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Authorities Identify Boaters Killed, Injured in Crash

 Mike Lyons  Gary Detman  Jessica Clark     Created: 4/12/2009 8:21:17 PM    Updated: 4/14/2009 12:08:54 AM
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PALM VALLEY, FL -- Florida Fish and Wildlife has released the names of the those killed and injured in Sunday night's boat crash along the Intracoastal Waterway.

The crash killed:

Jacqueline R. Allen, 34, of Jacksonville

Olivia Rose Carretero, 23, of South Lake Tahoe

Robert Craig, 23, of Jacksonville Beach

Elisabeth Rosenfeld, 20, of Ponte Vedra Beach

Inmaculada Pierce, 42, of Orange Park.

The nine people at Shands Jacksonville and Mayo Clinic are:

Justin Thomas Moore, 23, of Ponte Vedra Beach

Karey Rae Cavicchioli, 19, of Jacksonville Beach

Brittney Nicole Joyce, 19, of Jacksonville Beach

Jacqueline M. Collins, 23, of Ponte Vedra Beach

Jamie A. Hole, 22, of Santa Rosa, CA

Josh Moore, 18, of California

Melvin D. Bethel, 37, of Ponte Vedra Beach

Authorities identified Bethel as the owner of the boat. Investigators are trying to talk to him to get more information about what happened.

The crash happened around 7:15 Sunday night about a mile north of the Palm Valley bridge in St. Johns County, which is about twenty miles north of St. Augustine.

According to the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, the boat was a 22-foot 2000 Crownline.

Investigators say for some reason the boat rammed into the back of a 25-foot tug boat, registered to F&A Enterprises. The tug boat was tied to a dock under construction. There was also a barge nearby and a crane.

MORE: NEIGHBORS SAYS CRASH SOUNDED LIKE A "SHOTGUN."

Investigators are trying to determine whether alcohol played a part in the crash and if speed was a factor.

The National Transportation Safety Board is taking over the investigation. NTSB investigators say there is no time limit to the investigation. They expect to be here for about a week, talking to witnesses, the survivors and authorities to build a timeline of what happened.

Susan Taylor lives several houses south of the crash scene on the Intracoastal.

She told First Coast News Monday she believes he and her family saw the boat pass by her dock moments before it crashed.

Taylor said the boat was going fast and came very close to her dock on the Intracoastal.

Taylor said her husband made the statement, "That boat is going to hit our dock!"

Minutes later, the Taylor family heard sirens, emergency personnel crowded the street, and then heard helicopters in the air.

Carl Shank is the Operations Chief with St. Johns County Fire/Rescue. He was on scene shortly after the crash.

He said the first call came in as two patients in a boating crash. However, when first responders arrived, they found there were many more people hurt and even dead on the scene.

Getting to the patients was challenging because the boat had slammed against a tugboat which was next to a barge. All of that was up against an unfinished dock that was only posts and beams.

Shank said,"The initial crews had to straddle the beams to make it out onto the barge whereby they had to get on the barge to make it to the tugboat and then onto the actual boat."

Shank said neighbors and other emergency personnel pitched in, grabbing 15-20 sheets of plywood from a near-by construction site to create a makeshift dock for rescue workers.

One man living a few houses away from the crash scene told First Coast News that the crash sounded "like a shotgun."

He describes hearing screams and yelling after the crash.

The waterway where the crash happened has no posted speed limit and is about 120 yards wide.

For more information on this story click here. Search for Boat Crash

If you witnessed the crash or know any of the people on board, click here to send us an email or contact our newsroom at (904) 633-8808.

©2010 First Coast News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten, or redistributed.



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