According to The Daily Telegraph, surveillance footage from aboard the
"Carnival Spirit" appears to show Kristen Schroder, 27, and her stunned boyfriend, paramedic Paul Rossington,
30, followed her over the railing some 20 seconds later.
Subsequently, ship management has called off their search for the couple as of Friday (May 10).
The
couple is presumed dead, more than 48 hours after plunging from the
ship. Detectives who spent Friday enhancing and analyzing surveillance
footage from the ship said Schroder appeared to have intentionally jumped from the
mid-deck, followed seconds later by Rossington.
The Sydney-bound ship was approximately 120 kilometers off Forster on the NSW
mid-north coast when the pair went overboard around 2030 hours on Wednesday (May 8).
It was not until the the "Carnival Spirit" docked in Sydney on Thursday morning (May 9), more
than 12 hours later, that they were discovered missing.
The couple was on a holiday cruise with Ms. Schroder's parents, her sister and brother as well as their partners at the time of the incident.
COMMENT: Countless police, the Australian Maritime
Safety Authority and the Australian Navy spent Thursday scouring a 500 nautical mile sector.
What is known is that Schroder recently split from her husband which may have motivated her to jump from the ship. Yet, that is only a theory.
Carnival
Australia chief executive Ann Sherry defended the security on board the
ship and said it was unlikely their fall into the ocean was an
accident. She said the railings on the ship exceeded the
international standard.
Sherry said
the company first began to investigate when the couple did not disembark
in Sydney. Unfortunately, the water temperature at the time was 22 degrees.
None of the other 2,680 people on the ship are believed to have witnessed the disappearance.
As I have said so often in the past, a cruise-ship or a foreign escape are never prudent choices for people who are undergoing life-altering, emotional events.
Dealing with such emotional distress is far better managed closer to home where therapists are available to intervene.
