Coast Guard Suspends Search for Elderly Couple Missing From Cruise Ship

01/17/2009 --
MyFox Orlando

The Coast Guard suspended its search Saturday for an elderly couple believed to have fallen off a cruise ship between Long Beach and northern Mexico.

The aerial search for the 90-year-old man and his 79-year-old wife was halted after officials determined that their chances of surviving in the water were slim, said Chief Warrant Officer Scott Epperson.

"Factoring in their age and weights, their survivability in 59 degrees water was about 4 to 6 hours," he said. "The last time they were seen was 84 hours ago."

The couple were last seen Tuesday aboard the Carnival Paradise.

Officials also consulted with the couple's relatives, who agreed to suspending the search, Epperson said.

Miami-based Carnival said their cabin door was double-locked from the inside with a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the handle. Their belongings remained inside and the door leading from the cabin to the private balcony was unlocked.

Crews searched throughout the night, tracing the route the ship had taken since it left Long Beach on Monday, with stops at Santa Catalina and in Ensenada, Mexico, before returning Friday.

The FBI was investigating, spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.

Elderly Couple Missing From Cruise Ship

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- The U.S. Coast Guard was searching Friday for an elderly couple who authorities believe fell off a Carnival Cruise ship between Long Beach and northern Mexico.

A 90-year-old man and his 79-year-old wife were aboard the Carnival Paradise when it left Monday from Long Beach, but they could not be found when it returned Friday morning, the FBI said.

A Coast Guard airplane was expected to conduct an all-night search between Ensenada, Mexico, Catalina Island and Long Beach, said Petty Officer 2nd Class Prentice Danner, a Coast Guard spokesman.

Miami-based Carnival said the couple's cabin door was double-locked from the inside with a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the handle. Their belongings remained inside and the door leading from the cabin to the private balcony was unlocked.

"(They) are missing and presumed to have gone overboard," Carnival said in a statement.

The couple's names and hometowns have not been released. FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said the couple were last seen Tuesday night near their cabin. She said federal agents were interviewing passengers and crew and processing evidence.

The cruise started in Long Beach and stopped in Santa Catalina Island and Ensenada. Carnival spokeswoman Jennifer de la Cruz said she did not know if the couple disembarked at either location.

Search goes on for Carnival cruise worker

Scott Travis (Fort Lauderdale) Sun Sentinel
January 2, 2009

Rescue workers were still searching Thursday night for a cruise-ship employee who tumbled 82 feet overboard sometime after midnight while celebrating New Year's Eve.The cruise line has not released the identity of the employee, whom co-workers reported as going overboard about 50 minutes after ringing in the New Year on the Carnival Sensation, which was 20 miles east of Vero Beach. Co-workers threw him a life ring, but he never resurfaced, according to WPTV-Channel 5 in West Palm Beach.

Ship officials immediately began a search and contacted the Coast Guard for help.The employee was an off-duty member of Carnival's entertainment staff, the cruise line said. Six fellow crew members saw him go overboard, the Carnival said in a statement.

The Sensation helped with the search, then returned to port. It docked at Port Canaveral about 10 a.m. Thursday after a four-day cruise to the Bahamas.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the young man at this time as well as with his friends and family," a Carnival spokesman said in a statement Thursday. Carnival Corp., the world's largest cruise operator, is based in Miami.

Search-and-rescue coordinators from Miami and Fort Pierce used four boats, two helicopters and two planes in their search. Carnival is also assisting the search, said Coast Guard spokesman James Harless.

The aircraft returned to base once night fell. The Coast Guard still had an 87-foot cutter in the area Thursday night, and will reassess the search this morning.Rescuers were searching more than 1,000 square miles. The current would take him northeast, Harless said.

Harless said the man's steep fall, as well as other conditions, hurt his chances of survival."It is a high distance. He fell into seven-foot seas without a life jacket at night," Harless said. "There were winds and strong current he was battling with, along with the high seas."The water temperature was 72 degrees, he said.

Local law enforcement in Vero Beach will investigate, Harless said. Carnival will conduct its own investigation as well, he said. WPTV reported that the FBI is investigating, although the incident appears to be an accident.

The missing employee is the second person in a week to make news for going over the rail of a cruise ship.Winter Haven resident Jennifer Ellis Seitz, 36, went off the Norwegian Pearl ship and into the Gulf of Mexico on Christmas Day. Her body has not been recovered, and multiple searches for her have ended. Family members said they think she might have jumped.

Alan Schmadtke of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Information from The Associated Press also was used. MICHAEL R. BROWN/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS -->

Family believes cruise passenger jumped into sea

Monday, December 29, 2008
MIAMI(AP)

The family of a missing cruise ship passenger said Monday that they suspect the woman "chose an unfortunate ending to her life" and jumped from a cruise ship balcony into the waters off Mexico's coast on Christmas night.

The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search Monday for Jennifer Ellis Seitz, a Florida journalist, after combing more than 4,200 square miles off the coast of the popular resort area of Cancun, where the ship had just visited. Mexican authorities said they would continue their search for another 48 hours.

Seitz had "previous emotional issues," yet there were no outward signs of distress while on the seven-night cruise from Miami, her family said in a statement given to one of her former employers, The News Chief in Winter Haven. Seitz's mother joined her daughter and son-in-law on the cruise.

"Jennifer was in a very happy and uplifted mood both before and during the cruise," the Ellis family said in the statement. "She was excited about starting a new job and her future career with a local newspaper. She and her husband had been talking about starting their family. The family suspects that Jennifer chose an unfortunate ending to her life. She was a beautiful and caring person and will be truly missed by all who love her."

Seitz and her husband, Raymond, were celebrating their one-year anniversary on the Norwegian Pearl cruise ship.

A surveillance camera showed someone falling overboard at 8 p.m. Christmas night, authorities said. About eight hours later, Raymond Seitz reported his wife missing.

FBI spokesman Mike Leverock says agents met the ship at the dock in Miami on Sunday, collected materials and "are still trying to determine if a crime occurred."

Norwegian Cruise Line said it is "cooperating fully" with the FBI.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the guest during this difficult time," the company said in a news release.

Raymond Seitz has not been charged with any crime, authorities said Monday.

The couple met in a weight loss support group; both had undergone bariatric surgery. She chronicled her weight loss journey for an Orlando TV station.

She was also a freelance writer, having written articles for The Tampa Tribune, The Ledger in Lakeland, and an online article titled, "Battling the Bulge Onboard," about how not to gain weight while aboard a ship.

On her Web site, Seitz described herself as an "avid traveler and an amateur chef." She was previously a reporter for Florida Today, a newspaper in Melbourne.

Raymond Seitz was arrested in April on a charge of domestic violence-battery after being accused of head-butting his wife. The charge was dropped after he entered a pretrial diversion program. Records show that she asked the prosecutor not to pursue the case.

A fellow passenger on the ship, Jim Nestor, told NBC's Today show that Seitz and her new husband stood out on the ship with "large and raw personalities."

Many of the passengers saw them as contestants on an on-board game called "The Not-So-Newlywed Game," modeled after a 1960s TV quiz show. The game was also carried on the ship's closed-circuit TV channel.

"They stood out a lot more than other people," Nestor, a retired police officer, told NBC.
Nestor, who appeared on the game show with his own wife, said he ran into Raymond Seitz day after his wife was reported missing.

"I had given him my condolences, and he had a plastic bag filled with quarters, and he said to me that he was going to the casino to see if he could change his luck," Nestor said.

Investigators Say Surveillance Shows Woman Go Overboard

Monday, December 29, 2008

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- Search crews ended their efforts Monday afternoon to find a Central Florida woman who disappeared from a cruise ship at sea.

An HU-25 Falcon jet crew from Coast Guard Air Station Miami, C-130 fixed-wing aircraft crews from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, Fla., and Mexican navy patrol boat and helicopter crews searched more than 4,200 square miles for Seitz. The search was called off around 3:00pm Monday.

AT THE SCENE: Images Of Woman, Cruise Ship

Note: in the above image link, the rail looks like it might be about 4' high, plus, there is a chair pulled over to the railing. Would she have jumped, being a newlywed?

"The Coast Guard and Mexican navy conducted an exhaustive search for Jennifer Seitz, but have not located her," said Capt. Dean Lee, Seventh Coast Guard District chief of staff. "Our thoughts are with Jennifer Seitz's family and friends during this difficult time."

Investigators said surveillance video shows a woman falling overboard from the Norwegian Pearl on Christmas night. The video has not been released. Jennifer Seitz, 36, a former Florida Today reporter who lived in Winter Haven, was reported missing the next morning and now the FBI is questioning passengers to try to figure out what happened.

What was supposed to be a relaxing holiday cruise for a newlywed couple turned into a tragic tale shrouded in mystery. Their cabin on the ship is now a crime scene with investigators scouring for forensic clues.

"It's an on-going FBI investigation. We're in charge of crimes on the high seas of American citizens and that is what we are doing right now. We're looking for evidence," said Capt. Dean Lee, Miami Coast Guard.

It was early Friday morning when Seitz's husband reported her missing, no where to be found aboard the Norwegian Pearl cruise ship steaming towards the Caribbean. He reported it eight hours after Jennifer went overboard, according to one of the ship's more than 1,000 surveillance cameras.

"They eventually discovered on some recorded tape the image of a woman going overboard wearing a white bathrobe sometime around 8:00 the previous evening. That would have been on Christmas night," Capt. Lee said.

It's very disturbing news to fellow passengers who disembarked from the seven-day cruise Sunday. Witnesses had stories to share, including new details. The Seitzs were vacationing with Jennifer's mother and they took part in a cruise activity in front of a crowd playing the newlywed game.

"They seemed like they're pretty fun and stuff, pretty wild if anything," passenger Austin Stovall said.

In Winter Haven, neighbors of Jennifer Seitz said they were shocked and saddened to hear she had disappeared from the cruise ship.

"That's really sad. I feel awful, I would feel awful if it happened to my daughter," said neighbor Kathy Hoyt.

A close friend of the family said Seitz and her husband lived with her mother in a home on Knotty Pine Drive. Seitz's mother rushed to Miami as soon as she was notified.

Authorities said they have interviewed the ship's crew and Jennifer's family members and they are all cooperating with police. They said Jennifer's husband is not a suspect at this time.

It was the sixth time this year crews have searched for someone who went overboard from a cruise ship.

Missing Cruise Passenger Could Be Alive in Warm Waters of Mexico's Gulf Coast

Saturday, December 27, 2008

foxnews.com

An American woman who reportedly fell off a cruise ship and disappeared could be alive in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. Coast Guard said Saturday.

Authorities are searching for Jennifer Seitz, a 33-year-old passenger on a cruise liner who vanished Thursday night as the ship roamed the waters off Cancun, Mexico.

There is a good chance Seitz is still alive if she is in good physical condition and grabbed a flotation device before she fell, said Petty Officer Nick Ameen, a Coast Guard spokesman.
Water temperatures in the Gulf are relatively warm — somewhere in the mid-70s — so hypothermia would not pose a danger to her.

The Coast Guard and Mexican Navy are conducting independent searches for Seitz, but the search is made difficult by the eight-hour window during which she could have fallen overboard, the Coast Guard said.

Seitz, who may be a Houston resident, was last seen at roughly 8 p.m. EST Thursday, though her husband reportedly did not notice her missing until 3:50 a.m. the following morning.
Her husband informed the ship's captain, and the ship's security personnel conducted a search confirming that Seitz was not on board.

The Coast Guard resumed their search Saturday using a C-130 airplane. Crew on board will use binoculars and heat-detecting equipment to locate the missing passenger.

A rear ramp on the plane will be partially lowered, allowing the plane's crew a wider view of the water below in order to conduct their search.

The Mexican Navy has also dedicated a 90-foot ship and a helicopter to their search.
Mexico's Fifth Naval Regional Command said in a statement that by late Friday it had found no sign of Seitz and was dealing with "adverse conditions" and strong waves just over 17 miles east of Cancun.

Cruise Passenger Reported Overboard Near Cancun

Friday, December 26, 2008

http://www.wftv.com/

MEXICO CITY -- Authorities say three Mexican Navy boats and a helicopter were searching the waters off the Caribbean resort of Cancun on Friday for an American woman who reportedly fell from a cruise ship.

A U.S. Coast Guard search-and-rescue crew using a Falcon jet halted its efforts to find 36-year-old Jennifer Seitz late Friday, but will resume early Saturday morning using a larger C-130 aircraft.

Seitz's husband reported her missing from the Norwegian Pearl cruise ship just before 5 a.m. EST Friday. Her hometown was not available.

Mexico's Fifth Naval Regional Command said in a statement that by late Friday it had found no sign of Seitz and was having to deal with "adverse conditions" and strong waves in the search taking place just over 17 miles (27 kilometers) east of Cancun.

Norwegian Cruise Line says the ship left Sunday from Miami for a seven-day western Caribbean cruise.

George Smith--newlywed widow says he mixed booze with pills

By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN

Associated Press Writer

Proposed Settlement

Hagel Smith's Statement

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) -- The widow of a man who disappeared during their honeymoon cruise said Friday in court that he mixed prescription drugs with alcohol the night he vanished three years ago on the Mediterranean Sea.

Jennifer Hagel Smith said her husband's family has refused to acknowledge the possibility that George Smith's intoxication may have been a factor in an accidental death. She said they have insisted Smith was a victim of foul play.

Richard Sheeley, Hagel Smith's attorney, said Smith's parents and sister have "conjured up a conspiracy that never existed between the cruise line, investigators and, eventually, even the young woman they once welcomed into their family as a daughter."

The case was in Superior Court as Hagel Smith responded to a legal challenge by Smith's relatives to a nearly $1.1 million settlement she received from Royal Caribbean cruise line.
Smith's body was never found. His parents stand to win a portion of the settlement, which they are challenging as inadequate.

Michael Jones, a lawyer for Smith's family, said Sheeley's comments on Smith's drug and alcohol use were not accurate, saying there was no evidence he took prescription drugs. He said Smith's family continues to believe he was a victim of foul play.

Smith, from Greenwich, was taking the antidepressant Zoloft and Clonazepam, which treats anxiety and panic disorders, Sheeley said. A doctor had advised him not to drink alcohol while taking the drugs, he said.

Smith's disappearance prompted congressional hearings and new legislation to tighten requirements for reporting when passengers disappear.

Smith's parents and sister said in a lawsuit dismissed last year that the cruise company tried to cover up Smith's disappearance to avoid liability and negative publicity.

Royal Caribbean officials have said the company exceeded its legal responsibility when it contacted the FBI and other authorities immediately after learning he was missing.