26-Year-Old Reported Missing After Cruise Ship Returns to Florida

Table Of Content

• Carnival Cruise Surveillance Video Confirms Missing Passenger Jumped Overboard
• WATCH: Former Congressman Madison Cawthorn Slams Into Florida State Trooper
• news Alerts
• Coast Guard rescues sick Carnival Cruise passenger
• Carnival Cruise passenger, 26, reported missing after ship returns to Florida
• Missing Carnival Cruise passenger seen in surveillance video jumping off ship’s deck

Coast Guard officials are searching Florida waters after a Carnival cruise passenger disappeared shortly before the ship returned to PortMiami this week. Ship staff and security searched the ship but were unsuccessful, a spokesperson for the Miami-Dade Police Department told USA TODAY. The cruise ship’s cameras and overboard detection system, however, showed no indication that McGrath went overboard during the cruise from Miami to the Bahamas, Miami-Dade police said. The search team surveyed the waters via boats and helicopter for more than 80 hours combined but saw no sign of McGrath and decided to suspend the mission Thursday, a Coast Guard spokesperson told Fox News. While the chances of falling off a cruise ship are extremely low, at least nine other people have gone overboard this year, as BI previously reported.

Carnival Cruise Surveillance Video Confirms Missing Passenger Jumped Overboard

The Coast Guard launched two aircraft to try to find Barnett in a 200-mile area near where the ship sailed into the Gulf of Mexico. Officials in Florida are investigating the disappearance of a cruise passenger who did not return with the vessel once the ship docked. The Coast Guard said the passenger was 28-year-old Tyler Barnett from Houma, Louisiana. Petty Officer 3rd Class Anthony Randisi told USA TODAY that Carnival reported the guest was last seen around midnight on Monday. Monday in his cabin as the Carnival Conquest reported back to the Port of Miami, Carnival said in a statement Tuesday.

WATCH: Former Congressman Madison Cawthorn Slams Into Florida State Trooper

Carnival Cruise Line passenger goes overboard, search suspended - USA TODAY

Carnival Cruise Line passenger goes overboard, search suspended.

Posted: Tue, 14 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

At least six people have gone overboard in the last three months, promoting debate over whether cruise ships should be required to install man-overboard detection systems. Carnival Cruises is continuing its investigation into McGrath’s disappearance and has been repeatedly reviewing closed-circuit video footage from the ship, a spokesperson told The Post Thursday. All cruise ships are required to have 42-inch guard rails and man-overboard imaging under the 2010 Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act. But BI previously reported that many ships had yet to implement newer technology that automatically detects when a person goes overboard by using thermal cameras and radars that promptly alert crew members. Coast Guard called off the search after covering more than 5,171 square miles over a span of 60 hours. “The decision to suspend the active search efforts pending further development is never one we take lightly.

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On Facebook, Mason said she and her family are in need of prayers as they await answers. “We are holding on to hope and prayer that he will be found safe,” she wrote. The Coast Guard has since narrowed its search area roughly 30 miles southwest of the Southwest Pass.

After his loved ones were unable to determine his whereabouts, a search was conducted by ship staff and security but their efforts were unsuccessful. Brad and Mimi Solomon, who both hail from South Carolina, were well into their 7-night Western Caribbean sailing on the world’s largest cruise ship, which embarked from Miami, Florida, on March 30, 2024, when Brad went missing. The local military and civilian search and rescue leaders are focusing efforts in the jungle now. Since he hasn’t been seen on camera since Wednesday afternoon, it’s possible that he is being cared for by local, more rural Cozumel citizen in ejido areas of the jungle. I know that not a single person on this island would have mal intent upon approaching him,” Miller wrote in her latest Facebook post on Thursday, April 11. Unfortunately, the couple’s dream trip turned into a nightmare when Brad went missing shortly after disembarking in Cozumel with Mimi on April 3, 2024.

Carnival Cruise passenger, 26, reported missing after ship returns to Florida

Instead, Brad went missing shortly after arriving in Cozumel and the search began. Initially, the family suspected that their father and husband has been staying hydrated and using the bathrooms at local churches, but they weren’t sure if he had access to food. The couple’s adult daughter, Savannah Miller, has also joined in the search and has been working to keep her dad’s name in the press by posting updates on her social media accounts.

Dramatic video captures chopper pulling pregnant woman from Disney cruise ship

The Post has reached out to Carnival for comment about the family’s latest statements. His sister, Destiny Barnett, told NBC News that she and 13 other relatives also were on the cruise. Sigmund Ropich, 19, tumbled into the ocean off the coast of Cuba during a vacation with friends and has yet to be found.

Carnival said it had informed the Coast Guard and the man's family of the development. The cruise line didn't release the man's name — though the man's mother, Elisha Reid, told BI in an earlier interview that her son, Barnett, was the missing passenger. "He can be seen climbing on a lifeboat and jumping from there," the spokesperson said.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Fox News Digital also spoke with a representative from Carnival Cruise Line who said the U.S. Coast Guard also performed a helicopter search for the missing man. Kevin McGrath, 26, was aboard a Carnival Cruise from PortMiami to Bimini, Bahamas, over the Labor Day holiday weekend.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the fall of a Carnival cruise passenger who fell overboard on his first cruise, Fox News Digital reported on Wednesday. The missing person's report came right as passengers were beginning to disembark in PortMiami following the the four-day Bahamas venture, the cruise line said. He was reported missing at approximately 7 a.m on Monday, a spokesperson with the cruise line told Insider. The missing passenger “was supposed to meet the family for breakfast prior to disembarking from the ship but he never arrived” as members of the group had planned.

The search area originally encompassed approximately 200 miles, but was narrowed to "roughly 30 miles southwest of" Louisiana's Southwest Pass, the Coast Guard said on X, formerly Twitter. The Coast Guard announced Thursday that they were suspending their search for McGrath. “When it’s time to meet up for breakfast, no one can find him,” she said. What's more, the docs say he's violating probation by failing to maintain communication with his probation officer. All attempts to contact him have been unsuccessful since the cruise, and his whereabouts remain unknown.

While the passenger's mom told Business Insider she was hopeful he was still alive, she said that she was worried he might not have survived. She also said she found out from family — not the cruise line — that her son was missing. In July, Carnival Cruise Line issued a statement regarding another man who had reportedly gone missing while on one of their ships in Florida. Between 2009 and 2019, there were 212 overboard incidents globally involving passengers and crew, according to statistics compiled for Cruise Lines International Association by consulting firm G.P. Coast Guard was contacted and searched the water by helicopter. McGrath said later Monday morning — as the cruise was ending and passengers were disembarking — the family gathered for breakfast, but Kevin never showed up.

Missing Carnival cruise ship passenger seen jumping overboard, company says; family mystified - Fox Business

Missing Carnival cruise ship passenger seen jumping overboard, company says; family mystified.

Posted: Wed, 15 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

The petition claims Carnival confirmed that according to the "onboard MOBtronics system," McGrath did not go overboard—but the family have not seen "verifiable proof" that the ship has this system on board. They also said Carnival had told them the company did not have any CCTV footage of McGrath. It seemed only fitting to celebrate a birthday as big as 66 on the gigantic Icon of the Seas, which can accommodate a whopping 7,600 passengers per sailing, along with 2,350 crew members. The massive vessel, which weighs in at 248,663-gross tons, is still brand-new, only just entering service earlier this year on January 27, 2024.

She said the Port St. Lucie community where she and her brother are from has been offering "a lot of love" to the family. U.S. Customs and Border Control told Carnival Kevin McGrath was not detected during the debarkation process, NBC Miami reported. McGrath was with a big group of relatives on the three-day cruise to celebrate his father’s 60th birthday, his sister Danielle McGrath told USA Today.