The United States Coast Guard has officially halted their search and rescue mission for a woman who fell overboard while on a cruise early on Friday, May 13.
In a statement released Monday morning, the U.S Coast Guard stated they have suspended their search for the victim, 33-year-old Samantha Broberg.
Crews reported searching for 20 hours, covering more than 4,300 square miles. Rescue crews from Corpus Christi, TX, and Mobile, AL, were only able to use search planes due to the sheer size of the search.
Broberg, a single mother of four from Arlington, TX, has yet to be found.
Broberg was traveling on the Carnival Liberty cruise ship and departed for a four-day cruise to Cozumel, Mexico just 10 hours earlier.
Crew members on the Liberty were reported of Broberg’s absence around noon on Friday by the group she was traveling with. They immediately started to search the ship, and when all passengers were accounted for, they looked at security videos.
The videos show a woman climbing on the guard rails and falling backwards off of the 10th deck around 2:00 a.m. It is unclear if she was alone or with others.
There is no foul play suspected at this time.
Carnival says this action was risky and a violation of the safety rules each member learns as they come aboard.
Family members and Carnival are working with the FBI on the investigation. Carnival employed their Care Team to take proper financial care of Broberg’s family at this time.
As reported on KHOU.com, Carnival released a statement saying, “We are keeping our guest and her loved ones in our thoughts during this difficult time.”
While drowning can easily be prevented with the proper swimming safety training, many Americans are unaware of the techniques they can use to prevent such tragedies from occurring. In fact, the American Red Cross reports that only 56% of Americans can perform the five core swimming skills necessary for safety in the water.