GREENWICH, Conn. (WTNH) — A Greenwich man on his honeymoon lost overboard from a cruise ship under mysterious circumstances made international headlines 10 years ago. His family is speaking out in hopes of solving the mystery.
The family is also supporting a proposed federal law that would give the millions of U.S. cruise ship passengers more protection from on-board crimes.
Ten years ago this week, George Smith IV, 26, went overboard and was lost while on his honeymoon on a Royal Caribbean cruise-liner in the Eastern Mediterranean.
“We need to further investigate my son’s case. It’s time that something be done. It’s gone on too long, 10 years of our life,” said his father, George Smith III, on Tuesday.
Smith’s father, mother, and sister are pleading for someone who was on the ship that night and may have seen something to come forward. They are frustrated because earlier this year, the FBI closed the case saying it was likely an accident. The family believes he was murdered for the reported $15,000 in winnings he had that night at the ship’s casino.
“There was a violent fight in his room, and the result of which was George Smith being thrown overboard onto the overhang,” said his sister, Bree Smith.
They say a photo of blood stains on the overhang outside his room shows there was violence involved. They are offering a $100,000 reward for any information, and have a Facebook page for those interested.
“There exists technology now to detect immediately whether someone has fallen overboard,” U.S. Senator Dick Blumenthal said at Greenwich Town Hall Tuesday, joined by the Smiths.
The Smiths are endorsing a proposal sponsored by Senator Blumenthal to require that technology on all cruise ships that carry U.S. citizens. In addition to the overboard technology cameras, the “Cruise Passenger Protection Act” would also require “sea marshals” on all ships, just like air marshals on airplanes, to immediately investigate all crimes, and establish a cruise ship consumer protection agency.
“In the early hours of the morning of July 5, 2005, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines went immediately into cover up mode when my son was discovered missing from his stateroom on board the ‘Brilliance of the Seas,'” Smith’s mother, Maureen, read from a statement.
The widow in this case took a $1 million settlement from Royal Caribbean. News 8 has attempted to get a statement from them on this proposed new set of regulations, but have so
far not received an answer.
