It’s Friday, September 23rd - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - A Florida Keys boat captain is facing a manslaughter charge in connection with a May parasailing incident that left a woman dead.
Daniel Gavin Couch, 49, was booked into jail Thursday, Monroe County Sheriff's Office officials said. The victim, 33-year-old Alaparthi, was parasailing with her 10-year-old son and 9-year-old nephew back on May 30 when the winds picked up and slammed them into the old Seven Mile Bridge west of Marathon, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials said. With the parasail pegged, the captain cut the line tethered to the three victims, an FWC report said. They were dropped from an unknown height and were dragged through the surface of the water until the parasail collided with the bridge. An arrest warrant released Thursday said Couch and a crew member had tried to bring Alaparthi and the two kids down with the winch but couldn't due to the strong winds.
No. 2 - The FBI is investigating after two children and their caretaker were possibly abducted Thursday in southwest Miami-Dade.
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Miami-Dade Police responded after 2:30 p.m. to a home near Southwest 87th Avenue and Bird Road. Hours later, a 3-year-old girl, a 5-year-old girl, and a woman in her 40s were found safe just two miles away, authorities said. The FBI later took over the investigation but did not give any further information "as this matter is still an active investigation," the agency said in a statement. The neighborhood was blocked off for hours for the investigation.
No. 3 - Gov. Ron DeSantis used a contractor to help identify a group of Venezuelan migrants who were flown from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard.
The revelation comes days after a lawsuit was filed against the governor claiming the migrants were lured with incentives like McDonald's gift certificates and free hotel stays, and were promised jobs, housing and educational opportunities if they boarded planes, which they were told were going to Boston or Washington, D.C. DeSantis said all migrants went voluntarily and were provided with information on assistance they could receive in the area, which he called "the most posh sanctuary jurisdiction maybe in the world." Meantime, the chorus is growing louder among local Democrats, calling out the governor for moving people into unfamiliar territory during one of the most vulnerable times of their lives.
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No. 4 - While Hurricane Fiona and Tropical Storm Gaston continue to drift away from the United States, the next possible named system has South Florida and the Gulf region on guard.
The area, which became Tropical Depression Nine on Friday morning, has winds of 35 miles per hour and sits over 1100 miles east-southeast of Havana, Cuba. If it becomes a named system, it would be called Hermine. National Hurricane Center forecasters said it will move west northwestward across the southern Windward Islands. Models are very consistent over the next five days, taking this developing storm across the Caribbean toward the southwestern coast of Cuba. After that, models are not in good agreement currently as they are showing a range of options from a storm heading toward Texas to a storm very close to Key West.
No. 5 - A Miami landlord was caught on camera yelling racist slurs at a business employee in Wynwood and now that employee said he's ready to take legal action.
The incident happened back in March at Infinity Sports Institute on Northeast 24th Street. Employee Jadon Gayle, a former college football star, was in charge of the facility the day the video was recorded. Gayle said he was trying to resolve an issue with the landlords regarding a mold test. Hector Maradiaga, the CEO of Infinity Sports, said they've had ongoing issues with the people they rent the space from. When they stepped outside, the situation escalated and that's when Gayle and Maradiaga said one of the building landlords started yelling racial slurs. Video captured the incident and showed one of the property owners apparently trying to stop the other from making the racial slurs. Gayle said now he doesn't even feel comfortable walking to and from his car before and after work.
No. 6 - There's a historic landmark in Homestead that remains a mystery as visitors attempt to figure out how one man carved over 1,100 tons of coral rock into a castle that still stands today.
Nestled between the Florida Keys and Miami is the astounding Coral Castle, a monument that is referred by some as America’s Stonehenge. "There are some people who have no idea about it," Coral Castle Tour Guide Andrea Llano said. "I mean they live across the street and they say: what is that thing over there?" The Coral Castle has baffled scientists, engineers, and scholars since its opening in 1923. How was one man — who was only 5 feet tall and weighed only 100 pounds — able to sculpt coral walls weighing 125 pounds per cubic foot? Click here for more in a report from NBC6.com’s Alex Ciccarone.
