CRUISE SHIP - MISSING PERSONS, News, etc...

[Edward]

Reader comment to above linked article..

 By: Mohini | 05-Jan-2010  Reply | Forward
Wife Beating in today's day and age
 I know the family well and Neha had reported her husband beating her several times to her brother and parents. I dont agree that 498 A is misused in India. I know of cases where independent girls living in the US and India, are victims of in-laws misbehavior. Until our culture opens up to the reality that women are also independent beings and not to be controlled mentally or physically these kinds of cases continue to happen. The fact that she committed suicide is proof enough of the kind of mental torture and depression she must have been in. Else why was she not with her husband on New Years Eve?

[trimmonthelake]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Nehas-in-laws-still-not-arrested-kin-cry-foul/articleshow/5431807.cms
Neha’s in-laws still not arrested, kin cry foul
Sumi Sukanya, TNN, 11 January 2010, 05:01am IST
Topics:

    * bahamas
    * Neha Chhikara

GURGAON: A week after the in-laws and husband of former air-hostess Neha Chhikara — who died in the Bahamas — were booked on charges of harassing
her for dowry, police are yet to arrest any of the accused in the case. Gurgaon police, however, defended themselves saying the case was handed over to the state’s Intelligence Bureau. On Friday, Neha’s family had demanded a CBI inquiry into the case.
Neha died in mysterious circumstances in a cruise ship on way to the US from the Bahamas on January 1. Later when the ship’s CCTV camera footage were examined, she was seen jumping into the ocean from the deck of the ship, in which her husband works as a manager.

The move to transfer the case to the intelligence bureau was taken after local police were found struggling to gather facts of the case even after seven days of the incident, said sources. “Since the victim died in the Bahamas, we have to follow international laws to investigate the case. We need a factual report to find out what had exactly happened in the Bahamas. The report, which only the American authorities can provide, will be an important piece of evidence. We have asked the ministry of external affairs to take the matter forward,” said S S Deswal, police commissioner.

Neha’s father S K Chhikara, who works with a shipping corporation, had lodged a complaint with Gurgaon police alleging dowry harassment by her husband Ankit Dalal and her in-laws, including father-in-law S S Dalal, who is the chief medical officer of Gurgaon. Chhikara claimed that he gave the Dalals Rs 25 lakh as dowry at the time of Neha’s marriage in October 2008 in addition to over Rs 45 lakh he spent for the wedding. He alleged that the Dalals never treated his daughter well and that she was subjected to mental and physical torture.

Neha’s family has alleged that police were trying to shield all the accused in the case. “First, police resisted when we approached them to file a complaint against the Dalals. Now, seven days after they registered an FIR, they have not taken any initiative to arrest the accused. We have not heard anything from either the police or Ankit’s family about the status of the case in US,” said Anuj Chhikara, Neha’s brother.
On being asked why police had not booked Neha’s in-laws under dowry death, cops said that the fact that Neha died abroad made the case complicated. “If we lodge a case under Section 304 B(dowry death), we cannot investigate the case here as she had not died here. Till now, we do not know anything about the circumstances in which Neha died,” said Deswal.

Neha had gone to the US on December 15 and got a job offer on the same cruise liner where her husband worked. Police said that a few hours before she committed suicide, Neha had sent an email to her brother Anuj saying Ankit had beaten her up and that she did not want to live anymore.

Reacting to the Dalals’ allegation of defamation, Neha’ father said that he was not out to defame them. “Neha’s last email to her brother chronicling the abuse she suffered at the hands of Ankit and his family is proof that she was driven to take the extreme step by them,” Chhikara said.

sumi.sukanya@timesgroup.com

[Edward]

alleging dowry harassment by her husband Ankit Dalal and her in-laws

I did notice that HE did not jump overboard to save her..

He is guilty of something..

Take him out to international waters and make him walk the plank.. 

[trimmonthelake]

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Chhikara-committed-suicide--US-report/596822
Chhikara committed suicide: US report

Express News Service Tags : crime, suicide Posted: Monday , Mar 29, 2010 at 0201 hrs Gurgaon:
Three months after air-hostess Neha Chhikara went missing from Miami’s Royal Caribbean Cruiseship — Monarch of the Seas — in the Bahamas, the US authorities and the Bahamas government said that she committed suicide by jumping off the twelfth deck of the cruise liner.

A joint report was sent on March 25 to the Haryana state Vigilance Department and a copy has been e-mailed to Neha’s father Suresh Chhikara.

Neha (23) was travelling on the luxury liner as a staff along with her husband Ankit Dalal, son of former Gurgaon chief medical officer, S S Dalal. On December 31, 2009, hours before taking the extreme step, she had e-mailed her brother alleging torture by her husband and in-laws. The Gurgaon police had registered an FIR for dowry on January 3.

According to Neha’s father, the joint report has taken into account Neha’s dairy entries, statements by eyewitnesses and CCTV footage. “Neha left the room around 3.45 am (IST) and called Ankit on his mobile but he did not answer. She then went to the twelfth deck— as per the CCTV footage, she stood with her back to the sea and jumped off. Another CCTV recording showed her falling into the sea,” said Chhikara.
We received the reports a couple of days ago,” said V B Singh, Director General, state Vigilance. “This is the first official intimation which states she committed suicide.”

[Nut44x4]

Trial delayed in cruise ship disappearance case
April 11, 2010

Continuing settlement talks have delayed a trial over the estate of a Greenwich man who vanished on his 2005 honeymoon cruise, according to lawyers involved in the case.

The trial, which stems from an appeal of a probate court decision surrounding the late George Smith IV, was slated to happen Monday. A last- minute motion to continue the matter has postponed the trial indefinitely.

A lawsuit filed in 2008 by Smith's parents, George Smith III and Maureen Smith, contests a Greenwich probate court approval of a $1.1 million settlement their former daughter-in-law, Jennifer Hagel Smith, reached with Royal Caribbean International.

Smith, who planned on taking over his father's Cos Cob Liquor Store, disappeared July 5, 2005, into the Aegean Sea while on a cruise of the Mediterranean. His body was never found.

The Smiths have argued that Hagel Smith's judgment was clouded when she accepted the settlement, which they believed falls short of the Smith's earning capacity. The lawsuit stated Smith's earning capacity was at least $2.4 million. They are seeking to usurp Hagel Smith's authority over their late son's estate.

Attorney Michael Jones, who represents Smith's family, and Hagel Smith's attorney, Richard Sheeley, both said the decision to postpone was mutual.

The 2008 lawsuit specifically said that when Hagel Smith agreed to settle a wrongful death lawsuit with the cruise ship operator rather than pursue the case to trial, she wanted to avoid the disclosure of embarrassing information about her the night Smith disappeared.

The cruise line has said that at about the time the ship went missing, guests heard a loud thump, believed to be the sound of Smith's body hitting an exterior ship awning, Hagel Smith was found asleep in a corridor on the other side of the ship. The couple had been spotted partying and drinking that night. The FBI has been investigating Smith's disappearance and the case remains open.

In June 2009, thousands of pages of deposition testimony from a 2008 probate battle was unsealed detailing opinions from lawyers and authorities about the likelihood that foul play was involved. The documents revealed little new information about the unsolved mystery.

One month after the Smith's filed their lawsuit in state Superior Court, Hagel Smith's lawyer wrote in court documents that the family refused to acknowledge the possibility that Smith's alleged use of alcohol and prescription drugs may have been a factor in an accidental death. Jones has said there is no evidence Smith was using prescription drugs or alcohol.

In August 2009, both sides opted to go to trial after failing to come to an agreement. At that time, Hagel Smith's father expressed frustration that the parties could not settle out of court. At the same time, Hagel Smith's family announced that their daughter planned to marry financial analyst Jeff Agne.

http://www.greenwichtime.com/local/article/Trial-delayed-in-cruise-ship-disappearance-case-443883.php

[Edward]

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Chhikara-committed-suicide--US-report/596822
Chhikara committed suicide: US report

Express News Service Tags : crime, suicide Posted: Monday , Mar 29, 2010 at 0201 hrs Gurgaon:
Three months after air-hostess Neha Chhikara went missing from Miami’s Royal Caribbean Cruiseship — Monarch of the Seas — in the Bahamas, the US authorities and the Bahamas government said that she committed suicide by jumping off the twelfth deck of the cruise liner.

A joint report was sent on March 25 to the Haryana state Vigilance Department and a copy has been e-mailed to Neha’s father Suresh Chhikara.

Neha (23) was travelling on the luxury liner as a staff along with her husband Ankit Dalal, son of former Gurgaon chief medical officer, S S Dalal. On December 31, 2009, hours before taking the extreme step, she had e-mailed her brother alleging torture by her husband and in-laws. The Gurgaon police had registered an FIR for dowry on January 3.

According to Neha’s father, the joint report has taken into account Neha’s dairy entries, statements by eyewitnesses and CCTV footage. “Neha left the room around 3.45 am (IST) and called Ankit on his mobile but he did not answer. She then went to the twelfth deck— as per the CCTV footage, she stood with her back to the sea and jumped off. Another CCTV recording showed her falling into the sea,” said Chhikara.
We received the reports a couple of days ago,” said V B Singh, Director General, state Vigilance. “This is the first official intimation which states she committed suicide.”

Neha Chhikara ... was hounded by her husband and others for money.. A dowry !! in 2010
She was put into a position of servitude to be married to her husband and she most likely felt her life was slavery.
She committed suicide to escape slavery.
jmho

[2NJSons_Mom]

FBI investigating disappearance of crew member from Royal Caribbean cruise out of Bayonne
By Charles Hack/The Jersey Journal
May 10, 2010, 4:07PM
David Jolkovski/The Jersey Journal

The Explorer of the Seas docked in Bayonne on Saturday after one of its crew members, a 26-year-old man, disappeared off the coast of Puerto Rico.
The FBI is investigating the disappearance of a 26-year-old crew member from a Royal Caribbean cruise out of Bayonne, officials said.

Law enforcement officials were waiting at the Cape Liberty Cruise Port
when the Explorer of the Seas
cruise ship docked at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Deputy Bayonne Police Chief Ralph
Sciani told The Jersey Journal.

The man, who is presumed dead, disappeared Wednesday evening from the ship off the coast of Puerto Rico,  police said. He is a citizen of the African country Mauritius.

The man is believed to have gone overboard and the ship as well as the U.S. Coast Guard searched unsuccessfully for him, officials said. The Coast Guard searched for eight hours as the ship sailed toward its home port in Bayonne from the port of San Juan in Puerto Rico, Sciani said.

The FBI became the lead agency because the man fell overboard outside of boundaries of the continental USA, Sciani said.

Because it was unknown if the man's next of kin had been notified, Sciani declined to release the victim's name.

Coast Guard spokesman Ricardo Castrodad said crews had searched for the man 138 miles north of the coastal town of Isabela in Puerto Rico.

According to the blog CruiseCritic.com, "closed-circuit camera footage revealed that the employee was on Deck 5, and 'climbed over the railing and lowered himself over the side of the ship."

The ship was nearing the end of a nine-night Bermuda and Caribbean cruise that departed from the Bayonne on April 29.

The ship has a passenger capacity of 3,114

On Saturday, it had been incorrectly reported on Bayonne Now that the crew member's body had been recovered.

http://www.nj.com/bayonne/index.ssf/2010/05/fbi_investigating_disappearanc.html

[MuffyBee]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iVQgKJ72svaGLNS3cDJkxpiAd7ugD9I7TODG0
Conn. family hopes to solve cruise disappearance
September 14, 2010
By PAT EATON-ROBB (AP) – 5 hours ago

HARTFORD, Conn. — The parents of a Connecticut man who disappeared from his honeymoon cruise in 2005 say an amended settlement with the cruise line could help solve the mystery of what happened to him.

George Smith IV, of Greenwich, was aboard a Royal Caribbean ship when he vanished somewhere between Greece and Turkey on July 5, 2005, after an apparent night of drinking. His body was never found.

Smith's widow, Jennifer Hagel Smith, reached a nearly $1.1 million settlement with Royal Caribbean in 2006. But his parents and sister filed a lawsuit challenging it as inadequate, alleging it was reached in part to avoid embarrassing disclosures about Hagel Smith's conduct during the cruise.

The family, in a statement Tuesday, said the amended $1.3 million settlement requires the cruise line to turn over witness statements and other information from the company's own investigation that would have remained confidential under the original deal.

"Most people involved probably other than Jennifer Hagel Smith believe pretty strongly that George was murdered," said Michael Jones, an attorney representing Smith's parents and sister. "If that's the case then hopefully this documentation gives us a better indication of exactly what happened to him."

Smith's parents' share of the settlement with the cruise line will increase under the new deal from about $50,000 to about $300,000, Jones said. He said that will not fully cover the amount they have spent investigating their son's disappearance.

"Our goal from the beginning of this litigation was to find out what happened to George and bring his perpetrator(s) to justice," his mother, Maureen Smith, said in a statement.

Hagel Smith's attorney, Richard Sheeley, said that also is her goal, and she would welcome any new information.

"The truth is, after all this time, we have no more answers than we had at the beginning of this process," he said. "Candidly, we don't expect there is going to be a heck of a lot in there."

Hagel Smith has said her husband's relatives refuse to acknowledge the possibility that George Smith's intoxication from alcohol and prescription drugs may have been a factor in an accidental death. She has said they instead believe Smith was a victim of foul play, despite a lack of evidence.

Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez said the cruise line agreed to the settlement in the hope that it will be part of a healing process for the Smith family.

"We are confident that the disclosure of any additional information will again demonstrate that we acted properly in assisting Jennifer and the Smith family in the aftermath of their tragic loss," she said in a statement.

Jones said the information from Royal Caribbean includes thousands of documents and boxes of videos from security cameras and interviews. He said the FBI recently reaffirmed that its criminal investigation is still open and active, and the family will provide the criminal investigators with a copy of everything.

"We're hoping there might be additional information they don't already have, but we won't know that until we go through it and the FBI goes through it," the attorney said.

[Red]

New Details in Death of of George A. Smith IV Who Died on Honeymoon Mediterranean Royal Caribbean Cruise … FBI Russian Organized Crime Agents Join Investigation … Could it lead to Justice for George?

http://scaredmonkeys.com/2012/01/07/new-details-in-death-of-of-george-a-smith-iv-who-died-on-honeymoon-mediterranean-royal-caribbean-cruise-fbi-russian-organized-crime-agents-join-investigation-could-it-lead-to-justice-for-geor/

WILL THERE FINALLY BE JUSTICE FOR GEORGE?

“We have truth on our side. “My son’s life is not going to be in vain.” (Maureen Smith, George’s mother – Jan. 2006)

It has been six years since George A. Smith IV disappeared on July 5, 2005 while on his honeymoon in the Mediterranean on a Royal Caribbean cruise with his then wife, Jennifer Hagel Smith.  George’s body was never recovered; however, his body left bloodstains on an exterior overhang of the ship. Sadly, no one was ever held responsible for the death and disappearance of George Smith. Now the focus is on four men, among them three Russian-Americans from Brooklyn, New York.

 ::snipping2::

[Red]

Dateline NBC Profiles the Case of the Disappearance of Honeymooner George Smith Aboard a Royal Caribbean Cruiseship Brilliance of the Seas in 2005 (VIDEO) … JUSTICE FOR GEORGE

http://scaredmonkeys.com/2012/01/15/dateline-nbc-profiles-the-case-of-the-disappearance-of-honeymooner-george-smith-aboard-a-royal-caribbean-cruiseship-brilliance-of-the-seas-in-2005-video-justice-for-george/

George Smith, missing since 2005 …

“We have truth on our side. “My son’s life is not going to be in vain.” -  (Maureen Smith, George’s mother – Jan. 2006)

The disappearance of George Smith aboard who went missing in 2005. Scared Monkeys has followed the case ever since. The family of George Smith are tremendous people who deserve answers.  Dateline NBC reviews the Royal Caribbean 6000 page file and provides a profile on the case and new details never before released. Even though George disappeared in 2005, the case is still being investigated and the Smith family never rests in getting JUSTICE FOR GEORGE.

What is most amazing in this case and may provide

answers as to what happened to George Smith, the controversial and confrontational settlement between Royal Caribbean, Jennifer Hagel Smith and the Smith family may have been the smoking gun. Part of the settlement was the handing over of their files, a treasure trove of data and information.[/quote]

 ::snipping2::

[cookie]

thanks Red...

[MuffyBee]

New Details in Death of of George A. Smith IV Who Died on Honeymoon Mediterranean Royal Caribbean Cruise … FBI Russian Organized Crime Agents Join Investigation … Could it lead to Justice for George?

http://scaredmonkeys.com/2012/01/07/new-details-in-death-of-of-george-a-smith-iv-who-died-on-honeymoon-mediterranean-royal-caribbean-cruise-fbi-russian-organized-crime-agents-join-investigation-could-it-lead-to-justice-for-geor/

WILL THERE FINALLY BE JUSTICE FOR GEORGE?

“We have truth on our side. “My son’s life is not going to be in vain.” (Maureen Smith, George’s mother – Jan. 2006)

It has been six years since George A. Smith IV disappeared on July 5, 2005 while on his honeymoon in the Mediterranean on a Royal Caribbean cruise with his then wife, Jennifer Hagel Smith.  George’s body was never recovered; however, his body left bloodstains on an exterior overhang of the ship. Sadly, no one was ever held responsible for the death and disappearance of George Smith. Now the focus is on four men, among them three Russian-Americans from Brooklyn, New York.

 ::snipping2::

Thank you for bringing the update about this case, Red.  For a while, it seemed someone was going to get away with murder.   I hope there will be justice for George Smith and his family. 

[MuffyBee]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/sns-201205290000--tms--traveltrctntt-b20120529-20120529,0,1703431.story
How safe is a cruise? Even after new law, it's hard to say
By Christopher Elliott, Tribune Media Services The Travel Troubleshooter
May 29, 2012

 ::snipping2::
The Concordia struck a reef off the coast of Italy in January and partially sank, claiming the lives of 32 people. Carnival will refloat the hull in a $300 million salvage operation said to be the largest in history.

Coincidentally, it's been almost two years since the passage of the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act, a law that promised to make cruising safer by requiring cruise lines to install peepholes in cabin doors, improve the handling of crime evidence and report crimes to the U.S. Coast Guard and the FBI.

Given that travelers are thinking about security on cruise ships and that the summer vacation season is just around the corner, there's no better time to ask whether the rules are working as intended. But that's a hard question to answer.
The law couldn't have prevented the sinking of the Concordia, for example. That was allegedly caused when its captain, Francesco Schettino, foolishly steered his vessel away from its programmed route to do a maneuver known as a sail-by salute. And common sense can't be legislated, as they say.

But what about some of the other provisions? David Peikin, a spokesman for the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), a trade group that represents the major cruise lines, wouldn't comment on whether the law is working but insisted that cruising is safe and that passenger safety remains the industry's "number one" priority.

Peikin pointed to several independent studies that showed even before the law went into effect that the cruise experience was exceedingly safe and said that cruise lines are reporting crimes to the government as required.

I wondered what others thought, so I revisited some of my sources from a 2010 column on the act. Interestingly, that story also featured a quote from a CLIA spokesman about safety being a No. 1 priority.

Kendall Carver, chairman of the International Cruise Victims Association, Inc., a passenger advocacy group, doesn't think that the law has helped passengers. "It's a travesty," he said.

In just the past month, several stories have raised serious concerns about cruise ship safety.
 ::snipping2::
Also, five men in St. Kitts went on trial for robbing 17 cruise passengers on a shore excursion in 2010. The suspects are accused of taking money, phones and jewelry from the passengers in a crime that the St. Kitts and Nevis ******* called "the most infamous crime in St. Kitts in recent time."
Are any of these incidents being reported to the FBI and the Coast Guard? Not exactly.

Some of these alleged crimes didn't take place on cruise ships, so they're excluded. Others happened before the current reporting requirements went into effect. Peikin says that these incidents, as well as the Costa disaster, have nothing to do with the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act. "There is no connection between the two," he says.

Fair point. But a look at the cruise ship crime statistics that are reported (if you can find them on the Coast Guard website) raises other concerns. In the Coast Guard's latest report, which covers Jan. 1 through March 31, cruise lines disclosed just three incidents involving missing persons and alleged crimes. In the previous quarter, they also reported only three, and in the one before that, zero. In all, cruise lines have reported only 19 crimes to the government since 2011 -- a number that to some seems improbably low.

One who thinks it's too low is James Walker, a maritime lawyer based in Miami. "These numbers are even less than the number of crimes the cruise lines will admit occurred," he says.

Back in 2006, Royal Caribbean told Congress that in the previous three years, 66 rapes and sexual assaults had reportedly occurred, he says. But in a civil case that Walker's firm handled, a court ordered the cruise line to produce its raw crime data, which showed that the total number of reported sex-related crimes was actually around 273 -- a number that included allegations of sexual assault, sexual battery, sexual harassment and inappropriate touching.

The International Cruise Victims Association's Carver is also skeptical of the crime statistics. He alleges that the actual number of crimes is hundreds of times higher. "That's the most disappointing part of the new law," he says. "The statistical database is largely incomplete."

The problem is a clever loophole in the law, which stipulates that the FBI doesn't have to include open files in crime statistics. As long as a case isn't closed, it doesn't get reported. "Many travel agents are now marketing cruises by referring their clients to the Coast Guard database for the proposition that there are virtually no crimes at all on cruise ships," Walker adds. "It makes a mockery of the law."
 ::snipping2::
With only a few lonely voices such as Carver and Walker, who advocate primarily for victims, cruise passengers have no organized lobbying presence in Washington to raise their concerns.

CLIA spent nearly $2 million lobbying Congress last year, slightly less than what it spent in 2010, which was a record. But that doesn't include individual lobbying by large cruise lines such as Carnival ($710,000 in 2011) and Royal Caribbean ($1.1 million).

And so we're in the same place we were in before the passage of the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act: with no idea how safe a floating vacation actually is. The cruise industry insists that it's more secure than any land vacation. Critics say that it's one of the riskier trips you can take.

The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.
 ::snipping2::

[sharon]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2151354/George-Smith-FBI-close-catching-allegedly-threw-groom-overboard-honeymoon-cruise.html?ICO=most_read_module

Breakthrough in cold case: FBI probe 'incriminating video' of guests on cruise ship where groom fell overboard to his death on honeymoon seven years ago

    Body of George Smith, 26, has never been found after he went missing on Royal Caribbean ship in Aegean Sea in July 2005
    FBI has tape made by passengers during Mediterranean cruise 
    Mr Smith and new wife 'had been drinking heavily with other guests on night he disappeared'

The FBI is apparently closer to answering how a groom fell overboard on his honeymoon cruise seven years ago after discovering new footage from on board the ship.

George Smith, 26, vanished from the Royal Caribbean ship, Brilliance of the Seas, in the middle of the night on July 5, 2005. He had been partying into the early hours with his 25-year-old wife Jennifer Hagel-Smith and new friends.

The investigation into the death of Mr Smith, from Connecticut, has remained open and authorities have an incriminating video tape in their possession which may lead to an arrest.

According to Cristin Marandino from Greenwich Magazine: 'On that videotape there are certain individuals that make very self-incriminating statements following the death of George Smith.

'This is a videotape that the gentlemen made of themselves. And in their room, sort of passing around a flip phone.'

 ::snipping2:: ::snipping2::

[MuffyBee]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2151354/George-Smith-FBI-close-catching-allegedly-threw-groom-overboard-honeymoon-cruise.html?ICO=most_read_module

Breakthrough in cold case: FBI probe 'incriminating video' of guests on cruise ship where groom fell overboard to his death on honeymoon seven years ago

    Body of George Smith, 26, has never been found after he went missing on Royal Caribbean ship in Aegean Sea in July 2005
    FBI has tape made by passengers during Mediterranean cruise 
    Mr Smith and new wife 'had been drinking heavily with other guests on night he disappeared'

The FBI is apparently closer to answering how a groom fell overboard on his honeymoon cruise seven years ago after discovering new footage from on board the ship.

George Smith, 26, vanished from the Royal Caribbean ship, Brilliance of the Seas, in the middle of the night on July 5, 2005. He had been partying into the early hours with his 25-year-old wife Jennifer Hagel-Smith and new friends.

The investigation into the death of Mr Smith, from Connecticut, has remained open and authorities have an incriminating video tape in their possession which may lead to an arrest.

According to Cristin Marandino from Greenwich Magazine: 'On that videotape there are certain individuals that make very self-incriminating statements following the death of George Smith.

'This is a videotape that the gentlemen made of themselves. And in their room, sort of passing around a flip phone.'

 ::snipping2:: ::snipping2::

Thank you for posting the article Sharon.  Although it's been almost seven years since George Smith vanished, it's still not too late for answers and maybe some justice. 

[Blonde]

"Cruise Widow" Jennifer Hagel Smith to Remarry

http://www.cruisewatch.net/articles/view/7698-andquotcruise-widowandquot-jennifer-hagel-smith-to-remarry.html


Woman Widowed on Honeymoon Cruise Dares to Love Again
August 6, 2009 11:48 AM
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-5211648-504083.html

I think she settled too quickly  Just Saying
I saw her a few my ago she looks different now  her hair is brown

[KittyMom]

Her new man better stay away from a honeymoon cruise, imo.

[Nut44x4]

 

[MuffyBee]

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/18433277/two-new-york-men-sue-cruise-company-after-week-in-brig-over-false-rape-claim
Two New York men sue cruise company after week in brig over false rape claim
May 16, 2012

NEW YORK -- Two friends who jetted from New York to Florida for a fun-filled cruise claim they were locked in the brig for a week after a fellow passenger falsely accused them of rape.

Eviatar Mor, 22, and buddy David Amsalem, 26, sued Royal Caribbean Cruises on Tuesday over their grueling getaway in a "small, windowless cell" on one of the company's luxury liners.

Their Manhattan federal court filing seeks at least $100 million in damages each on grounds including false arrest and imprisonment, assault and battery and "outrageous conduct causing emotional distress."
 ::snipping2::

The men, both Orthodox Jews from Israel, said they flew to Fort Lauderdale on Feb. 27 and boarded the Liberty of the Seas, with plans to visit Haiti and Jamaica.

But they claim that after climbing into their beds the first night, they were awakened at 5:00am local time by crew members who made them get dressed "in prison garments issued by Royal Caribbean."

Without explanation, the staffers paraded Mor and Amsalem "through public areas of the ship to a lockup facility," court papers state.

Several hours later, they were told they had been accused of raping an "unidentified woman," who later recanted her allegation and who was examined by a doctor who determined that she was not sexually assaulted.
 ::snipping2::
A Royal Caribbean spokeswoman said the men had been accused of "a serious crime" and that the company "takes all allegations of crime seriously."

Spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez added, "In this instance, our security personnel onboard followed our established procedures."

[jamcakes]

(not sure where to post this article - please move to appropriate location - thanks)


Edit to move and snip article and to add link.  I had to look, but I believe this is the one.  MB http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-06-10/cruise-ship-crime-information-shielded/55485228/1


Law shields industry on cruise-ship crime information

Posted 14m ago | Updated 9h ago 6/10/12

PHOENIX — Ever since Kendall Carver's daughter mysteriously disappeared on an Alaskan cruise in 2004, he has dedicated his life to holding the cruise-line industry more accountable for passenger safety.

The retired Phoenix businessman believed he succeeded in 2010 with the passage of federal legislation that was supposed to reveal the full picture of the deaths, sexual assaults, thefts, missing persons and other crimes reported on cruise ships.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., who sponsored the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act, promised the bill would provide greater transparency about crimes on passenger ships operating out of U.S. ports.

However, unknown to Carver and other supporters, the bill was changed shortly before it passed to provide less, not more, information about cruise-ship crime.

Kerry's own office was responsible for altering the bill without alerting other stakeholders about the changes. Kerry's press secretary acknowledged for the first time publicly last month that the bill was changed to hold back information about cases at the request of the FBI and U.S. Coast Guard.

The agencies "feared that reporting on pending cases could impact ongoing investigations and endanger lives and efforts to bring criminals to justice," press secretary Whitney Smith said.

Carver, who helped spearhead the legislation, said he feels betrayed.

"The bill is being sabotaged. The FBI is using the regulation to gut the intent of the bill," he said. "The FBI and the Coast Guard, the very people who should be looking out for United States citizens, have watered this thing down."

The new act requires cruise lines to report all serious crimes aboard ships to the FBI. Originally, it required the Coast Guard to maintain a public database of all serious crimes on cruise ships. Language added before its passage altered the bill so that only crimes "no longer under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation" were reported in the public database.

The upshot: The public is not allowed to see reports of all alleged crimes aboard ships. Where the FBI once publicly reported more than 400 crimes a year, only six crimes on ships in the past nine months have been listed on the public database. And cases not investigated by the FBI — for example, allegations handled by a ship's security staff — never will be reported in the database under the new law.

Now, Carver and other cruise-safety experts say the industry is using the lack of crime reports to suggest that ocean liners are safer than they have ever been.

 ::snipping2::