New Details About The Woman Who Died On A Cruise Ship — Including How She May Have Been Murdered
A man was reportedly seen choking her before she fell overboard.
Princess Cruises An American woman died aboard a Princess Cruises ship Tuesday and authorities are investigating her death as a possible murder.
The Royal Princess was sailing the Caribbean when a 52-year-old woman fell from the 16th deck and onto a lifeboat, Aruba-based Diario reports. The woman who died was seen struggling and being choked by a man before she plunged to her death at 4 a.m. The male, who was seen arguing with the woman around 10:30 p.m., is reportedly her partner and was arrested on the ship, Metro reported.
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Horrified witnesses said the lifeboat where the woman fell was covered in blood and glass. The woman's name and cause of death have not been released.
The cruise ship left from Fort Lauderdale and was scheduled to sail the Caribbean for seven days, ending Saturday. It was en route from Curacao to Aruba when the woman died. The Royal Princess, which can carry 3,560 guests and a crew of 1,346, according to the cruise line, docked in Aruba Tuesday and passengers were told they were not to leave the ship due to "a serious incident" that occurred, an anonymous passenger wrote on the online message board CruiseCritic.
“The incident was reported to the FBI and local authorities and the local authorities met and boarded the ship upon arrival in Aruba,” the cruise line said in a statement to the Sun Sentinel. “We are cooperating fully with the investigating authorities, including the FBI.”
The FBI in Miramar said they are “aware of the death of a woman of U.S. Citizenship on board a cruise ship," according to a spokesman for the organization.
The Aruba Police Force said the woman's death is being investigated as a homicide as authorities try to determine if foul play was involved.
“The police force of Aruba are investigating the Royal line today," a statement on Facebook reads. "A woman died of unknown causes. The investigation is still going on today."
The police force referred news outlets to Aruba's prosecutor's office. No arrests have been made, according to Ann Angela, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office.
"The investigation is geared toward finding out what happened," she told the Sun Sentinel. "Was it a crime or an accident? The prosecutor’s office will reach conclusions based on the evidence gathered within the investigation,” she said.
Princess Cruises issued a statement regarding the death that is being investigated as a possible murder.
“We are deeply saddened by this incident and offer our sincere condolences to the family and those affected,” the statement reads.
Sarah Gangraw writes about all things news, entertainment and crime. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter.