A nervous Decatur mother awaits word on her 26-year-old daughter who went missing on a boat in Miami late Sunday.
Rebecca Lamar was filled with anxious questions Monday afternoon. She heard the news from the young woman’s father alerting her of the situation.
“It’s not making any sense,” she said.
Her daughter, Lauren Jenee Lamar, who grew up in metro Atlanta, was the subject a multi-agency search in the waters off Miami. About a dozen boats and a helicopter had been looking for her for about 13 hours, authorities said.
Authorities have yet to determine the circumstances surrounding her disappearance.
Lauren Lamar had been out on a 30-foot boat with two other people. When the boat returned to shore and docked at Matheson Hammocks Marina at about 11 p.m. Sunday, the other passengers realized she was missing, said Miami-Dade Det. Alvaro Zabeleta.
The driver of the Concept vessel, Russell Bruce, 45, of Miami, contacted security personnel who then called the police. Search and rescue teams from Miami-Dade, Coral Gables, Key Biscayne, Coast Guard and Florida Wildlife Commission are searching a 3-mile radius around the dock.
Police are still calling this a “search and rescue” operation, as opposed to a “search and recovery” mission in which they simply try to find a body. They have also distributed a photo of Lamar on the Internet in hopes that one of the hundreds of boaters out during the busy Memorial Day weekend sees it and can help.
“We’re trying to cross our fingers. Perhaps she somehow got out of the water,” Zabeleta said. Still, he added, “She’s still nowhere to be found.”
Lauren Lamar grew up in the Atlanta area, and moved to Miami only a few years ago.
The two other passengers - Bruce and Alicia Nicole Bartolota, 28, of Winter Gardens, Fla. - are speaking with investigators. But few other details of the trip have emerged.
“We’re still trying to figure out what happened,” Zabeleta said.
Zabeleta hoped she had a chance of being spotted with so many boats out for the holiday weekend. But he acknowledged that anxiety is building.
“The longer the hours extend, the more your hopes continue to diminish,” he said.
For Rebecca Lamar, the hours pass like torture. And the questions keep coming.
“It’s not that big of a boat. How did they not know she was missing until they came in?” she said. “Maybe she was on another boat?”
Rebecca Lamar said the names of the other passengers were not familiar to her.
A reporter passed on to her the press release from the Miami-Dade police, which contained the phone number of the Det. Zabeleta.
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