Michelle Vilborg, 50, Reported Overboard, 6/16/09 Bay Minette, AL

[Faith]

Ala. Woman Reportedly Goes Overboard on Cruise Ship

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=gmail&rls=gm&q=Michelle+Vilborg&um=1&ie=UTF-8&imgefp=V9Mcccf5eXAJ&imgurl=wwwimage.cbsnews.com/images/2009/06/17/image5093284g.jpg

MOBILE, Ala. — The Coast Guard sent out ships and aircraft to search the Gulf of Mexico for an Alabama woman who reportedly went overboard from a cruise ship early Tuesday.

Michelle Vilborg, 50, of Bay Minette was reported overboard by the Carnival Holiday at 12:04 a.m. CDT Tuesday, the Coast Guard said. The ship was about 75 miles southwest of Pensacola, Fla., at the time.

Carnival Corp. said a passenger reported hearing a splash in the water about 11 p.m. CDT, prompting a cabin-by-cabin search aboard the Holiday. Crew members lowered lifeboats to look for the woman but found nothing.

The Coast Guard search included two cutters, two airplanes and a helicopter.

The Holiday, with a capacity of 1,452 passengers, is due back in Mobile on Saturday after a five-day trip to the Yucatan Peninsula.

Vilborg's disappearance marked at least the third time in less than a month that a passenger went overboard from a Carnival ship based on the Gulf Coast.

A 46-year-old man who fell off the Carnival Inspiration was recused early Monday as it returned to port in Tampa, Fla. The man, who was found clinging to a buoy, told authorities he slipped after climbing on a railing to get a better view of the pilot boat.

A Louisiana teenager on a high school graduation cruise aboard the Carnival Fantasy out of New Orleans went over the rails on May 24 about 150 miles southwest of Tampa, Fla. Authorities suspended a search after two days without locating his body.

[Faith]

Coast Guard searches Gulf waters for missing cruise ship passenger

Associated Press - June 17, 2009 3:03 AM ET

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) - The Coast Guard has been searching the Gulf of Mexico for an Alabama woman who reportedly went overboard from a cruise ship.

The Coast Guard says Michelle Vilborg was reported overboard by the Carnival Holiday just after midnight yesterday. The ship was about 75 miles southwest of Pensacola, Fla., at the time.

Carnival Corp. says a passenger reported hearing a splash, and that prompted a cabin-by-cabin search. Crew members also lowered lifeboats to look for the woman but found nothing.

The Holiday is carrying more than 1,400 passengers. It's due back in Mobile on Saturday after a 5-day trip to the Yucatan Peninsula.

Vilborg's disappearance marks at least the third time in less than a month that a passenger went overboard from a Carnival ship based on the Gulf Coast.

http://www.ktiv.com/Global/story.asp?S=10546089

[Faith]

http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/images/2009/06/17/image5093284g.jpg

http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim//2009/06/17/es_overboard_617_244x183.jpg

Grandma Overboard From Carnival Cruise

(CBS/AP) The Coast Guard has been searching the Gulf of Mexico for an Alabama woman who reportedly went overboard from a cruise ship.

The Coast Guard says Michelle Vilborg was reported overboard by the Carnival Holiday just after midnight Tuesday. The ship was about 75 miles southwest of Pensacola, Fla., at the time.

CBS News correspondent Susan Roberts reported on The Early Show Wednesday that Vilborg was traveling to celebrate her 50th birthday, on her first trip to the Caribbean with her husband.

Vilborg's son, Erik Vilborg, told CBS News Vilborg’s husband woke up to find his wife gone and alarms going off on the ship.

"The first thing that comes into his head was, 'Man, was it her?"' Erik Vilborg said.

Carnival Corp. says a passenger reported hearing a splash, and that prompted a cabin-by-cabin search. Crew members also lowered lifeboats to look for the woman, but found nothing.

The Holiday is carrying more than 1,400 passengers. It's due back in Mobile, Ala. on Saturday after a five-day trip to the Yucatan Peninsula.

Vilborg's disappearance appears to mark at least the third time in less than a month that a passenger went overboard from a Carnival ship based on the Gulf Coast.

"Evidence (of possible foul play) is always hard to find in these situations," travel industry expert Peter Greenburg said on The Early Show Wednesday. "There is no central repository for data, although there is a bill pending in Congress to create such a system. You know what? A number of cruise ships have 1,100 cameras going 24 hours a day. They can put together a time-coded frame of her movements. That will give them a good start."

But Greenburg said Carnival claims it’s "almost impossible" to fall off a cruise ship balcony because the railings are 44 inches high.

"So if somebody falls off," he said, "usually, alcohol is involved or they’re dedicated to the act."

Co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez remarked that cruise ships' isolation would seem to make them relatively easy places to commit crimes. But Greenbnerg said, with new ships, such as The Oasis of the Seas, that will feature forward and rear-facing cameras, investigators will be more equipped to put together a timeline of who comes and goes on these vessels.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/17/earlyshow/main5093287.shtml

[Faith]

Search on for woman missing from cruise ship
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
By KAIJA WILKINSON
Business Reporter

As her family understands it, until somebody heard a splash about 11 Monday night, no one knew Michelle Vilborg was gone.

Then, a quick headcount aboard Carnival's Holiday revealed that the 50-year-old Bay Minette woman was missing, Carnival Corp. said Tuesday.

On Tuesday afternoon, two U.S. Coast Guard cutters and three aircraft searched an area of more than 1,200 square miles, about 70 miles south and west of Pensacola, where the cruise ship was sailing when the splash was heard, the Coast Guard said. The ship, meanwhile, continued on to Cozumel, Mexico, where it was due Tuesday evening, according to Carnival.

Vilborg's husband, Swede Vilborg, told the family that his wife had gone to get something to eat when he turned in Monday, the day Holiday left Mobile on its regular run to Mexico, said the Vilborgs' son-in-law, James Burt. Burt said Swede Vilborg told of waking to alarms calling for a cabin check, realizing that his wife was gone and then reporting that to the ship.

The family said the Vilborgs took the cruise to celebrate Michelle's 50th birthday.

Burt said he and his wife, Candice, traveled Tuesday from Fort Benning, Ga., to the Vilborgs' Bay Minette home to await word from the Coast Guard.

As soon as the crew realized what had happened, a life preserver outfitted with a strobe light was put into the water for rescuers to follow, said Lt. Matt Mitchell, a Coast Guard spokesman. Search planes and vessels are following the current from that point, he said.

"The difficult part about searching in the open water is that search objects don't stay where they initially go in the water," Mitchell said. "The surface is constantly moving."

Mitchell could not say how long the Coast Guard would continue its search.

"Every one of these cases is different," he said of the 600-plus search and rescue missions the Mobile-based Coast Guard unit conducts each year. "At this point in the game, we're focusing on the here and now and what we have to do to locate her."

The search for Vilborg was being aided by nearly ideal weather conditions, he said, with 1- to 2-foot seas, clear visibility, and winds of 10 to

15 knots.

James Burt said Carnival had stayed in touch with the family Tuesday.

Swede Vilborg initially remained on the ship, but Carnival spokesman Vance Gulliksen said the company would give him the option of remaining on board or flying home.

Michelle Vilborg is apparently the second person to go overboard from a Carnival ship in less than 24 hours. Larry Miller, 46, was rescued early Monday after falling from the Tampa-based Inspiration. In that case, Miller reportedly told authorities he slipped after he climbed onto a railing to get a better view.

Gulliksen said Vilborg is the first passenger to have fallen off the Holiday, which has 44-inch railings, numerous warning signs, and a security force of at least 10 people who patrol the decks around the clock, he said.

"It's virtually impossible for a guest to simply fall off a cruise ship," he said.

He said the cruise company continues to gather information about the incident. Investigations are conducted by the shipboard team working in tandem with Carnival's shoreside security department, along with the Coast Guard and, in some cases, the FBI, Gulliksen said.

The cruise line does not have hard data about the number of such instances that occur, he said.

According to cruise Web site cruisejunkie.com, which is run by Ross Klein, a professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John's, a total of 166 people have gone overboard worldwide from 2000-09, including six who went overboard from Carnival cruise ships in 2009.

At the Stockton LP service station, residents of the small Baldwin County community just north of Bay Minette talked Tuesday about what happened to Vilborg.

Owner Richard Lee, a lifelong resident of Stockton, said the couple lived in Stockton until a few years ago, when they moved down the road to Bay Minette. Patrons in the store said Michelle Vilborg is a homemaker who cleans houses on the side, and her husband commutes to Louisiana to work on a tugboat.

Lee also recalled another family tragedy: In 2002, the Vilborgs' 20-year-old daughter, Krystal Lena Vilborg, was killed in a traffic accident near Stockton.

http://www.al.com/news/press-register/metro.ssf?/base/news/1245230109242650.xml&coll=3&thispage=2

[Faith]

Coast Guard reports no success in continued search for Alabama woman missing from cruise ship
Posted by Birmingham News June 17, 2009 12:40 PM

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2009/06/medium_small_Vilborg.jpg
Michelle Vilborg is shown in a photograph posted on a daughter's MysSace page.


The U.S. Coast Guard reports no results today in its continuing search for a Bay Minette, Alabama, woman who was reported overboard from the Carnival cruise ship Holiday in the Gulf of Mexico south of Pensacola, the Press-Register of Mobile reports.

Michelle Vilborg was first reported missing just before midnight Monday, according to the newspaper. Family members told the Press-Register today the woman's husband, Swede Vilborg, is being held on the Holiday by cruise officials as an investigation continues

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2009/06/coast_guard_reports_no_success.html

[packy]

I wonder if she made it to where she was going to get something to eat. Hope the cameras show something.

[awakening2lite]

EXCERPT ~ Faith's link post #4

Gulliksen said Vilborg is the first passenger to have fallen off the Holiday, which has 44-inch railings, numerous warning signs, and a security force of at least 10 people who patrol the decks around the clock, he said.

"It's virtually impossible for a guest to simply fall off a cruise ship," he said.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000


Where are the security cameras? Why wasn't this captured by a cam?

Comparing the expense of 10 security persons on patrol around the clock, the cost of a full time cam would be miniscule. Cams would be an extension of the security patrols. Cams running covering all the decking and hallways would even contribute to a less number of crimes aboard ships.

IMO

[packy]

From Faith's link above. http://www.al.com/news/press-register/metro.ssf?/base/news/1245230109242650.xml&coll=3&thispage=2

According to cruise Web site cruisejunkie.com, which is run by Ross Klein, a professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John's, a total of 166 people have gone overboard worldwide from 2000-09, including six who went overboard from Carnival cruise ships in 2009.

Seems like an awful lot to fall overboard.

[Faith]

June 17, 2009
Ongoing Search for Missing Carnival Cruise Passenger
Carnival Holiday Update, 5:55 p.m. EDT: According to the Coast Guard Web site, the search for Vilborg continues. Vance Gulliksen, a Carnival spokesperson, said that Carnival Holiday was released from the search on Tuesday, and it is now en route to Cozumel. We'll keep you updated as additional details become available.
http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=3272

[sarahhod]

Coast Guard suspends search for Alabama woman

The Associated Press

MOBILE, Ala. -- The Coast Guard has suspended its search for an Alabama woman who reportedly went overboard from a cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Coast Guard says it covered more than 3,600 square miles in the search for 50-year-old Michelle Vilborg of Bay Minette. She was reported overboard late Monday night from the Carnival cruise ship Holiday.
The FBI said its violent crimes unit is investigating Vilborg's disappearance. FBI Agent Tim White said agents are looking at every possible angle.
A passenger on the cruise ship reported hearing a splash late Monday night when the Holiday was 75 miles southwest of Pensacola, Fla.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1103001.html

[Faith]

FBI joins search for Bay Minette woman missing from cruise ship
Thursday, June 18, 2009

Staff Reporters

The FBI said Wednesday that its violent crimes unit is investigating the disappearance of Michelle Vilborg, missing from the Carnival cruise ship Holiday in the Gulf of Mexico since Monday night.

"We're looking at every possible angle," said Tim White, the FBI's supervisory special agent in Mobile, who said the investigation is standard procedure in such situations.

Meanwhile, members of the Bay Minette woman's family traveled to be with Vilborg's husband, who remained in Cozumel, Mexico.

http://www.al.com/news/press-register/metro.ssf?/base/news/1245316567247600.xml&coll=3

[Faith]

Coast Guard Suspends Search for Missing Carnival Cruise Passenger

On Wednesday, June 19, the Coast Guard officially called off the search for Michelle Vilborg. The 50-year-old Bay Minette, Alabama, resident was declared missing from Carnival Holiday on Monday.

According to the Coast Guard's Web site, two Coast Guard cutters, a Jayhawk helicopter, a Falcon jet and an Ocean Sentry rescue plane searched 3,654 square miles over the course of 70 hours, to find the woman who went overboard approximately 75 miles southwest of Pensacola, FL. The search was unsuccessful and was called off yesterday.

Our thoughts and condolences go out to Vilborg's family.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=3275

[Faith]

Cruise Ship Returns

Last Updated: Sat, June 20, 2009 - 9:35 pm

“It's so sad for the family, it really is,” says passenger Don Edgar. The Tennessee man echoes the sentiments of many who were aboard the Holiday ship when Michelle Vilborg disappeared. Passengers say a ship wide announcement was made Monday night asking everyone to return to their cabins for a bed check. The announcement gave chills to Edgar and his travelling buddies.

“It was kind of nerve racking for us sometimes till we laid eyes on all 21 in our group after that we settled down and everything was fine,” say Edgar. many of those passengers say the company handled the incident well.

“There was total shock, this was a first, and I guess a first for everyone else, the one thing I noticed about Carnival is they helped to maintain calm,” says passenger Jeff Ralph. The FBI was also involved in homecoming on June 20th, 2009. An agency spokesman says they followed up with witnesses who initially talked to the US Coastguard. They're still trying to figure out how the 50-year-old woman went overboard.

http://www.wkrg.com/alabama/article/cruise-ship-returns/117404/

[Faith]

Ship where woman went overboard returns

Updated: Saturday, 20 Jun 2009, 9:41 PM CDT
Published : Saturday, 20 Jun 2009, 8:33 PM CDT


MOBILE, Ala. - The Black family loaded up their luggage Saturday morning for the long drive back to Sioux City, Iowa. Lindsey Black said the family's first cruise out of Mobile was not exactly what she expected.

"It was probably about 11 o'clock. That's when we felt the ship really bank. It was obvious that something was going on, but at that point though we did not know we were turning around." she said.

Kevin Black said everyone was ordered back to their cabins and it was an hour later before they knew why.

"The cruise director came out over the loud speaker and said that they had a person was reported overboard, and that the ship was gonna go into circle mode. And then we spent about the next 12 hours going in circles around where the person had fallen overboard." Black said.

Most of the 18 hundred passengers had never seen Michelle Vilborg. The Bay Minette woman was on the cruise with her husband of 30 years.

Passengers have said a security guard was posted outside a cabin on the 5th level where the couple was staying when the wife reportedly left to get food late Monday night.

Reggie and Conteena Thomas said they spent most of the next day focused on the intense search for the missing woman

"We saw boats 3 or 4 boats out in the water. An airplane came over a couple of times." Reggie Thomas said.

His wife was still shaken by the experience Saturday.

"It was an awful feeling. It was a very awful feeling to know that somebody was overboard. But they looked for her real hard. But wasn't a good feeling to know something like that had happened." she said.

Passengers said it's not easy to fall from the rails of the ship which are pretty high.

"Some said that the woman had stood up on a chair. Then had decided to go overboard from there. Other people well they didn't really know how she got up that high or where she fell from. So yeah there there was a lot of speculation onboard." Black said.

The passengers didn't get the two port cruise they booked, and they didn't have much time in Mexico. Still, due to the circumstances Fox Ten didn't find any complaints from the people we talked to.

"We were 13 hours late getting to Cozumel, and you know it was a sad thing." said passenger Lisa Cheryl.

The FBI is now questioning some of the passengers who had contact with Vilborg on the ship. They say the interviews could take several weeks.

http://www.fox10tv.com/dpp/news/local_news/mobile_county/Ship_where_woman_went_overboard_returns

[Faith]

Going Over the Edge on Cruise Ships
Why -- and How -- Do People Fall Off Ocean Liners?
By CHRISTINE RIEDEL
,
AOL News
posted: 19 HOURS 41 MINUTES AGO
comments: 260
filed under: National News

(June 19) -- A new high school graduate plunges into the Gulf of Mexico while on a celebratory cruise with friends and his parents. A man tumbles over a rail on a cruise ship as it returns to port. A woman goes overboard while on a cruise with her husband to mark her 50th birthday.
All three incidents took place within the past four weeks on cruise ships in the Gulf of Mexico. How do these things happen?


video
Michelle Vilborg, here in a collection of family photos, went overboard from a cruise ship off Pensacola, Fla., on Monday. The Coast Guard searched for her for two days before suspending its efforts Wednesday. Vilborg, of Bay Minette, Ala., was celebrating her 50th birthday on a cruise with her husband.
Watch Video

There's no one factor, according to those who watch the cruise industry.
"I think some of is related to crime and some of it is related to drinking. Normally, it's because they were doing something crazy," said Charles Lipcon, whose Miami law firm, Lipcon, Margulies & Alsina, represents passengers and crew members in lawsuits against cruise lines.
"Usually, the cruise line is not responsible."

On May 24, Bruce O'Krepki, 18, of Hammond, La., went overboard from the Carnival ship Fantasy about 150 miles southwest of Tampa, Fla. He was on a post-graduation cruise chaperoned by his parents. The Coast Guard spent two days searching a 5,300-square-mile area for him, but he wasn't found.
Skip over this content
Video From June 17

On Monday, the Coast Guard was called into action again after Michelle Vilborg, 50, of Bay Minette, Ala., went missing from the Holiday, another Carnival ship. A fellow passenger reported hearing a splash as the ship was about 75 miles southwest of Pensacola, Fla. Rescuers suspended the search for Vilborg on Wednesday.

The third overboard incident, which also happened Monday, had a happier ending. Larry Miller, 46, was found clinging to a buoy after he fell from a cruise ship that was returning to port in Tampa. Miller said he slipped while climbing a railing so he could get a better view of the scenery.

Miller was a passenger on the Carnival ship Inspiration.
In an e-mail message, Vance Gulliksen, a spokesman for Carnival, said the cruise line's ships are "extremely safe" and that "it is virtually impossible for a guest to simply fall off a cruise ship." All Carnival ships have 44-inch railings and uniformed security guards on patrol 24 hours a day, he said.

Carnival and other cruise lines don't release information on how many people go overboard from their ships, and the Cruise Lines International Association, which represents 24 providers serving North America, also declined to release such data. The association stressed, however, that passenger safety was its top priority.

According to a tally kept by an independent observer, at least 12 people have gone overboard from cruise ships so far this year. Seven of those cases involved Carnival ships. Last year, there were nine overboard reports, two of which involved Carnival.

Those numbers are from Ross Klein, a sociology professor in Canada who has written four books on the cruise industry. On his Web site, cruisejunkie.com, Ross tracks all sorts of cruise-related issues, ranging from flu outbreaks to labor and environmental practices. (You can see his list of people gone overboard since 2000 here.)

Klein said he gathers his information from media reports, as well as cruise passengers and crew members.

"I think in some [overboard] cases, the cruise lines are at fault. In some cases, they aren't," he said. "There are people who are stupid. There are people who leave suicide notes. But those certainly are not the majority of cases."

There are no statistics on how many of the cases involve alcohol, but Klein, like Lipcon, said he believed drinking plays a role. Klein suggested that cruise lines could do a better job of training their staffs to serve alcohol responsibly. They could also expand surveillance systems and boost their security staffs, he said.

Klein also expressed concern about cases in which people just vanish from cruise ships without a trace.

"I think there area a number of incidents where people disappear under mysterious circumstances," he said.

Over the past few years, such disappearances have led to several congressional hearings on cruise ship safety and security. One of the most sensational cruise mysteries was that of George Allen Smith, who vanished from a Royal Caribbean ship in 2005 while honeymooning with his wife. His family accused Royal Caribbean of trying to cover up his killing.

No charges were filed, but the cruise line reached a financial settlement with his estate. Earlier this month, 2,200 pages of court documents were released in his case, the Hartford Courant reported.

Merrian Carver, 40, also disappeared from a cruise ship, and her fate remains a mystery five years later. Carver embarked on a Royal Caribbean Alaska cruise in 2004, and her cabin attendant noticed that her room appeared unused after the second day of the trip. But the cruise line didn't alert her family that she was missing. It took her parents weeks to learn that she'd even gone on the cruise. (For an in-depth look the case, read this 2006 report from ABC News.)

The tragedy turned her father, Kendall Carver, into an activist for cruise safety and led him to found the advocacy group International Cruise Victims.
Carver, a former insurance executive, has spent the past several years pushing the cruise industry to be open about the accidents and crimes that occur on ships, and to improve security. Those efforts may pay off soon. He plans to travel to Washington next week because the Senate is expected to begin marking up a bill that would require cruise ships to bolster security, make crime reports public and train personnel in collecting and preserving evidence from on-board crime scenes.


"Unless there is legislation, this story is going to keep happening," Carver said.
http://news.aol.com/article/overboard-on-cruise-ships/533317

[Faith]

Mystery cruise ship disappearance

Updated: Friday, 19 Jun 2009, 7:49 PM CDT
Published : Friday, 19 Jun 2009, 7:49 PM CDT

BAY MINETTE, Ala. - Federal investigators hope the return of the cruise ship "Holiday" will help solve a mystery. The FBI is trying to find out how a Bay Minette woman went overboard as the ship headed to Mexico. Michelle Vilborg hasn't been seen since.

The ship is expected to be back in port Saturday around 7:00 a.m., after being at sea for the last five days. Vilborg was on the ship with her husband of 30 years. Family members said Swede Vilborg cut his trip short and just flew in from Cozumel. He was back at his Bay Minette home Friday when FOX10 News tried to catch up with him.

As we pulled up to the Vilborg home, family members approached us, declining to make any comments about the situation. The yard was full of cars.

Family members said they wanted to be there for Swede Vilborg during this traumatic situation. They said he didn't want to talk about the investigation or the moments leading up to his wife's disappearance.

While they're trying to cope, the FBI has stepped in. Angela Tobon, spokesperson for the FBI said, "This is unusual and with Carnival being in Mobile, it's the first time we've had a case like this in Mobile. So normally it's some sort of assault or some incident that's happened on the ship."

Tobon, said investigators will begin conducting interviews when the ship returns to port Saturday. She added, "With something like this you're going to talk to anybody that's had contact with her husband, with her dining partners, anyone she's traveling with and anyone who has insight into Mrs. Vilborg."

Tobon said it's a routine procedure. Because the investigation is ongoing, Tobon didn't want to comment if there were any security cameras on the ship that may give them some leads.

A crew member on the boat claimed he heard a splash before Vilborg was reported missing. The rescue mission which turned to a recovery was suspended. A move that's probably upsetting to the family. Tuesday, Vilborg's son Erik, said he needed to see his mother to have some closure. He added, "Find her, that's what I hope. Even if she's dead, find her."

Tobon said it may take investigators weeks to interview all the passengers on their list.


http://www.fox10tv.com/dpp/news/local_news/mobile_county/mystery_cruise_ship_disappearance

[Faith]

http://media2.fox10tv.com//photo/2009/06/20/Holiday_Returns_002_20090620121512_320_240.JPG
Holiday Cruise ship docked at terminal Saturday after returning from cruise where one passenger went overboard.

[Faith]

Coast Guard: Deepest Sympathies To Vilborg Family

Michelle Vilborg family hoped for better news.

"You kinda want to believe that she's in the ship somewhere," said Erik Vilborg, hours after his mom was reported missing from the Holiday cruise ship.

Vilborg, a 50 year old grandmother is believed to have gone overboard late Monday night while cruising with her husband. The cruise ship was sailing 70 miles south, southwest of Pensacola, when a passenger reported hearing a splash. A head count of guests and crew members revealed Vilborg was no where to be found.

Investigators still don't know how Vilborg went overboard, but after nearly 45 hours of searching for the missing passenger, the Coast Guard called off its effort at sundown Wednesday.

"We had a number of patrol boats on scene, aircraft and helicopters. We had great search conditions, and we feel confident that if Ms. Vilborg was alive and in the search area we would have recovered her," said Poulin.

Poulin, commander of the Mobile Sector of the US Coast Guard, delivered news of the suspended search to Michelle Vilborg husband, Sven. "He was very distraught as you can imagine."

Poulin extended "deepest sympathies to the Vilborg family" on behalf of the US Coast Guard, saying "as professional mariners and people who make our living on the sea we always want to find someone whose lost."

Sven Vilborg, along with his son and daughter, who travelled to Cozumel, Mexico Wednesday to be with their father, flew home Thursday afternoon.

Michelle Vilborg is the twelfth person to fall of a cruise ship in 2009. Five of the twelve passengers were rescued, but seven, including Vilborg, are still missing.

http://www.wkrg.com/consumer/article/coast-guard-deepest-sympathies-to-vilborg-family/110842/

[Faith]

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll116/helpfindthemissing/Sympathy/sympathy-4.gif

[Firehead]

http://travel.travelocity.com/ecruise/ShipDetailsPublicAreasPhotos.do?shipId=2

I wanted to post this link. Please take a look at the pool picture. I noticed that most of the ship was enclosed. I thought I had heard that someone stated something about the upper level. If she would have gone off the upper level rear, she would have hit the balcony below. Look real close at the railing along side the pool area in the upper level. Those blue things are loungers. They come up to about the second rail. You cannot simply fall overboard. Either drunk, foul play or suicidal has to be suspected.

Notice the size of the ship. I was on the Carnival Freedom which is larger than this ship. We were told that we had sailed very close to a tsunami anyway, we had to turn that ship around for a medical emergency. I find it hard to believe that you can feel a ship that is 727 feet long "bank" hard. We did feel the rocking with the tsunami (also saw it out the windows).

[packy]

Didn't they say the railings were 44" tall on this ship? It would seem that it it's not easy to just fall over those.

Thanks for the link, Firehead.

So sorry she was not found.

[Firehead]

I would expect them to be at least that high. Maybe she was trying to get up and sit on the railing? That would be a silly thing to do especially at the tp of the ship. There are times when the wind is so bad that they close the top deck.