Posted on 05/17/2006 8:24:01 PM PDT by beezdotcom
MIAMI
A passenger reported missing on a cruise to the Bahamas fell overboard after a night of heavy drinking with friends, authorities said Wednesday as Coast Guard crews suspended their search for the man.
Friends of Daniel DiPiero, 21, of Canfield, Ohio, last saw him on the Mariner of the Seas around midnight Sunday, Petty Officer Dana Warr said.
About two hours later, shipboard security cameras show DiPiero falling overboard from a rail near the front of the ship, investigators said.
He was reported missing Monday morning when his friends realized he had not slept in the cabin they shared. Royal Caribbean International notified the Coast Guard after searching the ship and Coco Cay, an island owned by the cruise line.
Vessels and aircraft from the U.S. and Bahamian Coast Guards searched 900 square miles of ocean between Grand Bahama Island and Coco Cay. The ship had departed from Port Canaveral.
Investigators from the FBI and the Coast Guard interviewed DiPiero's companions, other travelers and crew members Wednesday aboard the ship, the company said.
They found that DiPiero and his friends concealed liquor in mouthwash bottles and brought a bottle of rum in their luggage. The friends videotaped themselves drinking the alcohol Sunday afternoon, and DiPiero continued drinking until midnight, investigators said.
"Our thoughts and prayers remain with the young man's family and friends during this difficult time," company spokesman Michael Sheehan said.
They are drinking out of mouthwash bottles because the ships make allot of money off the bar. And when people bring their own liqor they spend less money at the bar.
dumb drunk...I dont feel much pity for him...tough way to die though
Maybe he went in search of Davey Jones' Locker.
Ah, this had not occurred to me. Sounds like my senior class trip in high school ;p
Some may disagree, but I suspect it's not a very effective use of manpower to assign a dozen or so crew members to man every single camera at every single angle 24/7 just in case some drunk decides to go overboard sometime during a cruise. "All right, crew, monitor those cameras and for God's sake, don't blink!"
Yup. Barnacles on the sides/bottom are like thousands of razor blades.
Never cease to be amazed department: Whenever a young life is cut short through actions that any one of us were more than capable of when we were his age...and when his or her family is driven deep into grief by the absurd accident ...a good number of Freeper assholes rush forward to say Darwin at work, Natural selection at work, and all the rest of the unbelievably unfeeling things that are said when a soul has vanished tragically.
Do you really think you're superior, or even wiser, because you were lucky enough to survive all the stupid, reckless things you did in your day?
I've never been on a cruise ship. How easy is it to fall overboard?
susie
True enough. Another poster above noted that the thing has 15 decks and over 3,000 passengers. That would be a logistical nightmare to babysit everyone.
You mean there is profit in those $7 drinks? So its a profit thing.
OK, that's a little more detail than I wanted to visualize.
There is about a 4' railing that you would have to fall over. Pretty tricky unless you are really drunk.
Now, now! Just cuz that's what you'd be doing, doesn't mean everybody does it! :P
Sad story any way you look at it. Most people do dumb things at that age - not all of us pay with our life. Thoughts and prayers for his friends and family.
Thanks for the info. I suppose when I go cruising, I'd better stay sober.
susie
He's fish food.
The kid might have been puking over the railing and lost his balance.
If he did survive the fall, he was probably the soberest he'd ever been when he came up to the surface.
What a horrible, stupid thing to do to oneself and one's loved ones.
I remember that from the Kingston Trio's "Hungry i" album...
CA....
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