Search For Missing Woman Off Coral Gables Called Off

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The search for a woman who disappeared off Coral Gables has been called off for the remainder of the day.

According to Miami-Dade Police, Lauren Jenee Lamar was with two other people on a 30-foot go fast boat late Sunday. They were partying near Stiltsville when they decided to head back around 10 p.m.

When they arrived at Matheson Hammock Park they realized that Lamar, 26, was missing. The driver of the boat, 45-year old Russell Bruce, said he thought she was asleep inside the cabin as they made their way back. When they docked at the park he realized she wasn't on board. He said the conditions were windy and the water was a little rough, so Lamar may have fallen overboard.

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No one on board the boat was wearing a life vest.

The Coast Guard and Miami Fire Rescue immediately launched boats and helicopters to search Biscayne Bay. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) also launched their boats to assist in the search covered a large area.

"It's going to be several miles. The reason why is because the wind is very active and the search conditions are not ideal, so we have to expand the search a little bit because of the water conditions," said Jorge Pino with the FWC.

Other boaters in the area also noted the rough water.

Scott Snay is a boat captain who also docks at Matheson Hammock.

"The bay's very choppy. There's just not a lot of visibility in the water right now. Once it settles down it would be fairly easy to see but even when you have clear waters, it's a needle in a haystack and it's a big haystack and you have boats zipping around," he said.

Snay said he's baffled by the situation.

"How do you not accommodate for all your people?" he wondered. "If somebody's going to move around.. If someone doesn't pop back in a few minutes, you might want to turn around and look."

Pino said the couple who were on the boat are being questioned.

"We don't know why this happened. It's very unusual circumstances that we are working under. I don't know that I've ever heard of somebody falling off a boat, especially when there were only three people on board, and the two people who were left on board not realize that it had happened," said Pino.