We have all read about disappearances on cruise ships. The most well known case involves George Smith, who went missing on his honeymoon cruise on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship, the Brilliance of the Seas. George was on a honeymoon cruise with his bride, Jennifer Hagel Smith. They had just had a story book wedding. They were a beautiful couple. People said they were like the perfect couple that is on the top of a wedding cake.
How can someone go missing on a cruise ship, never to be found again? What follows such an incident in an effort to try to solve what happened? What are the possibilities of what can happen? Having represented the family of George Smith, who for the past six years have been seeking answers to what happened to George the night he was last seen in the cruise ship bar with his new bride and other passengers, we have experienced the horror and sorrow a family faces when trying to get answers. We have also handled several other cases where family members lost a loved one on a cruise ship. We have become all too familiar with the grief and sorrow of the family members and the last of closure they are able to get.
The Smiths had many questions as to what happened to their son. Where was his wife Jennifer when he disappeared? How did it happen? Was it a murder? Who was responsible? Why wasn't the FBI there sooner? Did the cruise line tamper with and cause the destruction of material evidence? These are questions the media addressed extensively following the disappearance. The case received national and international attention.
I will mostly discuss the George Smith case even though there have been many incidents of disappearances and people going overboard on cruise ships, never to be found. International Cruise Victims Association, a great organization composed of victims of crimes onboard cruise ships, as well as family members who have lost loved ones on a cruise, documents many incidents and discusses the frustration of victims and family members in trying to get answers to questions that arise after these terrible events occur. Kendall Carver, President of International Cruise Victims Association, lost his daughter when she disappeared aboard a cruise ship. He has never been able to solve the question of what happened to his daughter. The cruise ship company never reported it in time for a proper investigation to take place, and then the cruise ship company actually resisted his efforts to get information from the cruise, to help him solve the mystery. He had to hire his own investigator and spend thousands of dollars to get information, actually to find out that his daughter had disappeared during the cruise and the cruise line had sent her belongings to storage without reporting the incident. Kendall Carver appeared before Congress when I spoke and his experience in trying to get answers as to what happened to his daughter raised eyebrows in Congress and with the media and spectators. I was an invited speaker at the hearing that spearheaded further hearings which eventually led to the passage of cruise ship legislation called the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act, which was signed into law by President Obama on July 27, 2010.
Back to the question how to solve a case when a passenger does disappear aboard a cruise ship. The first thing is the prompt reporting of the incident to the authorities. Unfortunately, on a cruise ship, the proper authority to do the investigation is often a matter of uncertainty and debate, and as a result, valuable time is lost in the investigation. In addition, often times the authority that is contacted and who takes the lead may not really have the manpower, or the incentive, to conduct a thorough and appropriate investigation.
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