Lake Eloise, FL– The Polk County Sheriff’s Office is reporting that two children were found drifting alone on a lake after a boating mishap that landed all of the adults in the water.
The incident occurred on March 18, on Lake Eloise.
Authorities say they received a phone call from one of the children stating that she and her sister were alone on the boat with no adults in sight:
“At 4:12 p.m. … the 10-year-old daughter of Jeffrey Marrero from Auburndale called 911 to report that she and her 8-year-old sister were alone on a boat on Lake Eloise,” the sheriff’s office reported.
With the help of a good Samaritan, deputies located the boat and drove it to a nearby dock:
“Deputies Glenda Eichholtz and Jonathan Munoz … and (a) Good Samaritan found the boat with the two little girls in it. Deputy Munoz got onto that boat and drove them to the nearby Legoland dock. The deputies then found Ms. Velasquez treading water a distance away from the boat.”
Velcky Velasquez told authorities that she and her boyfriend Orlando Ortiz rented a boat for their anniversary and invited Jeffrey Marrero and his children to come along.
The group drove the boat out to the middle of the lake where Velasquez decided says she “jumped into the water with the anchor” while trying to secure the boat.
Weather conditions caused the boat to quickly drift away from Velasquez and left her struggling in the water.
Despite not being strong swimmers, the men both jumped into the water to save Velasquez but ended up struggling themselves:
“Apparently, Ms. Velasquez is a better swimmer. And at some point in time when they can’t catch the boat, Ms. Velasquez says she sees them struggling to stay above the water. She starts to float. The boat is now moving farther away.”
The boat continued to float away until it drifted into a swamp and got stuck on some weeds.
Authorities continued to search for the missing men, however, it is believed that they may have drowned.
Lake Eloise is closed to boaters as authorities continue to search for the men.
Officials are using side scan sonar and an underwater drone in their search.