Delia D'Ambra

With her was her younger teenage cousin, Anna Dumois.

As the pair made their way into the city of Holmes Beach, they passed by the Kingfish Boat Ramp, which was just a short distance away from the rental home that their families had been sharing for about two weeks.

While passing by, Annie and Anna looked over and saw Anna's father, Juan Dumois, and Anna's two younger brothers, Eric and Mark, putting Juan's boat on a trailer and getting ready to leave.

Alongside the Dumois family was Annie's father, Raymond Barrows.

As the girls passed, Annie honked the car horn and waved to the group before continuing on toward the rental house.

That particular weekend marked the final few days of the two families' joint vacation.

And according to what Annie told me, the boys taking the boat out on that Friday was the last full day they were gonna be able to have on the water.

So they were soaking in every last second they could.

When Annie and her cousin got home after passing by the boat ramp, they unloaded the fried chicken they'd picked up for dinner and bumped into their moms, who were already in their bathing suits and heading out to a nearby beach.

The plan was for the girls to get their suits on and join their moms at the beach, and then when the guys got home, everyone would meet up and hang out before having dinner together.

Unexpectedly, though, not long after Anna and Annie's moms left for the beach, the girls heard a knock at the door.

But they were wary enough not to answer it while home alone.

So after the person who knocked walked away and got into a vehicle, Annie opened the door and went outside.

Right as she was doing that, she saw a neighbor who informed her that there had been an accident involving her cousins, uncle, and father.

The neighbor said that the family needed to get to Blake Memorial Hospital in Bradenton as soon as possible.

Concerned by the news, Annie and Anna immediately ran to the beach to tell their mothers what was going on.

And a short while later, all the girls piled into the car and headed out towards Bradenton.

The street they had to turn onto, though, to get off the island was Manatee Avenue, which was the main thoroughfare that everyone used to enter or exit the mainland.

Not long after turning onto Manitiav, the group came to a screeching halt when they saw one station wagon and boat trailer were jackknifed and crashed on the side of the road.

A few bystanders and police officers from Holmes Beach Police Department were gathered around the scene.