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.