Miss Florida Out of Hospital, Still Off-Duty

Miss Florida Shauna Pender has been released from a Miami hospital, nearly seven weeks after she was critically injured in an automobile accident.

She is spending the holidays with family in Georgia, pageant director Mary Sullivan said. She said there was no timetable for Pender to resume official Miss Florida duties.

Pender was injured Nov. 7 when a tractor-trailer tipped over and crashed atop a vehicle she was riding in on her way to a charity event in Miami. Pender needed several surgeries during her hospital stay, officials said.