Mexico Mexico - Lynsey O'Brien, 15, missing from cuise hip, Yucatan Peninsula, 5 Jan 2006

I posted this on another thread, but thought it would be best to start a new one...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - A 15-year-old cruise passenger from Ireland was reported missing early Thursday morning in waters off Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, the latest in a string of disappearances from cruise ships.

The passenger, who was traveling with her family, was aboard the cruise ship Costa Magica, which left Fort Lauderdale New Year's Day on a week-long Western Caribbean itinerary. It is due back on Jan. 8.

At about 2 a.m. EST Thursday, as the ship was making its way towards Cozumel, Mexico, the teenager was reported to have disappeared. "We have a full investigation going on," said Lynn Torrent, president of Costa Cruise Lines.

The cruise ship then circled the area until Mexican Navy vessels arrived to aid in the search. The cruise line said the ship's staff is trying to console the parents. "They're devastated," Torrent said.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/nation/13558981.htm

I think that all cruise ships should have extendable nets that stay extended while out at sea, that way no one that is thrown overboard would fall into the waters but instead fall into the net. there needs to be more devices put into place to prevent someone of disposing of a body on these ships. when people are on these cruises they don't have the mind set of something bad happening, they are to much into the excitement of having a wonderful time that they wouldn't think that something like this could happen.

Thirty people in 5 years missing from American cruise lines, and that's only the ones who are voluntarily reported? That's shocking to me - I had no idea it was so high. And the cruise ship spokesman is saying there ar 2000 reported missing on land daily - well duh, usually they turn up fine. You don't go missing on the ocan and "turn up fine".

This story is awful.

dannyodie said:

I think that all cruise ships should have extendable nets that stay extended while out at sea, that way no one that is thrown overboard would fall into the waters but instead fall into the net. there needs to be more devices put into place to prevent someone of disposing of a body on these ships. when people are on these cruises they don't have the mind set of something bad happening, they are to much into the excitement of having a wonderful time that they wouldn't think that something like this could happen.

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Even though it would take alot of netting that is a very good idea.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/nation/13558981.htm

http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/0106/mexico.html

Well that last article is a horse of a different color!!! So they know when and where, precisely, she fell off the ship. Why is this being treated like a mystery by the first article?

What a sad and horrible thing to happen on a vacation. Prayers for Lynsay's family.

How sad for the 11 year old sister to have to witness it.

I kind of agree with you CrimeHater, but on the other hand, if she had to go off a cruise ship, I'd sure rather a family member fell off (how do you do that, anyway? I've heard it's impossible to fall off) than was brutalized and pushed off, or just to never know. At least they have the small comfort of knowing that it was accidental.

edited to add, I just looked at the picture of the ship included with the article . . and . . . how DO you fall off that top deck? Its hard to imagine even successfully JUMPING off the top deck and ended up in the water - it seems like you'd end up on the ship if you jumped from that deck. Are there any better pictures of the deck anywhere?

I went on a Costa cruise on a ship just like this one. I actually can imagine how easy it would be to fall off-the railings did not seem any higher than an average deck railing at a home-so a bit above waist high for me who is 5'4" I would like to add that I think some human error can add greatly to falling on a ship-like standing on a rail to get a better view perhaps, leaning over a rail to look down the ship at how high it is, at the water etc. The deck hands during our cruise were fastidiously clean about the outer decks which were teak and somewhat smooth in spots but not necessarily slippery.

I know when you are on those ships you are constantly looking around and only half paying attention to where you are walking. You are either looking around at all the ship decor and the other passengers or you are gazing over the water looking for fish or ships or whatever you imagine might be there.

It seems to me like Costa is doing the right thing by turning around to search for her and also being there for her family, I sure hope they locate the girl and if by any miracle that they can locate her alive.

Its so sad to go on a vacation and something like that happen. Come back with the worse possible outcome you can imagine. I at least credit this cruise line for taking the right actions in this horrible event.

My 21-year-old sister is going on a cruise fairly soon and my parents are really nervous about it. Prayers for Lynsay's family. So very sad.

This is very sad. I was considering taking my kids on a cruise but with all of the recent problems I am changing my mind.

Wow...I've never been on a cruise but I never thought it would be possible to just fall overboard. How horrible..... Prayers for the family.

Rachael said:

This is very sad. I was considering taking my kids on a cruise but with all of the recent problems I am changing my mind.

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I'm sorry, but the girl had to have climbed up on the railing to have just fallen over. If she didn't throw herself over on purpose, then she had to have climbed up for some reason and accidently fell over. We took our two girls on a cruise when they were 21 and 12. I have several photos of them standing by the railing and the railing is up to the chest of my oldest and my youngest had to stand on her tip toes to see over the railing. Unless the 15 year old was unusually tall - I just don't see accidently falling overboard without having climbed up on the railing, which I'm sure a lot of drunk people or unsupervised kids might do - and an unsupervised drunk teenager would be even more likely. I still think this goes back to parent responsibility. I'd never allow my 15 year to roam a cruise ship freely - I don't care how safe they said it was. My 21 year old didn't even go to the bars on the cruise ship. We went to Carlos and Charlies in Cozumel and the bartenders served her drink after drink after drink, which she slid over to her father or I because she wasn't going to drink in front of us. Thank God we were there tho, because had we not been, the waiters would have had her so drunk who knows what might have happened. So was this totally out of the ordinary for the 15 year old to drink to the point of getting drunk full well knowing she would have to see her parents somewhere again that night? Didn't she think they'd know? I agree the cruise ships have some responsibility to make sure they're not serving minors, but the parents ultimately hold the responsibility for their children. Who just turns their kids loose with 2,000 or more strangers without supervision in foreign countries or at open sea? Would they take a vacation to a beach somewhere and let their 15 year old kid have the roam of the city without any supervision? It's the same thing. A cruise ship is a floating city.

I heard that some cruise ships can hold up to 60,000 people. That's a good sized city. No responsible parents just let their kids run around a city like that, so I don't understand why they do it on a cruise ship. Far worse things happen in cities everyday than the things that only sometimes happen on the cruise ships. The bottom line is you must be careful no matter where you are. When you're in the company of so many strangers, you always have to be on guard. Going on a cruise doesn't make you any more or less safe. You still have to play it smart.

Sad postscript, from September 2013:

http://www.independent.ie/irish-new...een-lynsey-obrien-is-found-dead-29406503.html

THE heartbroken father of Dublin schoolgirl Lynsey O’Brien who fell to her death from a cruise ship has died tragically. Mr O’Brien (49) was found dead at his business premises in Ballymount on Sunday. An autopsy is expected to confirm the cause of death – but sources close to the family say it is not suspicious. The grieving father was left devastated after his 15-year-old daughter fell to her death from a cruise ship during a family holiday in 2006.

Mr O'Brien, who fought tirelessly for better safety on cruise ships, had released a book detailing his pain at the loss of his daughter...

Receipts obtained after Lynsey's death show she had been served at least 10 alcoholic drinks on-board, despite being underage.

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