The U.S. Coast Guard stopped its search for a woman who reportedly fell overboard from a cruise ship located near Ensenada, Mexico, CBS News reported Monday.
Officials searched for over 31 hours for the individual prior to halting the search Sunday pending more information, the Coast Guard announced Sunday.
“FINAL UPDATE: After 31+ hours of searching, #USCG assets are standing down pending additional information. USCG conducted first light searches this morning off the coast of Ensenada, Mexico with negative results,” the agency said in a social media post:
FINAL UPDATE: After 31+ hours of searching, #USCG assets are standing down pending additional information. USCG conducted first light searches this morning off the coast of Ensenada, Mexico with negative results. USCG assets are transiting back to U.S. waters.
— USCG Southern California (@USCGSoCal) December 12, 2021
“USCG assets are transiting back to U.S. waters,” the post added.
The woman, who was in her 20s, reportedly went overboard Saturday morning, according to Petty Officer First Class Adam Stanton.
The Carnival Miracle cruise ship was on its way back Sunday to a port in Long Beach where federal officials waited to perform an investigation, the CBS report said.
Daniel Miranda, who is a Northern California firefighter paramedic and a passenger on the ship, spoke with reporters as the ship was docked in Ensenada.
“Someone has lost their life, whether it was done by accident or by foul play I don’t know — there’s some high suspicion of foul play. … A lot of people are concerned because that’s somebody’s life, and that’s a high likelihood that this person will not be found alive,” he commented.
Images from the ship showed the area where the individual was reportedly last seen before the incident occurred:
Miranda said an announcement was issued Saturday regarding an individual going overboard, adding that areas of the ship were cordoned off. However, limited information was given about what happened.
“They immediately did their best efforts to get crews out on little boats and rescue, to start a search,” Miranda recalled. “They had crew literally around the deck to look all the way around the ship to be able to see if somebody was out in the water. They had lights out in the water trying to flash out there, but again it’s pretty dark.”
The cruise line issued a statement early Saturday that read, “We advised Carnival Miracle guests this morning of an overboard incident involving one of our guests from the balcony of her statesroom.”
“Our thoughts are with the guest and her family, and our care team is providing support,” it concluded.
The woman’s identity was not immediately reported. The cruise ship left from the Los Angeles area Thursday, according to the CBS report.
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