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FBI Checks Ship For Evidence

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McClatchy-Tribune

The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 29, 2008

MIAMI - A Norwegian Cruise Line cruise ship at the center of a missing person mystery returned to the Port of Miami on Sunday morning, where FBI agents stood waiting.

The agents launched an investigation into the disappearance of Jennifer Seitz, 36, who was a passenger aboard the Norwegian Pearl, officials said.

"We're looking to see if a crime was committed on the high seas," FBI Special Agent Michael Leverock said. He added that agents interviewed numerous passengers and crew members Sunday morning and searched the cabin Seitz was staying in for clues to what happened.
Surveillance footage from a camera on the ship shows a woman falling overboard about 8:08 p.m. Friday, U.S. Coast Guard officials said Sunday.

Seitz's husband reported her missing Friday as the vessel sailed about 15 miles east of Cancun, Mexico, according to the Coast Guard. The cruise ship had set sail from the Port of Miami on Dec. 21.

Despite an exhaustive ongoing search, the Coast Guard and the Mexican Navy have been unable to find any trace of Seitz in the water, officials said.

Cruise ship staff alerted the Coast Guard that Seitz was missing and may have fallen overboard after they conducted a search of the 15-deck vessel and could not find the woman, Coast Guard officials said. They did not have additional information about Seitz, including her hometown, and the FBI declined to release any additional information about the missing woman.

The Norwegian Pearl, operated by Norwegian Cruise Line, was on a seven-day tour through the western Caribbean when Seitz disappeared. The vessel can hold nearly 2,400 passengers.

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