MALABAR, Fla. – A surviving family member of a suspected triple-murder suicide is persevering through the tragedy and commemorating her loved ones by leading her mother's business.
On June 11, 2017, 39-year-old Tony Hughes was accused of killing his wife, 39-year-old Chrissy Hughes, his wife's sister, Linda Woods, and his wife's 9-year-old son, Sebastian Meachum, before burning down their 3,000 square-foot Atz Road house and escaping to sea.
Alexis McGuire, 21, is the daughter, niece and brother of the victims.
"For a while, it was pretty hard getting on with life, but right now, everything's been going pretty well," McGuire said Tuesday from her office at Nationwide Medical Licensing in downtown Melbourne.
Chrissy Hughes started the company and her daughter was always around the business growing up.
"It's still something that makes me sad to think about, but I try not to and just try to focus on running the business," McGuire said.
Since the tragedy last year, McGuire took over for her mother.
That same day, Tony Hughes' boat was found off Sebastian Inlet, but his body was not.
The Coast Guard searched for Hughes, but deputies said there was only blood onboard.
"To this day, my family will still swear by it that we think he is somewhere," McGuire said.
A big reason is because some of Hughes' belongings are still missing.
"We got control of a couple of the vehicles that I know for a fact had weapons in them that were not even on the property and those weapons are no longer in that vehicle," McGuire said.
A year later, the sheriff's office said there's nothing new to report.
Tuesday, News 6 approached Tony Hughes' father at his house in Palm Bay.
He did not want to be interviewed.
"As long as he doesn't show his face, honestly, I don't care where he is," McGuire said about her stepfather. "If someone finds him, please bring him to justice. So I just kind of want to know what happened."