A woman died Tuesday morning while scuba diving with a commercial scuba vessel in the Florida Keys, according to reporting from the Miami Herald.
The 56-year-old woman, identified at Andreas Shultz of Tallahassee, was diving at Molasses Reef off Key Lago. Just before 10 a.m., she was found unconscious in the water and was rushed to shore.
Shultz died enroute to shore while others on the boat performed CPR, according to local reporting.
Leesfield & Partners Pledges Support to Key West Athletic Programs, food banks and more this holiday season. What to Know.
Leesfield & Partners is one of the leading personal injury law firms in the Florida Keys with an office on historic Whitehead Street since the 1980s where it has served clients in landmark cases. Founded and managed by Ira Leesfield, who tried his first case in Monroe County in 1973, the firm has built a legacy rooted in strong community ties and a rich history. Over the years, Mr. Leesfield has forged deep connections in the area – serving clients such as Jimmy Buffet and the late, former NFL player Christopher Dyko – making the firm a trusted name in personal injury litigation. The firm’s Key West office was honored by the Florida Bar Association with its “Historic Building Renovation” award.
In addition to historic and record settlements and verdicts achieved on behalf of injured clients and their families, Leesfield & Partners has also had a positive impact on the community, regularly contributing to charities working to foster change in areas where it is most needed within the county.
A tractor-trailer driver who faces felony charges in the August 2023 crash in Nebraska that killed a woman and her young son, 8, is now being accused of using Snapchat as he crashed, according to reporting from the Miami Herald.
Justin Zoerb, 22, was charged with two counts of motor vehicle homicide and one count of reckless driving following the Clay County, Nebraska, crash on Aug. 9, 2023.
The crash happened around 4 p.m., killing 8-year-old Ryker Schlichtman and Nicole Pavelka, 30. Three other children in the family were hospitalized for their injuries but lived.
At least 16 people were taken to the hospital after two airboats in the Everglades carrying more than 30 people crashed Friday afternoon.
The crash happened around 3:15 p.m. near Ochopee in Collier County, according to reporting from the Miami Herald. One airboat had 20 people on board while the other carried 13 people.
Additional information, including what caused the boats to crash, was not readily available on Monday.
Following a $35 million renovation, La Concha in Key West has recently joined Marriott’s “Autograph Collection,” a signifier of upscale properties within the Marriot International portfolio.
The 160-room hotel, formerly known as Crowne Plaza La Concha, was under construction since at least October of last year and now features a refurbished bar, hotel lobby and restaurant. Included in the renovation were upgrades to the outside of the hotel, rooms, the pool area and meeting spaces.
While the addition of an upscale lodging property is a positive development for Key West’s thriving tourist economy, which welcomes millions of visitors annually, guests should remain cautious.
The Federal Aviation Administration Recently announced updated arrival and departure procedures at Florida airports named after Jimmy Buffet, a famed singer-songwriter and previous Leesfield & Partners client who passed away in 2023 at 76.
Pilots arriving at Palm beach International Airport will perform JESTR ONE, the arrival procedure named for Buffet who often compared his work to that of a court jester.
In Key West, where Leesfield & Partners has an office on historic Whitehead Street, pilots leaving from Key West International Airport will go through BUFIT ONE.
Authorities with the Walton County Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday that they found the body of a missing boater after a two-day-long search.
The man, Benjamin Goodman, 35, launched a boat onto the Choctawhatchee Bay in the Florida Panhandle near Destin Tuesday. After his boat began taking on water, submerging the stern, he called his wife for help. During the call, the police say Goodman told his wife he planned to use a bucket to manually bail water from the vessel and stay afloat. She called the authorities who began searching for him and found the boat Tuesday evening, its bow peeking above the water.
“His brother and other family members have spent every moment possible since Tuesday night trying to locate Ben who, they say, grew up on the bay and loved being on the water,” The Walton County Sheriff’s Office said in an announcement via X Thursday afternoon.
Authorities confirmed over the weekend that the human head that washed ashore on Key Biscayne belonged to a teen who went missing off Miami Beach a week before after being caught in a rip current.
Victor Enrique Castaneda Jr., 19, was swimming with his sister off South Pointe Beach on Nov. 9 around 6 p.m. when the two were caught up in a rip current. They yelled for help and passersby were able to rescue Castaneda’s sister, but he seemed to vanish in the water, according to reporting from The Miami Herald. His older sister, Jessica Castaneda, told reporters that her brother pushed their younger sister toward shore in an effort to save her as the pair struggled against the currents.
On Nov. 12, a human head washed up on the beach in front of Oceansound Key Colony II condominium at 251 Crandon Blvd on Key Biscayne. The remains were found by a beach maintenance worker before 8:40 a.m.
A woman killed as the result of a tragic Nov. 7 boat crash in Key West has been identified by authorities as a 28-year-old Hialeah woman.
Stephanie Rodriguez, the woman killed in the incident, was among several people who were ejected into the water after the driver of a 39-foot Deep Impact, four-engine vessel made a sharp right turn as it traveled through the Calda Channel north of Key West. The passengers were rushed to the hospital for treatment and Rodriguez died from her injuries.
That day, over 100 boats were in the area participating in the Key West Poker Run, a 32-year tradition of racing on the water put on by the Florida Powerboat Club. The operator of the vessel involved in the crash is a member of the Florida Powerboat Club and was participating in the annual run from Miami to Key West this week to celebrate the Race World Offshore World Championship speedboat races, according to reporting from The Miami Herald.
A person has died and two others remain hospitalized after a boat overturned in Key Largo Saturday, marking at least the second boat crash in the Florida Keys in just over a week, officials say.
Saturday’s crash happened before 10:30 a.m. when a 34-foot Nor-Tech carrying three people turned sharply, ejecting all three passengers into the water.
The three were rescued from the water by passersby and were later airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center.
