Florida boat crashed into tug, relatives of a Sunday school teacher arrested

Five people were killed and seven seriously injured when a 22-foot pleasure boat crashed into the rear of a docked tug boat near St. Augustine Sunday evening, authorities said.

Three of the injured were airlifted from the crash site and all seven were taken to area hospitals, said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman Joy Hill.

Hill was not sure whether those on the Crownline boat were tossed into the water during the crash. She said it doesn't appear anyone was aboard the 25-foot tug boat, which is registered to F&A Enterprises in St. Augustine.

The crash happened at 7 p.m. on the Intracoastal Waterway in St. Johns County near the Palm Valley Bridge, about 20 miles northwest of St. Augustine. The boat was carrying 12 people, according to Jeremy Robshaw of the St. Johns County Fire and Rescue. He told The Florida Times-Union newspaper that three of those injured were in critical condition, with the others in stable condition.

Robshaw said the pier was under construction and rescuers had to lay down planking before they could get to the crash victims. The victims names have not been released.

Relatives of a Sunday school teacher arrested in the killing of an 8-year-old girl found stuffed into a suitcase said Sunday they are baffled by the accusations against the woman they know as a loving, single parent.

"I just can't comprehend. There are no words," said Brian Lawless, the father of 28-year-old Melissa Huckaby, who is being held in San Joaquin County Jail on suspicion of kidnapping and killing Sandra Cantu.

Huckaby's grandfather, Clifford Lawless, who is pastor of the church, and others offered prayers for Sandra's family. Some churchgoers cried as Huckaby's uncle, 45-year-old Brett Lawless of Lakewood, gave a sermon preaching that faith was the only way to weather hardship.

Investigators searched the church last week after police said Sandra's body was found in Huckaby's suitcase in an irrigation pond. Huckaby's relatives said they still do not know why police searched the church or why investigators suspect her of the crime.

Brian Lawless said Huckaby lived for her 5-year-old daughter, Madison. Madison played often with Sandra, who lived down the street from where Huckaby lived with her grandfather. Huckaby taught Sunday school at her grandfather's church.

Sandra disappeared on March 27 and hundreds of volunteers and law enforcement officials turned out to search for her. Pictures of the girl with dark brown eyes and light brown hair were posted all over Tracy, a city of 78,000 people about 60 miles east of San Francisco. Police said they received 1,500 tips.

Huckaby had been scheduled to appear in court on April 17 to check in with a county mental health program as part of a three-year probation sentence for a petty theft charge to which she pleaded no contest.

She was arrested late Friday, about five hours after she drove herself to the local police station at the request of officers.