Law enforcement officials in Florida claim that a series of errors led to the abandonment of two young girls on a boat drifting on a Florida lake, where two men were later found drowned.
According to a statement from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the bodies of Orlando Ortiz, 30, of Winter Haven, and Jeffrey Marrero, 34, of Auburndale were found in Lake Eloise.
On March 18, police say the men, while enjoying a private boat outing with Ortiz’s girlfriend and Marrero’s two daughters, attempted to rescue the girlfriend, Velcky Velasquez, 38, of Winter Haven, who had jumped into the lake.
Velasquez survived by floating on her back as the boat drifted away from them.
According to the Sheriff’s office, the 10-year-old daughter of Jeffrey Marrero called 911 on Saturday at 4:12 p.m. to report that she and her sister, 8, were by themselves on a boat in the middle of the lake.
Searches for the terrified girls were conducted by responding deputies and bystanders. The boat was discovered, and the girls were both safe and unharmed. After rescuing them, deputies searched for the adults.
Close to where they found the girls and the boat, they found Velasquez treading water.
The bodies of the two missing men were discovered on Monday, March 20, by a search and recovery team using sonar. They were found 350 yards offshore and 16 feet below the surface.
Velasquez told the police that she and Ortiz had rented the boat with Ortiz’s friend Marrero and Marrero’s two daughters to commemorate their first anniversary as a couple. Both the men and the adults lacked any prior boating or swimming expertise.
When Velasquez jumped into the lake to anchor the boat, the horrible sequence of events began. The two men dove into the water to help her and the boat was blown away by strong winds.
The three adults struggled to get back to the drifting boat, and only the woman made it out alive.
The girls were found in the 16-foot boat that had become tangled in a swamp’s vegetation.
