FBI Investigating ‘Suspicious Death’ of Woman Aboard Carnival Cruise Ship

A Carnival Cruise Line ship is seen on March 27, 2020 in a file photo. Greenwood/Getty Images

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating the “suspicious death” of a female passenger onboard the Carnival Sunshine cruise ship.

During the Feb. 27 cruise from Charleston, South Carolina, to Nassau, Bahamas, a female passenger was found unresponsive onboard the ship, the FBI field office in Columbia, South Carolina, said in a March 5 news release. The woman has not been publicly identified.

Carnival’s Sunshine crew members and medical staff attempted to revive the woman after learning she was unresponsive, but the passenger was pronounced dead on the ship, the FBI said. It’s not clear exactly when the woman died.

The FBI have described the woman’s death as suspicious.

The incident was isolated and posed no threats to other passengers, according to the FBI.

Hannah Hierholzer, one of the passengers aboard the ship, told WCSC: “They called several times over the intercom, ‘Medical Response Team’ to room whatever, and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s weird, maybe that that happens all the time,’ because there’s old people on cruises with a health problem or something. But after that, like, we heard nothing about this at all.”

Hierholzer said the incident has made her more aware of possible dangers on a cruise ship.

“It doesn’t change the fact that I would like to go on another cruise, but I certainly wouldn’t walk around alone anymore on cruise ships. I’m thinking if there’s somebody who has like a weapon or something on a cruise, you know, it’s one ship. You’re kind of stuck with everybody on there,” she said.

When the ship returned to Charleston on March 4, the FBI Evidence Response Team members responded to the ship to process the passenger’s room, as is standard procedure to look for potential evidence. The FBI said it investigates “certain crimes on the high seas, as well as suspicious deaths of U.S. persons.”

“Both the deceased and her husband were debarked in Nassau and Bahamian authorities have already investigated the circumstances and are conducting an autopsy,” Carnival Cruise Line spokesperson Matt Lupoli told CNN in a statement.

“We are fully cooperating. This is a matter for authorities in the Bahamas and Charleston and we have no further comments.”

The FBI said the incident remains under investigation and no other details could be provided at this time.