The U.S. Coast Guard has been called in to assist in a search for missing Norwegian Pearl cruise ship passenger Jennifer Seitz, who was previously identified as Jennifer Feitz. The 36 year old woman was reported missing by her husband at 3:50 a.m. Friday when he couldn’t locate her.
After a thorough search of the ship, it is now assumed the guest may have fallen overboard while the ship was at sea near Cancun. The Norwegian Pearl left Miami on Sunday for a seven day western Caribbean cruise. The search is centered about 15 miles east of Cancun, off the northeastern coast according to Petty officer 3rd Class Nick Ameen, a Coast Guard spokesman.
The Coast Guard dispatched an HU-25 Falcon jet crew and a C-130 fixed wing aircraft crew from Clearwater, Florida. The Mexican government was also providing aid with the help of a helicopter crew and three water and ground surface crews.
This ship can accommodate 2400 guests with a crew of 1000. The cruise itinerary had stops in Roatan and Belize City earlier in the week. The ship was docked in Cozumel from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. on Christmas Day. The ship was then headed for a day at sea on Friday with last port of call to be Great Stirrup Bay on Saturday before returning to Miami on Sunday.
UPDATE: We received an e-mail from a passenger who disembarked from the Norwegian Pearl when it docked back in Miami this morning. This passenger said: “Well I was on the ship and it was very hush…however before getting off the ship this morning, a Miami crime team was on dock prepping to board..a lot of rumors circulated regarding the husband. The cabin was taped off, etc. A dating gameshow that was looping on the tv sets in the cabins that showed the couple participating was taken off the air…probably protocol for such an event…anyway…however this turns out it looks all bad…all bad!…condolences to the family.
Ship pics below. See Photo and bio of Jennifer Ellis-Seitz here.