according to CBS4 News partner the Miami Herald. Alicia Nicole Bartolotta, who was also on the boat, was arrested late Thursday, left jail after posting a $100,000 bond, the paper reports.
On May 24, Bruce, Bartolotta, and Lauren Jenee Lamar, in town from Jacksonville for Memorial Weekend, were on a 30-foot go fast boat. Sources told CBS4 News the group had been drinking at the Hard Rock Café in Bayside before they got on the boat and headed for Stiltsville. Investigators said the group was partying near Stiltsville when they decided to head back around 10 PM.
When the group arrived at Matheson Hammock Park, they realized that 26-year-old Lamar was missing. Bruce said she thought she was asleep inside the cabin while they were on their way back. When they docked at the park, he realized she wasn't on board. Bruce had said the conditions were windy and the water was a little rough—so Lamar may have fallen overboard.
Several agencies participated in over-a-day's search for Lamar—who was found floating near the marina.
The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office ruled Lamar's death "undetermined," not a drowning, the paper reports. Prosecutors believe Bruce and Bartolotta left Lamar in the water to die without rendering aid.
According to the paper, the cabin was in the front of the boat and easily in the sight of Bruce, the driver.
The duo arrest, according to the paper, comes days after federal authorities unsealed a manslaughter indictment against two ex-dive-boat operators for the death of a tourist who drowned when their vessel capsized off Key Largo in December of 2011.
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