Family Searching For Answers After Woman Killed In Parasailing Accident

WETHERSFIELD, Conn. (CBSNewYork) -- A vacation turned to tragedy for a Connecticut woman, who fell 150 feet to her death. She fell while parasailing in tandem with her husband in Florida and now her family is left trying to cope with her loss.

"She's just a real happy person. She had a beautiful voice and could sing," the victim's father, Jim Mulcahy, told CBS 2's Joan Murray on Thursday.

From their Connecticut home, the heartbroken family of Kathleen Miskell is struggling to understand how a care-free vacation could end so tragically.

On Wednesday, Miskell was killed while parasailing with her husband over the Atlantic Ocean just off Pompano Beach.  Investigators said the harness she was wearing broke and she plunged 150 feet to her death

"She had never been parasailing before. I would definitely say that...I don't know if she was nervous to go, but I don't think this was something she always dreamed of doing either," said Erin Mulcahy, the victim's sister.

Jim Mulcahy said the couple decided to take a trip to Florida before the 28-year-old had to return to the middle school, where she worked as a teaching assistant for special-needs children in Wethersfield.

Miskell was attending graduate school and wanted to become a guidance counselor. The family said the couple had been married three years and just bought a home a year ago.

"She really, really never did a thing wrong in her life -- she was a very good kid all of her life," Erin Mulcahy said.

Now, there's a search for answers about how an afternoon excursion could go so wrong.

The boat belongs to a business called Wave Blast Water Sports. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is handling the investigation and has confiscated the vessel.

A similar incident happened five years ago when a teenager was killed when her harness broke and she crashed into a roof.

Investigators are now working to figure out why Miskell's harness failed, and while they wait for answers a family is dealing with unimaginable grief.

"We're like any other family going through a tragedy. We're getting a lot of support from friends," Jim Mulcahy said.

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