Enzo Avelino and Samuel Londono spent their spring break doing yard work at a waterfront home on Biscayne Bay in Miami Beach. The 16-year-old sophomores at Miami Beach Senior High School had arrived around 8 a.m. and were preparing to leave shortly after 8 p.m. when they heard shouting coming from the water.
“At first, we couldn’t see anyone,” Avelino said, adding that the yelling quickly turned into a child’s cries for “Help.”
A father and his young son had been ejected into the water after their small dinghy collided with a boat, which then took off.
View from the Cleveland Road Bridge on Biscayne Point Circle, where a fatal hit-and-run boat crash killed a father who was on a dinghy with his son on Wednesday, March 25, 2026 Milena Malaver
The teens immediately took action and called 911. They said the first call was placed at 8:11 p.m., and first responders arrived within minutes.
What followed was a rapid, coordinated response involving Miami Beach Fire Rescue, police, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, all working to pull the two people from the water.
Authorities later said Davide Veglia, 55, of North Miami died after the collision Wednesday night in Biscayne Bay, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
FWC officers say the pair were aboard a seven-foot- inflatable dinghy in the Meloy Channel, near Indian Creek and Biscayne Pointe when they were struck by a vessel described as a “dark blue boat with black bottom paint, 20 – 30’ in length, with two outboard motors.”
Two Miami Beach High School students called 911 after a boating hit-and-run in Biscayne Bay. A father died and son injured in crash. FWC
The boat was last seen between 7:45 p.m. and 8: 15 p.m. going north in the Meloy Channel.
The father and son were pulled from the water and brought to the dock of the Biscayne Point Circle home where Avelino and Londono were working. The teens said they watched as both were placed on stretchers and carried through the yard to waiting ambulances. Video shared with the Miami Herald of the rescue shows the backyard swarmed with first responders.
The boy, who the FWC said was 14, was awake and alert, the teens said.
“You could tell by his face he was traumatized,” Avelino said, adding that the child held his wrist as if it were injured.
The pair were taken to a hospital by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, where Veglia died.
View from the Cleveland Road Bridge on Biscayne Point Circle, where a fatal hit-and-run boat crash killed a father who was on a dinghy with his son on Wednesday, March 25, 2026 Milena Malaver
The boat that struck the dinghy didn’t stop and continued north from the Meloy Channel in Biscayne Bay.
FWC is asking for the public’s assistance in identifying the boat and its driver. The agency is requesting anyone who witnessed the accident or anyone who may have video footage or information to call the Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922).
“The FWC extends its deepest sympathies to the loved ones of the victims during this difficult time,” the agency said in a statement.
Miami Herald staff writer Devoun Cetoute contributed to this report.
This story was originally published March 26, 2026 at 7:43 AM.
Miami Herald
Milena Malaver covers crime and breaking news for the Miami Herald. She was born and raised in Miami-Dade and is a graduate of Florida International University. She joined the Herald shortly after graduating.