Deceased/Not Found Mexico - Luke Renner, Special Needs, missing on Carnival cruise ship, Progreso, 17 Dec 2018

[cybervampira]

Carnival: Passenger reported missing on cruise from Alabama

Carnival Cruise Line says a passenger is missing on a cruise ship from Alabama.

Carnival tells news outlets in a statement that the male passenger was reported missing as the Carnival Fantasy was bound for Progreso, Mexico.

The ship is on a five-day cruise and left Mobile on Saturday. It left Progreso at the scheduled time Monday afternoon with no indication that the person was found.

The Fantasy was on its way to Cozumel, Mexico, Monday night and was set to dock there Tuesday.

Vance Gulliksen with Carnival says several announcements have been made and a ship-wide search is underway. Mexican authorities are providing assistance.

 

[cybervampira]

Passenger sends picture of missing cruise ship passenger posted around Carnival Fantasy

For the first time, we're seeing a picture of the man with special needs who officials say disappeared aboard the Carnival Fantasy. It's been nearly 48 hour since the 22 year old was last seen.



Officials say the 22-year-old was with a group of 9 people with 3 chaperones. They say chaperones told them he ran off from them and hasn't been seen since.

Chaperones, boat crew, and the Mexican Navy including a canine searched the ship all day yesterday but there's still no sign of the missing man. Officials say they even reviewed surveillance footage multiple times.

One person aboard the ship tells u the ship's captain came over the PA system paging "Luke" several times Sunday night. After that didn't work, the passenger told us one of the man's chaperone's came over the loud speaker and called for him.

[...]

 

[glamourkitty1922]

How sad. They say he fell overboard. He's the fourth person in 30 days to disappear off a cruise ship.
A passenger is missing from a cruise ship. He’s the fourth in the last month.

 

[lonetraveler]

I have a cruise scheduled on March 2. Fourth person to go overboard in a month? Making me wonder a bit.

 

[cybervampira]

I have a cruise scheduled on March 2. Fourth person to go overboard in a month? Making me wonder a bit.

Nah, you’ll be just fine! Just ask someone to lock your cabin door before you drink that bottle of rum, and don’t wear 10 inch high heels when they are waxing the ship deck.

 

[human]

I have a cruise scheduled on March 2. Fourth person to go overboard in a month? Making me wonder a bit.

Where are you going?

 

[cherrymeg]

I have a cruise scheduled on March 2. Fourth person to go overboard in a month? Making me wonder a bit.

I think the key is to be aware of your surrounding and don't drink too too much just because it's there. Are you going with friends?

 

[JerseyGirl]

News outlets report the company says it’s still trying to locate a passenger it identifies as a 22-year-old man who was last seen when he ran out of his cabin.

A statement says the man has special needs and was traveling with an organized group of nine people with three chaperones.

Carnival Says Special-Needs Passenger Lost on Cruise Ship in Mexico Remains Missing

 

[JerseyGirl]

The family of the passenger missing on the Carnvial Cruise ship Fantasy have released the following statement...

Family confirms missing Carnival Fantasy passenger is dead

 

[GraceG]

The family of the passenger missing on the Carnvial Cruise ship Fantasy have released the following statement...

Family confirms missing Carnival Fantasy passenger is dead

What a wonderful family he had. Prayers for their comfort.

 

[neesaki]

I don’t see anywhere where it states he was seen going overboard, all I see is he hasn’t been found. So how do they know he’s deceased?

And why don’t cruise ships have taller railings, maybe it would save a few lives.jmo

 

[ACG2x]

I've been on six cruises in my life and am going on #'s 7 and 8 in the next year. Falling off a cruise ship is incredibly difficult. Maritime standards these days make it nearly impossible unless the person who fell is highly intoxicated or doing something very ill-advised like climbing on a railing or leaning way too far over.

If you follow the ship's stated rules and regulations, it is next to impossible to go overboard. Not sure the circumstances here but having been on a number of ships on multiple cruise lines, the railings are more than tall enough and sufficient to prevent a MOB (man overboard) situation under normal circumstances.

 

[GinaSeikwa]

Carnival isn’t publicly stating he is deceased just missing on-board. Yet his family is quick to have a public statement and funeral planned and have been very forgiving of the chaperones less than 36 hours later. I’m not sure I would be able to be so accepting so soon.
I’m sure it was a terrible accident and my heart goes out to sweet Luke but something is bothering me about all this.
I don’t know , maybe as the sister of a severely autistic man my thoughts go to places they shouldn’t sometimes and I tend to fear the worst. MOO

 

[scriabina]

Carnival isn’t publicly stating he is deceased just missing on-board. Yet his family is quick to have a public statement and funeral planned and have been very forgiving of the chaperones less than 36 hours later. I’m not sure I would be able to be so accepting so soon.
I’m sure it was a terrible accident and my heart goes out to sweet Luke but something is bothering me about all this.
I don’t know , maybe as the sister of a severely autistic man my thoughts go to places they shouldn’t sometimes and I tend to fear the worst. MOO

My thoughts exactly. Hope I'm wrong of course, and I'm sure we'll never know.

 

[cybervampira]

Cruise line: Missing autistic man went overboard

An autistic man missing at sea since Sunday, when he disappeared from a Carnival Cruise Line ship traveling from Alabama to the western Caribbean, went overboard after climbing over a deck rail, the company said Wednesday. The family says he is presumed dead.

Relatives of the 22-year-old Johns Creek, Georgia, man believed “he may have been under the mistaken assumption that he was going swimming,” the Miami-based company said in a release.

The cruise line also provided a statement from the family of Luke Renner that said relatives were devastated by his death but do not blame a group that organized the trip for people with special needs, Wishes4Me.

[...]

 

[ilovematt]

I get the impression that he lived in a group home setting. I’m sure the amount of love and compassion they have shown toward their child for years is softening their hearts toward this chaperones and the “mistake” allowing him to escape. I can’t imagine how guilty they must feel. As far as the family knowing he’s passed, idk. That’s weird to me too. Maybe they have camera evidence and it was insurvivable?

 

[MsFacetious]

Or maybe they just know their son? It does seem odd to me that he'd be on a cruise, what sounds like not his first cruise... if he was attracted to the water like that. Obviously it hadn't been a problem in the past, I wonder what was different this time?

 

[GinaSeikwa]

Ok so it looks like Carnival has finally issued a statement. I wonder if they caught something on surveillance video?

Yes it did sound like Luke lived in the group home yet I had a look at the website and he doesn’t appear in any of the resident “bio’s” Permit me to question the appropriateness of publicly publishing on their website the full biographies of vulnerable adults including their dates of birth and complete addresses.. I would freak if my brother was on there!
It appears this group home organization provides living facilities to a wide range of disabled adults -from MS to paraplegics to autism to Down’s syndrome. The caregivers also don’t appear to have any special training. The hiring description mentions being caring and able to “stay off your phone”. Someone accompanying an autistic adult drawn to water with a tendency to bolt should really have specific training IMO. The autistic mind and behaviour is so different from any other disability.

I’m so sorry for Luke. I hope he did not suffer. This really breaks my heart and maybe it’s the environment that we have up here in Quebec for group homes that I’m having trouble with this one. Ours are all government run and a majority of the workers who work directly with the autistic population have specific training. Never would a cruise or anything of that nature be considered. Maybe that’s to our detriment though as it sure sounds like it was a fun environment.
My deepest condolences to Luke and all those that loved him.