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Criuise vacation ends in tragedy for Smith family

28 June 2007 — What should have been a relaxing vacation for a Fremont family ended with a confusing tragedy when Brent Smith, 24, disappeared from the deck of a cruise ship.

Mr. Smith had been on a family vacation with his parents Kenneth and Lori of Fremont, as well as his younger brother Matthew and sister Destiny, as well as several family friends. The family was enjoying a Royal Caribbean cruise aboard the ship Freedom of the Seas, which was headed for Puerto Rico. But when the family awoke on Monday morning, they found Mr. Smith missing and saw no indication of where he was.

According to a press release from Royal Caribbean, Mr. Smith had last been seen on Monday morning around 1:45 a.m. when he was resting on the balcony of his stateroom.

But as the sun rose, only a pair of his sandals remained on the deck. His family reported him missing around 8:30 a.m., and the ship began a search.

A variety of onboard announcements and searches were conducted to determine if Mr. Smith was anywhere onboard. After the searches proved unsuccessful, the cruise line contacted the U.S. Coast Guard, the FBI, and the Bahamian Maritime Authority, as well as other vessels in the area. It was assumed that Mr. Smith somehow fell overboard early in the morning.

The ship returned to the area where it was when Mr. Smith was last seen, which is near the northern and eastern side of Eleuthera Island, Bahamas. The U.S. Coast Guard began conducting a parallel search by air. The Coast Guard used aircraft because it would cover a larger area in a shorter amount of time, increasing the chances of finding Mr. Smith alive.

The cruise liner also retraced its course as a part of the search, which continued into Tuesday. However, after finding no signs of Mr. Smith, the search was called off at 6:11 p.m. on Tuesday.

The family was taken to San Juan, Puerto Rico to await results of the search, while the cruise liner sailed a revised course.

Friends of the family held a prayer vigil Tuesday at Wilson Praise and Worship Center, where Kenneth and Lori are elders.

Mr. Smith was a graduate of Charles B. Aycock High School and the University of North Carolina in Wilmington. He worked for T.A. Loving with his father.

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