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

[Nut44x4]

Search Suspended For Cruise Ship Passenger
Ellis-Seitz Reportedly Fell Off Boat Near Mexico Thursday Night

UPDATED: 4:41 pm EST December 29, 2008
MIAMI -- The Coast Guard suspended its 4,200-square mile search Monday at 3 p.m. for a woman who fell off of a Miami cruise ship.

Jennifer Ellis-Seitz was on the Norwegian Pearl when she disappeared, according to the Coast Guard.

Her husband reported the 36-year-old woman missing eight hours later, according to the Coast Guard.

"They are interviewing the husband, they are interviewing the crew, they are interviewing if they can find any witnesses," Dean Lee of the U.S. Coast Guard said.

Ellis-Seitz and her husband, Raymond, participated in a game called the Not Necessarily Newlywed Game, making them recognizable to other passengers on the ship.

FBI agents swarmed the room where Ellis-Seitz stayed on the 11th deck. A couple also cruising spoke exclusively to the "Today" show about Seitz's husband's demeanor.

"After I saw him the day after I had given my condolences, and he had a plastic bag filled with quarters and he had said to me when he was going to the casino to see if he could change his luck," cruise ship passenger Jim Nester said.

"We're in charge of crimes on the high seas and that's what we're doing now, looking for evidence," Michael Leverock of the FBI said.

After searching the ship, crew members contacted Mexican and U.S. authorities for help.

Infared video on the ship seems to show Ellis-Seitz going overboard at 8:08 p.m. Thursday, according to the Coast Guard.

At the time authorities believe Ellis-Seitz went overboard, the ship was about 15 miles east of Cancun, Mexico.

"They were a couple there to have a good time. They were definitely different in my opinion. They were loud, what I consider wild. They were there to have a good time but they stood out more than other people," Nester said.

Ellis-Seitz's ex-husband, Michael Rich of Melbourne, spoke to WESH 2 News and said they were married for a year and had no children.

He also confirmed that Ellis-Seitz was a former employee of "Florida Today" and other state newspapers, including the "Celebration Independent."

The family of Jennifer Ellis-Seitz e-mailed to "Florida Today," the newspaper where she used to work, the following statement:

"There were no outward signs or indication of anything being wrong or unusual. Jennifer, however, has had previous emotional issues."

Rich said he knows Ellis-Setiz's current husband and called him a "good guy." He said he doesn't think he had anything to do with her disappearance.

Judy Walker spent time with Ellis-Seitz at the Polk County elections office.

"Her personality was such that she was such a natural with people that we had her help out with poll worker training," Walker said.

The ship returned to port in Miami Sunday morning following a seven-day western Caribbean cruise.

Some passengers were upset that they weren't better informed by the cruise ship staff.

The cruise line said there was not a public safety threat for the others, so there wasn't an announcement.

It's believed the Seitzes lived for a time in the Orlando area, as well as Brevard County before moving to the Garden Grove Oaks neighborhood in Winter Haven.

Raymond Seitz was arrested on domestic violence charges in April.

The name of the victim will not be released under Florida law.
http://www.wesh.com/news/18369986/detail.html

[Nut44x4]

This is strange....not sure I want to post all of this.
Jennifer Seitz Update: Info on Raymond Seitz (PHOTOS and VIDEO)
Posted on: December 29th, 2008 by: Andrea

Some photos...past husband/ ... ObesityHelp.com and diary entries
 
http://www.bittenandbound.com/2008/12/29/jennifer-seitz-update-info-on-raymond-seitz-photos-and-video/

[MuffyBee]

Family believes cruise passenger jumped into sea
By TAMARA LUSH, Associated Press Writer Tamara Lush, Associated Press Writer   – 3 mins ago
MIAMI – 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.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081230/ap_on_re_us/missing_cruise_passenger

This guy heads to the casino with a bag of quarters, hoping his luck changes, after his wife is missing overboard?  There is something very, very strange about this whole affair imo.

[klaasend]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-bk-missing-cruise-passenger-123008,0,2401990.story

FBI investigating possible foul play in disappearance of cruise ship passenger
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

9:07 AM EST, December 30, 2008

A day after the U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search for a woman who plunged 15 stories from the deck of a cruise ship, the FBI on Tuesday said it hopes the woman or her body are somehow found.

The FBI on Tuesday said it would continue investigating whether foul play was involved in the disappearance of Jennifer Ellis-Seitz, who was traveling with her husband and mother on the Miami-based Norwegian Pearl when she fell from the ship into the Gulf of Mexico near Cancun last week.

FBI Special Agent Michael Leverock said it may re-interview her husband, Raymond Seitz, and other people aboard the ship in the coming days.
"Certainly, we would like to see her alive," Leverock said. "But a body also would further help in trying to figure out what happened here."

More than eight hours lapsed between the time Ellis-Seitz fell from the ship and when her husband reported her missing. But Ellis-Seitz's family said they don't suspect foul play because she suffered from emotional problems and may have committed suicide.

"There were no outward signs or indication of anything being wrong or unusual. Jennifer, however, has had previous emotional issues,'' the family said in a statement Monday. "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."

Ellis-Seitz, 36, a journalist who lived in Winter Haven, has been missing since Thursday, and Coast Guard officials said the 11-hour delay between her disappearance and the time they were notified hampered their efforts. In its statement, her family provided a fresh timeline and details of the search.

"Jennifer's husband and mother discovered her missing at around 2 a.m. As it was common for her to walk the ship when she was unable to sleep, her husband began searching the ship for her,'' the statement said. "He could not locate her and so he and her mother notified ship security that she was missing at approximately 3:30 a.m.''

The statement said Ellis-Seitz and her husband were enjoying the trip and looking forward to starting a family. Her mother was even invited to come along.

But guests reported odd behavior by the couple, and court records show that Raymond Seitz headbutted his wife during a fight earlier this year.

Raymond Seitz was charged with assaulting Ellis-Seitz on April 18, according to an arrest report released Monday by the Polk County Sheriff's Office. He completed a pre-trial diversion program in lieu of sentencing, according to court records.

The Polk County arrest report said the couple was arguing when Seitz grabbed his wife's wrists, then intentionally banged his head into her.

"The suspect spontaneously stated that he did in fact strike the victim in the head with his forehead during the argument,'' detectives wrote.

More than 11 hours had passed before the Coast Guard was told Ellis-Seitz was missing, hampering search efforts, Petty Officer 3rd Class Nick Ameen said.

"The Coast Guard and Mexican navy conducted an exhaustive search for Jennifer Seitz, but have not located her," said Capt. Dean Lee, who announced the search was stopped at 3 p.m. Monday.

Ellis-Seitz apparently went overboard about 8 p.m. Thursday, as the vessel sailed 15 miles east of Cancun, Mexico, but her husband didn't report her missing until nearly 5 the next morning, the Coast Guard said.

At that point, ship security and employees did a three-hour sweep of the Norwegian Pearl before calling the Coast Guard.

"That's standard operating procedure for them, when they aren't certain that someone has actually gone overboard,'' Ameen said. "Obviously when you're dealing with that type of delay, it makes the search that much harder.''

The FBI is investigating and has seized a videotape showing a woman falling from the deck of the ship, authorities said.

Ameen said a videotape has been "crucial'' to the Coast Guard efforts.

FBI agents are analyzing the tape to determine whether Ellis-Seitz accidentally fell of the ship, jumped on her own or was pushed.

Ameen hasn't seen the tape, but said its time and date stamp allowed the Coast Guard to pinpoint the ship's exact location when she went overboard.

Ellis-Seitz trained poll workers during the election season, according to media reports and had also worked as a reporter for several Florida newspapers, including the Ledger, Tampa Tribune and Florida Today, according to a biography on her personal Web site.

She is also is a school bus driver and founder of NewsHound Communications, which does writing, editing, proofreading, training and advertising, the Tribune said.

The News Chief, Winter Haven's local newspaper, said Ellis-Seitz worked there as a reporter in the mid- to late 1990s. She was on the cruise to celebrate her first wedding anniversary, the paper reported.

At the Garden Grove Oaks adult community in Winter Haven, where Ellis-Seitz lived with her mother and husband, security guards shooed away reporters seeking more information about the missing traveler.

Leaving the complex, residents Robert and Betty Kirckl told the Orlando Sentinel they had bowled with Ellis-Seitz and her mother every Monday for the past year. Betty Kircko remembered Ellis-Seitz as a bubbly, "very lovable woman" who had been excited about her upcoming holiday cruise.

A passenger said he talked to Raymond Seitz on the ship after his wife was reported missing.

"He had a plastic bag filled with quarters," Jim Nestor told msnbc.com, recalling his meeting with Seitz on Saturday. "He said to me that he was going to the casino to see if he could change his luck."

Nestor, a retired state trooper from Connecticut, and his wife criticized the way the cruise ship's crew handled the disappearance.

There were "no announcements. No cabin checks. Nobody showed a picture of her. It was all word of mouth," Suzanne Nestor told msnbc.com.

Norwegian Cruise Line officials did not alert passengers because "there was no public safety issue," said AnneMarie Mathews, spokeswoman for the cruise line.

The Nestors said they met the couple earlier in the cruise when they participated in a game on the ship called "The Not Quite Newlywed Game," modeled on the TV show "The Newlywed Game."

The Nestors told msnbc.com that the Seitzes had been married one year.

Suzanne Nestor said Ellis-Seitz "told me [that] after this cruise they were going back to Orlando, where they lived, and she was already packed for another trip to go up north to Bridgeport, Conn., and spend New Year's Eve in Manhattan."

Judy Walker, director of community services at the Polk County supervisor of elections office, said Ellis-Seitz had been hired temporarily last June to help train poll workers. She quickly made a good impression.

"She was so sharp we asked her to work with us during the election," Walker said.

She described Ellis-Seitz was a cheerful woman who "had a smile on her face every time I saw her."

Ellis-Seitz also was an amateur chef and avid traveler. She worked at Florida Today in Brevard County from 2000 to 2004, mainly covering police news, the paper said. She recently has been working as a free-lance writer.

Executive Editor Bob Stover recalled how Ellis-Seitz "was a very vivacious, energetic reporter," who held various positions at the newspaper, including its first full-time online reporter.

She eventually left Florida Today to pursue a teaching job, because she was "looking forward to working with children," he said.

Dien Magno, a journalist who met Ellis-Seitz in 2003 during Magno's internship at Florida Today, recalled how Ellis-Seitz lost weight years ago after undergoing gastric bypass surgery. Soon after, she and Ellis-Seitz went skydiving in Titusville.

"I remember her feeling that she had lost weight. She felt free and was an uninhibited person," Magno said.

Ellis-Seitz kept voluminous entries on her weight loss experiences.

Her former husband, Michael Rich of Brevard County, told Florida Today he was shocked but did not wish to comment further. They were married in 2005 for a year, he said.

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 the woman, the Coast Guard said.

The Norwegian Pearl, operated by Norwegian Cruise Line, was on a seven-day tour of the western Caribbean when the woman vanished.

The vessel, which can hold as many as 2,394 passengers, arrived back at the Port of Miami on Sunday. It left later that evening for another voyage with the same itinerary.

Staff Writer Juan Ortega, the Orlando Sentinel and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Tonya Alanez can be reached at tealanez@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4542.

[Nut44x4]

Mexico Calls Off Search for Missing Cruise Passenger
Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Mexico called off its search Tuesday for a cruise-ship passenger believed to have fallen into the Gulf of Mexico on Christmas night as her family said she may have taken her own life.

The U.S. Coast Guard called off its search Monday night for Jennifer Ellis Seitz, a Florida journalist, who was reported missing by her husband about eight hours after a surveillance camera captured a person falling overboard.

An FBI spokesman said Tuesday that agents were still investigating. No one has been charged.

Her husband, Raymond Seitz, was arrested earlier this year on a domestic battery charge, after he allegedly head-butted his wife. The charge was later dismissed after he completed a diversionary program. Records show that she asked the prosecutor not to pursue the case.

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. Seitz's mother joined her daughter and son-in-law on the Norwegian Pearl, as the couple cruised to celebrate their first anniversary.

"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."

FBI spokesman Mike Leverock said agents were "still trying to determine if a crime occurred" after collecting evidence when the ship docked Sunday in Miami.

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. A message left seeking comment at the couple's house wasn't immediately returned, and a call to the paving company that employs him rang unanswered.

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.

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 a 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.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,473987,00.html

Strange story/case IMO

[stayhomemommy]

This guy heads to the casino with a bag of quarters, hoping his luck changes, after his wife is missing overboard?  There is something very, very strange about this whole affair imo.
[/quote]

This is exactly what I was thinking. I realize she had emotional problems, but boy that sure could be a good alibi. I mean, seriously, who goes gambling when their wife is missing (and supposedly committed suicide) and says such a thing. If this is an accurate statement by this other passenger, Nestor, then methinks something smells very fishy; and I don't mean the ocean.

[Nut44x4]

Missing Cruise Passenger Was Bipolar

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

FROM ABC NEWS -- An eight-story plunge off a cruise ship may have been the purposeful last moment in a life that alternated between happiness and struggle for writer Jennifer Seitz, her brother told "Good Morning America" today on WSB-TV Channel 2 in an exclusive interview.

Investigators say cameras captured the missing cruise passenger going overboard. Jennifer Seitz, 36, fought weight problems along with serious emotional issues that could have been a factor in her disappearance early Friday morning.

"She was recently, within the last few years, diagnosed as bipolar," said her brother, who requested his name not be used. "It's going to be a torment and a torture for this family for the rest of our natural lives."

The mystery surrounding the woman's disappearance began on a warm Christmas night aboard the Norwegian Pearl cruise ship off the coast of Cancun, Mexico, when Jennifer Seitz, who lived in central Florida, may have taken a stroll on the decks of the ship.

"My sister commonly woke up in the middle of the night. She was getting up pretty much every night at about, you know, 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning and walking around the ship just to ease her mind and then go back to bed," her brother told "GMA."

The fact that she never came back is about the only thing investigators are sure of, despite the reported existence of a video that shows a woman in a white bathrobe going overboard early Friday morning.

According to Jennifer Seitz's brother, her husband, Raymond Seitz, got up later to find her and, when he could not locate his wife, reported her missing to ship security. Her mother was also staying with the couple.

"It's horrible that they both had to be there when she made the choice she made," her brother said.

After 72 hours of combing thousands of miles off the coast of Mexico, the Coast Guard suspended the search and said Monday, "There's no longer any real probability of survival."

While the FBI attempts to determine whether a crime occurred, the Seitz family is searching for answers as to why Jennifer Seitz may have taken her life. According to the FBI, Raymond Seitz is not a suspect in her disappearance.

To the family, Jennifer Seitz's possible suicide is especially distressing because of her attitude before the cruise.

"Jennifer was in a very happy and uplifted mood both before and during the cruise," the family said in a statement.

Jennifer Seitz was a freelance writer who penned articles for the Tampa Tribune and Florida Today and she wrote an online article called "Battling the Bulge on Board" about staying fit aboard a cruise. In addition to writing, Jennifer Seitz was an avid chef and trained poll workers during elections.

"She's always been a person that has been very ambitious and always gone after the things she's wanted in life," her brother said. "She was always a go-getter."

One of those things she wanted and got was her husband. The couple met at a support group after both had obesity surgery. They were married a year ago and, according to Jennifer Seitz's brother, Raymond Seitz was a devoted husband.

"He loved my sister so deeply. You could see it in every way he touched her, every way he talked to her," the brother said. "He would pick her up from any low that she ever had."

Some passengers on the cruise, however, said the husband behaved strangely after Jennifer Seitz's disappearance.

"He was walking around the ship like nothing had happened," one witness said.

Raymond Seitz was arrested in April on charges of domestic violence. He allegedly head-butted Jennifer Seitz, but the charge was dropped when she requested that prosecutors not pursue the case.

For Jennifer Seitz's brother, speculation of foul play is unfounded and insulting.

"I can't even use the words on an interview that I want to use to the people who are speculating, who are outright lying, who are just trying to get their five minutes of fame," he said. "These people from this cruise ship who think that they know people because they talked to them for 2½ minutes have no clue who they met."

But even for Jennifer Seitz's family, questions abound about what might have caused her abrupt change of mood.

"I would love to say that we have evidence that we know what happened to my sister," her brother said. "But that evidence doesn't exist."
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/18382860/detail.html?rss=atl&psp=news

[bleachedblack]

Missing Cruise Passenger Probe May Take Weeks

Dec. 31, 2008
The investigation of the disappearance of cruise ship passenger Jennifer Ellis-Seitz of Winter Haven could take weeks, FBI spokesman Mike Leverock said today.

Family members say Ellis-Seitz, reported missing Friday from a cruise ship off Cancun, Mexico, has had emotional issues and might have chosen "an unfortunate ending to her life."

The U.S. Coast Guard and Mexico's navy have called off the search for Ellis-Seitz, 36.

The Coast Guard says there are images from a cruise ship surveillance camera of someone falling from the Norwegian Pearl about 8 p.m. Christmas Day.

Raymond Seitz reported his wife missing to cruise ship personnel shortly before 4 a.m. Friday. Employees searched the ship and notified the Coast Guard.

Norwegian Cruise Line said the ship returned to Miami on Sunday after the seven-day cruise of the western Caribbean.

Leverock said agents are trying to determine whether a crime occurred and may re-interview passengers, family and crew members.

Ellis-Seitz, a Central Florida native, is founder of NewsHound Communications, which does writing, editing, proofreading, training and advertising, according to the company's Web site. She also is a school bus driver, amateur chef and avid traveler.

As a journalist, she worked for Florida Today, The (Lakeland) Ledger and The Tampa Tribune, according to her Web site. Tribune archives show a Jennifer Ellis was a Tribune correspondent from January to August 1997.

Court records show Raymond Seitz was arrested in April after Ellis-Seitz called 911 and told authorities he grabbed her wrist when they were arguing and hit her forehead with his forehead. About two weeks later, she signed a written statement saying she wanted the charges dismissed.

In the written statement, she said "the charges are overblown and that there were underlying aggravations, including my own actions."

Court records show Seitz completed a domestic violence course and that charges against him were dismissed.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28455504/

[Nut44x4]

Missing Cruise Passenger’s 911 Call From April Released
Wednesday, December 31, 2008 11:28:45 PM
LAKE WALES -- News 13 has obtained a 911 call made by Jennifer Ellis-Seitz about a domestic violence incident in April.

Ellis-Seitz: "Yes, my husband and I have been fighting and he's hit me with his head, and we've been fighting, and he's now trying to leave."

Ellis-Seitz: "And he's telling me I’m going to regret this if I do this if I call you, but he's left me no other choice."

Dispatcher: "Where's he at now?"

Ellis-Seitz: "He's in the closet."

Later on in the call Ellis-Seitz tells deputies not to respond, saying she didn't want news of the trouble to get out. However, deputies did anyway.

Ellis-Seitz was with her husband Raymond Seitz Dec. 25 when she went overboard off a cruise ship near Cancun.

All searches for her have since been called off.

Investigators have said they don't think Raymond is a suspect in the case. Family members said they think she may have jumped overboard as part of a suicide attempt.

LISTEN to the call here>
http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2008/12/31/missing_cruise_passengers_911_call_from_april_released.html

[Nut44x4]

  

[sharon]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/sfl-man-overboard-cruise-ship-0101,0,1051059.story

Carnival employee missing after falling overboard near Vero Beach

Carnival employee missing after falling overboard near Vero Beach
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
8:25 AM EST, January 1, 2009
The Coast Guard is searching for an employee who fell off the Carnival Sensation cruise ship early Thursday.

The ship was at sea, about 20 miles east of Vero Beach.

The man's co-workers said he fell overboard about 12:50 a.m. The ship's officials contacted the Coast Guard and are helping with the search.

The ship was supposed to dock at Port Canaveral Thursday morning.

[flamom]

Happy New Years !! 
I saw Dr Keith Ablow commenting on this story on Fox.
He stated that women don't kill themselves this way. This woman was on her 1st anniv. cruise with husband and mom. Previous domestic call to the home due to head butting by the hubby. She told 911 operator he was hiding in the closet. The hubby sounds stranger than she does. My bet is on the hubby with quarters pushing her.. 

[jjayinthemorning]

The area off the coast of Somalia isn't like the Carribbean with lots of cruise ship traffic. It's a war zone. And people like Cynthia McKinney who thinks she can take a yacht with emergency supplies into Gaza will be destroyed in war zone waters.

Yes, in the future there will be ship hijacking and the Achille Lauro was an example of terrorism attacks on non-muslims all over the world. There have been over 15000 terrorism incidents since 911. The list is here:
www.thereligionofpeace.com

[2NJSons_Mom]

Happy New Years !! 
I saw Dr Keith Ablow commenting on this story on Fox.
He stated that women don't kill themselves this way. This woman was on her 1st anniv. cruise with husband and mom. Previous domestic call to the home due to head butting by the hubby. She told 911 operator he was hiding in the closet. The hubby sounds stranger than she does. My bet is on the hubby with quarters pushing her.. 

Thanks for posting this, flamom.  When I read that the surveillance video showed her going overboard around 8pm Christmas night I suspected he may have pushed her.  Just never posted that thought not having seen the video, the details or anything about it's clarity.  Having been on one cruise with family and friends, it would be natural they should have had plans for dinner or had had dinner and would be seeing a show or doing something that night.  Could he have told her mother some story early and then hours later pretend to look for her?   

I agree about him & his quarters.

[Nut44x4]

I too agree...no suicide. 

[Nut44x4]

No sign of missing cruise line worker 1/2/09
VERO BEACH, Fla., Jan. 2 (UPI) -- The U.S. Coast Guard says search efforts taking place Friday in Vero Beach, Fla., have found no trace of a cruise line worker who went overboard this week.

Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer James Harless said weather and water conditions during Thursday's accident were not promising for the unidentified 26-year-old Carnival Cruise Lines employee's survival, the South Florida Sun-Sentinels reported.

"It is not a favorable situation for his survival," Harless said, referring to the 25 mph winds and up to 8-foot-tall waves occurring Thursday.

Harless also said the fact that the worker was not wearing a life vest when he fell nearly 82 feet was not a favorable detail.

"It is a high distance. He fell into 7-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 Sun-Sentinel said two airplanes, two helicopters and four boats have been used to search for the worker, whose Carnival Sensation ship had just returned from a Bahamas cruise.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/01/02/No_sign_of_missing_cruise_line_worker/UPI-22391230923302/

[Nut44x4]

PORT CANAVERAL -- The man who fell overboard while working on a Carnival cruise ship has been identified as Antonio Matabang, 26, of California.
The Coast Guard called off the search for Matabang Friday. See Previous Story.

Matabang was working on the Carnival Sensation cruise ship during the early morning hours of the new year.

Six other employees saw Matabang fall overboard, according to the Coast Guard.

Officials said Matabang, a member of the ship's entertainment staff, fell over 80 feet to the waters below.

A life buoy was tossed in, bus Matabang did not appear to get to it.

Hope for finding Matabang alive continues to fade.

"We were ready to respond, and that's why we felt so confident we were going to find this individual," said Public Affairs Specialist 2nd Class James Harless, with the Coast Guard in Jacksonville. "We already had an aircraft in the air by the time he fell overboard. When we couldn't find him intially, that made us worry that we weren't going to be able to find this guy."

Coast Guard ships and helicopters covered an area more than 3,000 square miles, but turned up nothing.

A Carnival representative said the cruise line does not plan on releasing any more statements on the search for Matabang.

http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2009/1/3/missing_cruise_ship_worker_identified.html

[sharon]

Thanks, nut.

They're not releasing any other information about the 'accident' here, either.

I will try to make contact with colleagues at Carnival this week -- although I doubt they know much more.

I have said this before (although many choose not to agree) -- it is NOT easy to have an 'accident' and fall overboard.

Statements like that about 'accidents' leave the impression that you can be innocently walking along the deck, or sitting on your balcony, when whooosh suddenly you find yourself overboard.

I'm sure it was an 'accident' -- in terms of it was not intentional. But I want to know more info before I judge.

I'll post if I find out anything additional.

My thoughts and prayers with the Matabang family.

[sharon]

From this morning. He may have been trying to take a photo  Seaarch has been called off.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flpcruise0104sbjan04,0,3496700.story

{snipped}

Matabang went overboard about 12:50 a.m. Thursday about 20 miles east of Vero Beach. Passengers said he may have been trying to take a photo. Colleagues tried to toss him life preservers, but he slipped into the depths

{snipped}

[Nut44x4]

Elderly Couple Missing Aboard Cruise Ship Carnival Paradise … Presumed to have Gone Overboard

An elderly couple has gone missing aboard the Carnival Paradise that set sail from Long Beach, CA. A 90 year old man and his 79 year old wife were last seen Tuesday, January 13, 2009 aboard the Carnival Paradise. They are presumed to have gone overboard. The couple’s names and hometowns have not been released. Their cabin door was double locked from the inside with a “do not disturb” sign hanging on the door handle. It is also being reported that the door to the balcony from their room was unlocked.

A statement released overnight by Carnival says the 90-year-old man and his 79-year-old wife were aboard the Carnival Paradise when it set sail from Long Beach, Calif., on Monday but could not be found when the ship returned Friday.

“Their cabin door was double locked from the inside with a do not disturb sign on the handle and the door leading from the cabin to the balcony was unlocked,” the statement says. “The couple’s personal belongings remained inside the cabin.”

Carnival says all proper authorities have been notified, including the U.S. Coast Guard and FBI, and the cruise line is providing full assistance.

The Coast Guard has suspended the search for the elderly couple who are believed to have fallen overboard.

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.”
http://missingexploited.com/2009/01/17/elderly-couple-missing-aboard-cruise-ship-carnival-paradise-presumed-to-have-gone-overboard/

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/cruises/item.aspx?type=blog&ak=61515836.blog

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,480304,00.html