A young newlywed couple’s life together ended in tragedy after their small fishing boat collided with a water taxi in Venice’s famous lagoon — and investigators are now working to determine exactly how the deadly crash happened.
Gabriela Querino Elorriaga, 26, was found dead Tuesday, Sept. 15, three days after disappearing in the water following the early-morning collision.
Her husband, 25-year-old fisherman Sean Michieli, had already died from severe injuries suffered in the wreck.
The couple had been married for only about three months.
The crash happened shortly before 6 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 12, in the Tessera Canal, a busy stretch of the Venice lagoon near Marco Polo Airport.
Michieli and Querino were aboard a small fishing boat when it collided with a water taxi carrying two American tourists, according to Italian authorities.
Michieli was pulled from the wreckage with devastating injuries and taken to the Ospedale dell’Angelo in Mestre.
Doctors later declared him dead after completing the required process for confirming brain death.
Querino, meanwhile, vanished into the lagoon.
Divers, helicopters, sonar-equipped boats and other emergency crews searched for her for three days before a member of the public spotted a body in the water near Campalto at about 9 a.m. Tuesday.
Firefighters recovered the body roughly 1.2 miles from the crash site. Authorities said there was little doubt it was Querino, and her family later traveled from Brazil to formally identify her.
Venice officials described the discovery as the most painful possible ending to a search that had gripped the city.
Querino’s mother, Gisele, arrived in Italy with another daughter after learning during a stopover in Paris that Gabriela’s body had been found.
“I lost two children,” she said, referring to both Gabriela and Sean.
But questions remain about what happened in the hours before the couple set out on the water.
Querino’s relatives have reportedly said the newlyweds had a serious argument the night before the crash and that Gabriela had initially considered leaving.
According to the family’s account cited by the New York Post, Gabriela later messaged her mother saying the disagreement had been resolved and that she and Sean were going out to dinner.
Her relatives reportedly found the exchange unusual because they said Gabriela normally preferred video calls over texting.
Investigators have not publicly said the argument had anything to do with the crash, and there is currently no public evidence suggesting either newlywed intentionally caused the collision.
The focus of the official investigation remains on the boats, their movements and conditions in the Tessera Canal.
The 38-year-old water-taxi driver is under investigation as authorities reconstruct the collision. He has reportedly told investigators that he did not see the couple’s boat before impact.
Investigators are now examining several unanswered questions, including the speed of the vessels, whether proper navigation lights were being used and whether either boat made an incorrect maneuver before the collision.
The two American tourists who were passengers aboard the water taxi are especially important to the investigation.
Italian authorities have been trying to locate them after they reportedly returned to the United States following the accident. Investigators believe their eyewitness accounts could help establish what happened in the moments before impact.
Autopsies on both newlyweds are scheduled to move forward Monday, while prosecutors are also expected to appoint a technical expert to reconstruct the crash.
An initial examination of Querino’s body found injuries considered consistent with the collision, according to RaiNews.
Querino was originally from Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, and had been living in Italy for about two years.
Michieli came from a longtime fishing family and worked as a fisherman himself. Italian reports said Querino had begun accompanying her husband on fishing trips, and the two were believed to have been headed out for another outing when the crash occurred.
Their wedding had taken place only in June.
Now, instead of beginning their married life together, their families are waiting for investigators to explain how a routine morning on the Venice lagoon ended with both newlyweds dead.
