Family and friends continue to mourn the loss of 27-year-old Jeanica Julce while still hoping for answers in the boat crash that led to her death last weekend.
Julce died last Saturday after the boat she was on crashed in Boston Harbor, sending her and seven others into the water. While the others were all rescued, it took nearly 13 hours for the U.S. Coast Guard, and state and local police to find Julce's body in the water.
The sudden loss has left Julce's friends and family devastated. They still find it hard to talk in the past tense about the woman who loved dance and photography -- someone who had a passion for people and life.
“My friend. She has the most powerful presence,” Tiara Dunbar recalled of Julce on Sunday. "No matter who you are, she’s going to accept you, she’s going to love you, she’s going to protect you and she’s going to provide for you.”
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Friends like Dunbar shared their memories of Julce at a vigil Sunday night in South Boston, not far from where she died.
“She was about something that’s about all about coming together, keeping everybody happy, never a dull moment with her. Always happy, never sad,” friend Leon Shaw shared.
Julce's friends and family still have so many questions about what happened the night she died, and they say that's making it even harder for them to grieve.
“We still want answers, you know? We just don’t understand, and it just is something that will never sit right,” Dunbar said.
More than a week later, investigators are still working to figure out what caused the center console boat Julce was on to hit a day marker buoy around 3 a.m. in Boston Harbor.
“We want to know why wasn’t the boat registered? Why are you out this late? How fast was the boat going?” Dunbar asked.
It's not clear at this time what caused the boat crash. Authorities are continuing to investigate the facts and circumstances surrounding it.
No one has faced any charges in connection with it.
