The FBI is investigating the death of a woman who allegedly plunged from her room’s balcony onto the deck below while aboard a Carnival cruise ship near Catalina Island.
The passenger was aboard the Carnival ship Firenze when the alleged incident happened early Monday morning.
Later that day, FBI agents appeared on the ship to investigate the matter.
“The FBI responded to the ship when it docked in Catalina Island on Monday and is investigating an incident on board which resulted in death,” said FBI spokeswoman Lourdes Arocho.
“More specific details are not being provided at this time as the investigation is ongoing,” Arocho added.
The FBI has special maritime jurisdiction on cruise ships. The federal agency investigates “serious crimes” at sea and “also looks into suspicious deaths,” according to the FBI website.
Carnival spokeswoman Julie Leonardi confirmed the death of a Carnival Firenze guest who apparently went over the balcony of her stateroom early Monday morning and landed on a deck below.
The female guest was traveling with family who alerted the ship’s crew of the situation, said Leonardi.
“As is customary following these kinds of incidents, law enforcement was on board while the ship was in Catalina Island on Monday to collect information,” Leonard added.
The family is now off the ship and has returned home. The woman’s identification was not made available.
A law enforcement source said the woman’s body was transported from the ship Monday and her family left the same day.
The Carnival Firenze sailed out of Long Beach on Sunday and is due back at the port tomorrow morning.
The ship can hold 4,126 guests and 1,425 crew members, according to Carnival’s website. The ship has a length of 1,061 feet.
The tragedy aboard the Firenze marked the second incident in as many days in the U.S.
A crew member fell overboard from a Norwegian Cruise Line ship off the Massachusetts coast Sunday, triggering a large-scale search and rescue response.
Surveillance video captured the unidentified employee falling from the side of the Norwegian Breakaway into chilly waters about 12 miles off Cape Cod.
The U.S. Coast Guard launched an intensive rescue effort but suspended the search on Monday after covering a significant area, treating the incident as a death.
Meanwhile, slain cheerleader Anna Kepner’s 16-year-old stepbrother is set to go to trial in a little over a month on charges that he raped and killed her on a family cruise aboard the Carnival Cruise ship Horizon.
Timothy Hudson will go to trial on June 1 in Miami on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse for the killing of his stepsister in November, US District Judge Beth Bloom said in an order Monday.
