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A multi-day search for a Louisiana teen who jumped from a sunset cruise in the Bahamas has come to its tragic end -- and the last known sighting of him was caught on harrowing video. Royal Caribbean said it “immediately” launched search boats to look for him with help from the US Coast Guard. According to reports, he allegedly jumped off an 18-story Liberty of the Seas boat around 4am in front of his younger brother and dad after getting into an argument with his father. The safest cruise lines were able to rescue only 40 percent of overboard passengers, and most save far fewer, he said.
Bahamas Nightmare
Sims hung out with Parker and his brother, Seth, 18, in the hot tub in the early hours of April before going their separate ways around 4 a.m. “When we got to them, he said to his dad, ‘I’ll fix this right now.’ And he jumped out the window in front of us all,” Sims said.
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Authorities Identify Son Who Jumped Off Cruise Ship in Front of Family - Yahoo News Canada
Authorities Identify Son Who Jumped Off Cruise Ship in Front of Family.
Posted: Wed, 10 Apr 2024 20:11:33 GMT [source]
The ship continued on its voyage back to Fort Lauderdale shortly after, leaving the search up to the Coast Guard. A man who jumped to his death from a Royal Caribbean cruise last week was identified by media outlets Wednesday as Levion Parker, a 20-year-old Floridian who regularly posted about hunting and fishing. Since he went missing, a multi-day search was undertaken by both Bahamian authorities and the U.S.
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The high school baseball standout graduated from Baton Rouge's U-High on May 21, and his last posts on Instagram include pictures of him surrounded by his family and friends. A woman whose son was friends with Robbins and on the boat at the time told Fox News Digital that several students tried to grab Robbins before he took the plunge, but he broke free. Cameron Robbins, a Louisiana resident, was celebrating his high school graduation when he was reportedly dared to jump overboard on a cruise. As CrimeOnline previously reported, Cameron Robbins, who had just graduated from University Laboratory School (U-High), jumped off the boat as a dare on May 24.
... Search Called Off
Coast Guard -- but Robbins was never found, and the search has now been called off after several unsuccessful days of scouring the area for any sign of him. Last month, a 23-year-old man who felt seasick fell overboard from the MSC Euribia cruise ship while crossing the North Sea in Europe and was presumed dead. The cruise ship has 18 decks and can accommodate up to 3,634 passengers.
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His dad was fussing at him for being drunk, I guess,” Sims said of the moment before Parker jumped. Social media posts show Parker often went on hunting and fishing trips. He also played football for North Port High School before he graduated in 2022, according to the Daily Mail. However, he was never found, and the Coast Guard called off the search.
Vacation horror as ‘drunk’ son, 20, jumps from Royal Caribbean cruise in front of family
But Francel explained that he wasn’t actually arguing with his son and that there’s no way his son was trying to take his own life. According to onlookers, his father and brother watched helplessly as he leaped over the side. However Royal Caribbean sources told The Daily Mail he could have purchased the booze offboard, where the drinking age is 18.
Even if crew members are immediately aware of the incident, it takes the average ship at least a mile to turn around. In many cases, ships are not aware that someone has gone overboard until a travel partner reports them missing, which could be hours or days later. The man’s father claimed to have thrown over six life rings in the hopes of saving his son before the giant ship could come to a stop 20 minutes later where the Royal Caribbean launched search boats.
year-old man missing after jumping off a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, report says
The small, pirate-lookalike cruise ship was anchored throughout the night, and the students were stuck at sea near the uninhabited island in what Royal Bahamas Defense Force Commodore Raymond King called "shark-infested waters." “There was a lot of yelling, and the crew was alerted immediately,” cruise passenger Deborah Morrison told The Post. In a 2020 study, a professor examined more than 620 cruise deaths from 2000 through the end of 2019.
In the past few years, most cruise lines have enacted onboard safety measures and surveillance systems to help reduce the risk of overboard deaths. According to the Washington Post, about 386 people were reported to have gone overboard on the major cruise lines between 2000 to 2020. The boy’s stunned father, Francel Parker, told The Daily Sun he threw six life rings off the ship in hopes of saving his son before the massive vessel was able to come to a stop about 20 minutes later. At least 386 people were reported to have gone overboard, voluntarily or by accident, from 2000 to 2020, according to data Klein compiled. He began tracking overboard cases in 1995 using media reports, tips, information requests and other methods, later serving as an expert witness before Congress. The Coast Guard said last week it had given up on its search for 30-year-old Jaylen Hill, who went overboard during a four-day Carnival Cruise trip from Florida to the Bahamas.
Hill was reported missing by a travel companion hours after he was last seen. Experts say such time gaps between a fall and the start of a search are a big part of why overboard incidents are so deadly. A Florida man says he believes his 20-year-old son is still alive, days after he jumped from an 18-story cruise ship, according to the North Port Daily Sun. "The ship's crew immediately launched a search and rescue effort alongside the US Coast Guard, who has taken over the search," the Royal Caribbean spokesperson said. Deborah Morrison, another passenger on board the cruise, told the Post that "there was a lot of yelling and that the crew was alerted immediately."
According to witnesses, Parker was confronted by his father about drinking early on April 4. Levion Parker told his father, “I’ll fix this right now,” a moment before he turned and jumped out of a window and overboard. Deborah Morrison, another passenger, told the Daily Mail that crew were “alerted immediately” by the “yelling” that erupted on deck after Parker’s leap.
In a statement to The Post, Royal Caribbean said its crew immediately sprang into action following the incident. Francel Parker is demanding to know how his underage son was given alcohol on the four-day cruise. Felty posted several other videos of Parker, including one of him hunting with a bow and arrow.
Some passengers said it appeared to be an impulsive, spur-of-the-moment decision. The 18-story ship was sailing between Cuba and the Bahamas’ Grand Inagua Island when the as-yet-unidentified man jumped off one of the decks. Parker, of North Port, Florida, jumped off the 11th deck of the Liberty of the Seas around 4 a.m. On April 4, plummeting 200 feet into the Atlantic in front of his helpless brother and father while heading to Cuba and the Bahamas’ Grand Inagua Island, Florida officials said.
The two-day, 325-mile search for Robbins was called off Friday night. "We offer our sincerest condolences to Cameron Robbins’ family and friends," the U.S. Most of the 4,000 passengers aboard reportedly weren’t alerted to the incident until later that morning, when the ship’s captain made an announcement while many ate breakfast. In a statement, Royal Caribbean said it immediately halted the ship and dispatched boats to search for Parker, but had no luck.
The amount of alcohol being served on cruise ships is also a concern cited by several experts, who said passengers are being overserved. Alcohol is involved in up to 60 percent of overboard cases, according to Klein, and alcoholic drinks have become one of the leading sources of onboard revenue for cruise lines in recent years. “The ship’s crew immediately launched a search and rescue effort alongside the US Coast Guard, who has taken over the search,” the statement reads.
