NCL Dawn - woman passenger overboard off New Jersey coast

**Ally** · 05-12-2008, 11:02 AM

Quote:

NEW YORK -- The Coast Guard is searching for a 46-year-old female cruise ship passenger who fell overboard approximately 45 miles northeast of Atlantic City, N.J.

The ship, the Norwegian Dawn, had left from port in New York City en route for Bermuda.

Coast Guard officials said the woman fell overboard Sunday night.

Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City launched two helicopter crews at 3:50 a.m. to search for the missing woman. The crews conducted search patterns for two hours before returning to base due to inclement weather.

Woman Missing After Falling From Cruise Ship Near N.J. - News Story - WNBC | New York

**Ally** · 05-12-2008, 12:03 PM

Apparently the woman who fell was allegedly climbing from one balcony to another, lost her footing and fell into the sea in the small hours of the morning. The weather is pretty bad in the area which has caused problems for the USCG.

If true, what on earth was she doing climbing from one balcony to another?

Not sure if alcohol was part of it or not, but it does make you wonder.

**Ally** · 05-13-2008, 03:23 AM

Quote:

The Coast Guard on Monday suspended an ocean search for a Pine Hill woman missing from a cruise ship, but the victim's family said they're still looking for answers about their loved one's disappearance.

Mindy Jordan, 46, fell overboard from the Norwegian Dawn about 7:50 p.m. Sunday, when the cruise ship was about 45 miles northeast of Atlantic City, according to the Coast Guard.

But Jordan's relatives want an investigation into the incident, her sister, Julie August of Mount Laurel, said Monday.

"My sister is a professional. She's a nurse and a mother," said August. "This is not somebody who's going to be jumping up on a rail."

Relatives learned of Jordan's disappearance from her boyfriend and traveling companion, Jorge Caputo of Pine Hill, August said.

"He said she was clowning around and she fell over," said August. "Who knows? We weren't there."

But, she contended, "It's just not adding up."

A Coast Guard spokesman said a "marine casualty investigation" will look into the cruise ship's operation during the incident.

"From what I understand, the FBI's also involved in this particular case," said the spokesman, Petty Officer Christopher Evanson. "They are separate investigations."

An FBI representative could not be reached for comment late Monday.

Caputo also could not be reached as the cruise ship, which left New York at 4 p.m. Sunday, continued en route to Bermuda.

The Coast Guard, which was told of Jordan's disappearance at 8:21 p.m. Sunday, conducted a helicopter search over about 60 square miles until shortly after 3 a.m. Monday.

Norwegian Dawn crew members also threw life rings into the ocean and deployed a small boat to look for Jordan.

The Coast Guard search, which was suspended due to bad weather, would be resumed only if more is learned about Jordan's location, Evanson said.

Family members expect the worst.

"It's been such a long time," said August, who said Jordan is the mother of two teen-age children.

"My mother had talked to her (by phone) while she was on her way to the ship, and she sounded fine," added August. "She was happy to be going."

She described Jordan, a licensed practical nurse who provided home health care, as "loving and warm-hearted."

"She generally took care of children who were dying or on life support," said August. "That tells you the kind of person she was."

Pine Hill woman missing at sea; inquiry under way | CourierPostOnline.com | Courier-Post

**Ally** · 05-13-2008, 10:05 AM

Foul play?

Quote:

While bad weather stopped the search for a New Jersey woman who disappeared from a Norwegian Dawn cruise ship off the coast of Atlantic City, the FBI is now investigating her disappearance.

The ship had left NYC for Bermuda on Sunday, and the 46-year-old woman went missing around 7:50 p.m. on Sunday. The woman's mother, Louise Jordan, told a TV station her daughter's boyfriend called her from the ship, "What he told me on the phone was she fell over the railing and fell to something down on a lower deck and that he ran to try and save her but she lost her grip and fell."

And Jordan told the Post her daughter is less than 5 feet tall, "The railing is four feet high - that's up to her chest. How do you fall over the railing when you're that short?"

The Coast Guard had dispatched two helicopters to search for the woman, until the heavy wind and rain stopped the effort. WNBC's Jonathan Dienst says the FBI will try to determine whether the woman's disappearance was caused by accident or was the result of foul play

Gothamist: FBI Now Involved in Search for Missing Cruise Passenger

**Ally** · 05-13-2008, 11:24 AM

Curiouser and curiouser....

Quote:

The woman who fell off the Norwegian Dawn late Sunday reportedly was "clowning around" near the edge of the ship when the incident occurred, according to a family member.

Julie August of Mt. Laurel, N.J., tells the South Jersey Courier Post this morning that her sister, Mindy Jordan, is the missing passenger. She says she and other relatives learned of the 46-year-old nurse's disappearance from her sister's boyfriend and traveling companion, Jorge Caputo, who was there at the time of the incident.

"He said she was clowning around and she fell over," August told the Courier Post, a sister paper to USA TODAY. "Who knows? We weren't there."

Jordan fell off the Norwegian Dawn at about 7:50 PM on Sunday, just hours after the ship pulled out of New York City on a one-week cruise to Bermuda. The Norwegian ship immediately began a search and rescue operation and called the U.S. Coast Guard, which dispatched several helicopters, but Jordan wasn't found. The Coast Guard called off the search on Monday.

Clowning around or not, Jordan's relatives are calling for an investigation into the incident, which occurred just off the coast of New Jersey.

"It's just not adding up," August tells the Courier Post. "My sister is a professional. She's a nurse and a mother. This is not somebody who's going to be jumping up on a rail."

Jordan's mother, Louise Horton of Bordentown, N.J., expressed frustration with Jordan's boyfriend to WPVI-TV, an ABC affiliate in Philadelphia. She told the station that when she talked to him on the ship, she asked him what he was going to do about the situation," and he said, 'well I guess I'm just going to have to go on to Bermuda.' So, he's continuing his trip as usual."

The ship is scheduled to reach Bermuda Wednesday.

A Coast Guard spokesman tells the Courier Post that a marine casualty investigation will look into the cruise ship's operation during the incident, and the FBI also will investigate.

Jordan is the mother of two teenage children.

Report: Norwegian passenger who went overboard was 'clowning around' - Cruise Log - USATODAY.com

If she was 'clowning around' when she fell, I can't for the life of understand why a grown woman would do that while sober. I feel for the children left behind, they will never know what happened to their mother.

**Ally** · 05-13-2008, 02:34 PM

It is looking like a possibility that Mindy Jordan was trying to get onto the next balcony along from hers when she fell from deck 9. Seems that the next door cabin was occupied by another couple who Mindy & her boyfriend knew. Goodness knows what made her climb on the rail like this, if indeed she did. Very very sad for her family.

Quote:

A cruise line released new information Tuesday, two days after a 46-year-old woman fell overboard about 45 miles off the Atlantic City coast.

Authorities said Mindy Jordan apparently fell from a cruise ship into the Atlantic Ocean hundreds of feet below Sunday night.

The ship had just left New York City on the way to Bermuda when Jordan allegedly fell overboard.

Initial reports indicated that the 46-year-old woman was attempting to climb from one exterior balcony on deck nine to the adjoining balcony and subsequently fell overboard, according to Norwegian Cruise Lines.

The ship did its own search and called for help from the Coast Guard.

In a statement, the cruise company said, "Our thoughts and prayers remain with the family and friends of the guest during this difficult time."

Foul weather forced the Coast Guard to stop searching for Jordan early Monday morning. The Coast Guard was initially notified Sunday night just before 8:30 p.m.

Jordan lives in Pine Hill, N.J., with her boyfriend, who was also on board the ship.

Ocean temperatures are currently in the 50s in the area she fell overboard.

Norwegian Dawn is currently en route to Bermuda, set to arrive on Wednesday.

A company spokeswoman said they are cooperating fully with authorities who are continuing to investigate the cause of the incident.

Cruise Line Describes How Woman May Have Gone Overboard - Local News Story - WCAU | Philadelphia

**Ally** · 05-14-2008, 04:39 AM

This lady's family is convinced that the boyfriend had something to do with what has happened. Sadly there are always going to be recriminations after a tragedy like this...

Quote:

MOTHER'S DAY was one of the happiest days of Mindy Jordan's life.

It was also the day she died - plunging from the cruise ship Norwegian Dawn into the stormy waters of the Atlantic.

The Coast Guard searched for hours for Jordan, 46, who was living in Clementon, N.J., with her boyfriend, Jorge Caputo, but the hunt was ended because of the high winds and raging sea.

The ship continued on its way, due to arrive in Bermuda today.

FBI agents reportedly were to meet the ship in Bermuda to question possible witnesses to the incident, but an FBI spokesman couldn't be reached yesterday for details. Norwegian Cruise Line in a statement confirmed that an investigation was under way.

The cruise line said the victim "was attempting to climb from one exterior balcony on deck nine to the adjoining balcony and subsequently fell overboard."

But Jordan's mother, Louise Horton, is troubled by that account and fears her daughter was the victim of "foul play."

Horton said that Jordan, a tiny woman who was only 4 feet 10 and weighed 98 pounds, had a troubled relationship with Caputo.

Neither Caputo nor anyone close to him could immediately be reached for comment. But Barbara Matthews, a neighbor of the couple who lived in a condo on Brinklet East near Forrester Avenue, said last night, "Nobody's going to convince me that Jorge would have done something to her." Matthews described Jordan and Caputo as a loving couple.

Horton said that her daughter, who worked as a practical nurse, was thrilled on Mother's Day, not only because of the cruise but also that Jordan's two children, Karina, 15, and Barry Jordan Jr., 18, had contacted her before she left.

That morning, Jordan received a text message from her daughter, saying: "Mom, I love you. You're the best mother in the world."

Barry Jr. also had contacted his mother to tell her he loved her, Horton said. Their father, Barry Jordan Sr., declined to comment last night.

Because of the cruise, Horton, Jordan and other members of the family celebrated Mother's Day the previous Thursday.

Still, Jordan found the time to call Horton twice on Mother's Day.

Horton said that she told her daughter: "I love you a bunch. Have a great time. Just be careful and take care of yourself."

Horton said her daughter was so happy about the trip and her children's messages to her that she told her mother that the past few days had been "the best days of my life."

Horton said that Jordan and Caputo had been involved for the past two-and-a-half years, but that Jordan had left Caputo a few months back because the situation was "getting bad again."

She stayed away only a short time, her mother said.

"I guess she thought this was going to be a new beginning," Horton said of her daughter.

Although Jordan is believed to have fallen from the ship about 8 p.m. on Mother's Day, Horton said she did not learn of the tragedy until Caputo called her about 11 a.m. the next day.

She said he told her, "Mindy had an accident. She went over the railing.

"We were clowning around and she fell."

The terrified woman said she asked Caputo "did they find her, and said that Caputo replied, "Well, no."

She said Jordan's boyfriend displayed so little emotion, "It was like he was calling to say she had broken her big toe."

Matthews, the neighbor, said last night that Caputo purchased the Clementon condo about three years ago and shared the property with Jordan and his 23-year-old daughter from a previous relationship, identified only as Megan.

"They're a nice couple, very friendly," Matthews said. "I've been sick for the past few years, and they're always over here, seeing if they can do anything for me."

The couple enjoyed using the condo development's community pool during summer days and seemed devoted to each other, Matthews said. She described Caputo as "warm and personable" and Jordan as "an absolute sweetheart."

Matthews said she ran into Caputo about 10 a.m. Sunday while he, Jordan and their two friends were packing their car. "He asked me to keep an eye on his daughter and her friends," she said. "He was recovering recently from surgery. He said they were really looking forward to the cruise."

Matthews was stunned to hear her neighbors mentioned in a cruise-ship horror story on the local news Monday night. "It's a tragedy. I'm very upset about it," she said.

Matthews said she has a hard time believing that Jordan had fallen while climbing an outdoor balcony - or, for that matter, that Caputo had anything to do with her fall.

"Mindy's a tiny little thing, about a hundred pounds. I can't imagine her doing that, especially on a stormy sea. And nobody's going to convince me that Jorge would have done something to her," Matthews said. "I just hate to see his name dragged through the mud."

Matthews said she thinks Jordan and Caputo might have had adjoining rooms with the couple they were traveling with, "and maybe Mindy was trying to reach over the balcony to hand something over to them."

She questions daughter's cruise-ship death Mom says victim's lover says she fell overboard | Philadelphia Daily News | 05/14/2008

**Ally** · 05-15-2008, 04:08 AM

Quote:

BORDENTOWN, N.J. -- More details are emerging about an incident in which a New Jersey woman aboard a cruise ship went overboard this weekend.

Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line said the initial indication was that Mindy Jordan, a 46-year-old nurse from Pine Hill, fell Sunday as she tried to reach from one balcony to another on a windy night.

And Wednesday night, the cruise line announced that surveillance cameras
had captured Jordan's fall and indicated that she was alone just prior to the incident.

Jordan's family, though, fears her fall wasn't only tragic but also criminal.

And the FBI is now trying to sort it out.

Agents were in Bermuda today to interview witnesses aboard The Norwegian Dawn as the ship arrived there, hoping to determine whether a crime occurred.

But if no one's charged in the matter, the FBI might not make its findings public.

MyFox Philadelphia | Ship's Cameras Show N.J. Woman Alone Before Falling Overboard

**Ally** · 05-15-2008, 10:26 AM

NCL Dawn arrived in Bermuda and FBI agents are currently interviewing and looking at CCTV tapes. Hopefully Mindy Jordan's family will get the answers they are looking for and can find some comfort after Mindy's loss.

Cases like this are always sad for the families involved, whether the cause is accidental, suicide or anything else, the end result is inevitably the same.

Thoughts go to everyone, family and friends of Mindy.

**alphakitty** · 05-15-2008, 10:45 AM

It looks like no foul play was involved since NCL has released the security tapes detail. No one ever thinks their loved ones could possible commit suicide or do something stupid. I would be surprised if alcohol wasn't involved here.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all affected by this tragedy.