Woman presumed dead in boat fire identified

Woman presumed dead in boat fire identified

The woman missing in the early Wednesday morning boat fire on Stock Island has been identified as 51-year-old Linda Vella of St. Petersburg, Florida.

The cause of the 12:10 a.m. blaze at a 7101 Shrimp Road marina that destroyed an approximately 70-foot Viking yacht remains under investigation by the state Fire Marshal’s Office and Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Detectives.

They — as well as the Sheriff’s Office Dive Team and TowBoat U.S. crews — are still working on locating Vella.  

Vella’s husband and son — Michael Kenneth Robson, 58, and Anthony Joseph Vella, 21, both of St. Petersburg, Florida — were airlifted to a hospital in Miami. Another family of four was also on the vessel but escaped uninjured.

The boat was fully engulfed when Monroe County Fire Rescue crews arrived. They battled the blaze for approximately three hours.

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