George Smith disappeared over two decades ago on July 5, 2005, from Royal Caribbean’s Brilliance of the Seas. What followed was a mishandled crime scene, a family denied answers, and a case that forced the public to see how little accountability exists at sea.
George Smith was on a honeymoon cruise with his newlywed bride, Jennifer Hagel, who we later represented on behalf of Mr. Smith’s estate against the cruise line over his disappearance. The couple was drinking late in the night when Mr. Smith returned to his room with four men he met that night. The men were the last to see him.
The cruise line covered up the disappearance and put the blame on Mr. Smith, claiming he likely fell overboard by accident after smoking. The evidence says otherwise. Blood was found in his cabin and one of the four men last seen with Mr. Smith was later recorded mocking him saying “we gave that guy a paragliding lesson without a parachute.“
My opinion about the case has not changed over twenty years. There was nothing accidental about George Smith’s disappearance. The greatest mystery about this tragedy is not what happened to George Smith; it’s why the FBI shut its investigation down and why the Department of Justice didn’t arrest those responsible long ago.
I have written extensively about the disappearance in a 2011 Series:
- Trouble as the Cruise Ship Sails to Kusadasi
- A Frantic Call Back to Connecticut
- Media Frenzy Follows Case of “Missing Honeymooner”
- Dr. Henry Lee Boards the Brilliance of the Seas
- Royal Caribbean Blocks Dr. Henry Lee’s Dummy Experiment
- The International Cruise Victims Organization Is Born!
- Royal Caribbean Captain Says Its Just an Accident Involving a Bloody Nose
- Larry King Live & the “Missing Groom Mystery”
The case continues to attract national attention. CBS re-aired its 48 Hours episode Murder at Sea? on September 13th, more than twenty years after George’s disappearance.
Also read: A Decade of Injustice: The George Smith Case
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