Missing Passengers?
 

There has been a few articles in our local newspaper concerning cruise-ship passengers who disappear. One was a local dentist who went missing while at sea a couple of weeks ago. It's not enough to keep me away from cruising, but I have done a search on this site and was surprised this topic hasn't come up before.

http://www.angelsmissing.com/forum/i...showtopic=4393
Horrific story!!!

That was one of the recent stories I had read. There was another story of a couple on their honey moon in Greece with RCCL and her husband went missing just off the coast of Turkey. The FBI is apparently investigating this disappearence also.

Where are these people going that they get lost???
We just returned from a 10 day S> Caribbean cruise with Celebrity. You punch in and out with your ID card and every day the "Celebrity Today" flyer warns you where to go and what to beware of. Guest Services also will help with tours that will make sure you get back to the ship on time.

SusaG, I don't think the people in question are disappearing while in port. If that were the case they would be a lot easier to find. My best guess is that most of these people have gone overboard while at sea. If they fell overboard and nobody saw it, then it's often far too late to find them by the time they are missed. It's very hard to find a lone person in the ocean, especially when you don't know the location where they went into the water. And that's assuming they survived the fall into the water. Scary....

All the passengers whom I've read about had checked in at the last port. They were suppose to be on Board. Assumption- overboard while at sea. Our local paper has picked up on various reports over the past year, because a local resident is one of the casualities. In one case they reported the ship did search for the individual, but of course, not found. They reported 14 similar cases over the past year or two. Scarry.. Investigations pending.

It has been discussed here on several occasions. I remember because I got flamed for suggesting it would be very difficult for a person to accidently fall overboard.

If ship follows a route to the destination point why is it difficult to follow the same route and find a person?

Ziana, they are looking for a lone person in the midst of thousands of miles of open water. That person will barely look like a spot from a helicopter. Sure, they could send a ship to search, but they cannot pinpoint exactly where the cruise ship was, and even if they could, a person will drift with the tide. It is not a simple task.

And as I said above, there's always a chance that person did not survive the fall, in which case the body might be underwater.

I see and surprised how come passengers don't get safety bracelets or something in case they have to be located. It actually just came to my mind...

It's rare that someone unintentionally falls off a ship. Twenty-one million people took cruises in the past two years and approximately a dozen went missing from their ships. When it happens and someone sees the person go into the water, the bridge immediately prepares to perform a Williamson Turn. The time is recorded and the ship is set in motion on a sort of figure-8 turn to go back to the exact spot where the accident occurred. As many eyes as possible immediately are on watch. A rescue boat is launched and, with a combination of skill and luck, the passenger is found.

Man overboard training was being conducted during one of my cruises and the crew on our vessel was able to accomplish the rescue in approximately 17 minutes.

Out of curiosity, I'm interested in the honeymoon incident. I wonder... Where was the bride when her groom went missing? Was she so drunk that she passed out in a public area and never made it back to their cabin? The way those electronic locks are set up, the security department can tell which key is used to open the cabin door and the time that it was used. My bet is that the authorities have a pretty good idea what happened but not enough probable cause to do anything. Was anyone else as offended as I was with the bride's statement to the congressional hearing about how RCI mistreated her? She was clearly lying.

Linda Coffman

On a well run ship it's difficult, though not impossible, to fall overboard by accident. When the sea is rough they sometime close off parts of the decks that might be risky.
BTW standard Overboard procedure is that the first person who sees someone falling in throws a lif belt or other buoancy aid as close to them as they can. This is more visible in the water than a lone person so the crew have a much better chance of knowing where to look for them.
I haven't seen much of the coverage from across the pond but I think CruiseDiva has a point about how rare this really is. Probably far more tourists die in road accidents but this doesn't make such good headlines.

People magazine has an interesting article on this in this week's issue.

I don't know if it's true or not, but apparently there is a phenomenon when on a ship looking at the water. It's hypnotic and makes you want to jump.

I once read that on a freighter cruise site that the writer was told this by one of the crew. After being on a cruise ship balcony and watching the waves, I believe there could be some truth to the theory.

CruiseDiva,

They have had a few shows on about the honeymoon couple this past week. RCCL spokesman was on and it seems the FBI and others have been doing some serious investigating. Not sure what to make out of it and not all info is being made public. Even in his interpretation there seemed to be missing pieces to the puzzle. His bride was sleeeping in the hall someplace so the story goes. But the neighbors claimed they saw the 3 men leave the cabin after much commotion. Perhaps there were 4 men in there with him. Not just 3. Very odd story, but I doubt that he jumped on his own. I think she came back, then left again, or else there were 4 men and only 3 left. I would suspect there was also not enough evidence to arrest anyone.

I've never been on a cruise but would like to go..but how do these people fall over? Are they ships safe and are the walls around the decks tall enough to keep someone from falling over? What about if you have children on a cruise?

I don't think all situations have been the same of the recent ones we have heard about. I think they are all different and isolated incidents. I think this last one has been foul play. Others can he drunk people playing leonardo di caprio on the Titantic. (I am on top of the world.) I have been on quite a few ships, and cruises and of course it is possible to jump over. It is assumed adults would take safety precautions and watch there children. I don't think the ships pose a threat unless one is acting foolish, or foul play is involved or even maybe suicide. Difficult to say.

To redshoe - in my limited cruise experience, it would be virtually impossible for a sane and even partially sober person to fall overboard.

So what's happening to these people? Are they jumping overboard in suicide ? I had even read about a couple who went missing Scary! I'm planning on going on my first cruise this fall/early winter.

I'll be doing the Disney cruise since I have 3 yr old.

If there are no witnesses and nobody lives to tell the story of how someone went overboard, then it's impossible to know what happened. IMO, the only reasons why someone would go overboard would be one of 3 scenarios: 1. careless behavior near the railing 2. suicide 3. murder


Several years ago there was a story in my local news about a couple from my home city who went overboard on a Mediterranean cruise. The only reason we know what happened is that one of them survived. Here's the story:

(the article didn't say this they had been drinking, but I have a feeling alcohol was a factor)

Around 3am this couple was out on deck while nobody else was around. The man was lifting the woman onto the railing, trying to make her sit on the railing. This was supposed to be all in fun. She kept jumping back onto the deck, saying don't do that. He thought this was funny, so he picked her up again and this time he pushed her so far back she fell overboard. He panicked and jumped into the water to try and help. He didn't think about the fact that nobody saw this happen, so they were both stranded in the open water as the ship sailed away.

The couple floated on their backs and eventually dozed off while floating. When the woman awoke around sunrise, the man was gone. She floated in the water until late the next afternoon, when she got very lucky and was spotted by a passing tanker. The tanker rescued her, but the man was never seen again.

Very sad.

The best one was a man stood on the railing to urinate overboard and fell in. This was just out of San Juan. They did find him many hours later and he was alive.

That falls into my scenario #1. In fact, it goes above and beyond that, as it's disgusting too!! I'm glad he was found alive, but what he did was incredibly stupid and unnecessary.

My take on this is that if you collect 3000+ people in any form, you are likely to have some number of those suffering from severe mental illness, those who are suicidal, and/or evil doers.

It actually is more surprising to me that more bad things don't happen on cruises - I am sure that the cruise lines are not real eager to publicize the many minor incidents.

Has anyone considered that they may have been abducted by aliens?

Redshoe,

We also were on a Disney Cruise a few years ago for 3 nights 4 days. You and your wee one will have a wonderful time. Do not let these odd isolated stories worry you. I believe it happens, and I have no explanation. I think cruising is safe, and your chances of being abducted by aliens would be more likely to happen. Unless that is what is happening as someone suggested!!

If you think about the total number of people on cruise ships every day these incidents are very rare. That's what makes them sensationalized by the news media. Far more people die in traffic accidents while crossing the street than ever will in falls from a ship.

People go missing every day for a variety of reasons that are never fully understood. The fact that it happens on cruise ships is irrevellant.

This week on Oprah they are going to interview the wife of the missing groom- and the head of the cruise line will be there also. I believe it's on Wed but check Oprah's website to be sure.

Thanks, redshoe, I'll tune in.

Considering amount of attention to this problem I am starting to worry...about kids most. Need to post a thread about children care on board. Thanks

I just heard the promo, the wife of the missing groom will be on Oprah's show on Wed.

Linda-From what I have read, the bride and groom were in the casino where he won a large chunk of change. She was supposedly asleep when he disappeared. The people across from their cabin and next door heard loud noises and thumping sounds coming from their cabin. They found blood on the canopy below their cabin which matched the grooms. The bride meanwhile told authorities she didn't hear anyting.

There is some controvery over RCL's notification and investigation into his disappearance.

Anyone watch Oprah today? I missed half of it and watched the other half. From what I gathered she wanted retribution for how she was treated by RCCL, and it was just mostly discussion on that subject. Anyone else have different take on it since I missed most of the program?

diann, I just got home, I'm catching the last 15 minutes, but I recorded it so I'll watch the rest later. After that I'll get back w/you.

I saw part of it. She didn't seem very broken up to me about him disappearing. I did a google news search and there are a ton of articles written about the whole thing. According to fellow passengers they were partying in one of the ship bars and she was blatantly flirting with other men. They were seen arguing quite heatedly.

Maybe I watch too many crime dramas. But, could this be the perfect crime? Rich guy, honeymoon cruise. Get him drunk and have someone dump him overboard. Who would suspect anything? Another drunken passenger goes missing. Then sue the cruise line for not doing anything. Perfect.

I know time has passed and all but something about her makes me think she is a phoney. You know how you can just tell from the get-go. Yes but would she have gotten anything out of it if she did it or planned it? I think on there honeymoon it was rather strange she was off by herself, then found passed out.

I don't know and I don't think we'll ever know. Perhaps RCCL could have had more US FBI intervention from the get-go but since they are not a US flagged ship they do not have to follow US laws. As for the wife, I'm not so sure of the "I was drugged" possibility. Very unfortunate story.

I did watch the whole show & it was
obvious Oprah had not followed this story @ all by the queries she posed.

The young widow appeared to want to seek retribution from RCL for how she was treated after the disappearance of the husband
(reimbursement for the $1,000 flight home, being cared for by the Cruise
Relations person, etc.)

She claims she wasn't drunk altho
she had imbibed some; no mention of drugs Sooo inquiring minds
want to know HOW she was found passed out?

A good mystery writer has a book in the making.

"Then sue the cruise line for not doing anything." Plus get some of his money? Right?

I couldn't get over the fact the widow had no idea WHY she passed out!
I thought the show was rather pointless.
This is a good one for Ann Rule! She would get to the bottom of it all!

Like most of you, I too was bothered that she was so unemotional. That does make her look bad. However, I think a guilty person would not be criticizing and investigation that did NOT point the finger at her. The fact that she is critical of the investigation makes me think she might not be guilty. I would think that a guilty person would be trying to convince everyone it was just an accident, and no further investigation is needed.

I don't know what to believe. If I were sitting on a jury right now, knowing only what I know from the show, I would have to vote that she's not guilty. That doesn't mean I'm convinced she's innocent, that just means they haven't proven otherwise.