Posted on 06/29/2005 1:58:53 PM PDT by Rippersnapper
GALVESTON - A Houston-area woman reported missing from a Carnival cruise ship was not the victim of foul play or an accidental fall, Houston FBI agents determined Sunday after interviewing her husband and other passengers.
"We had agents on the ship and concluded there was no foul play involved," said Agent Luz Garcia, a spokeswoman for the FBI. "I can't really go into detail out of respect for the family, but our feeling is that it was not an accident."
Family members last saw Vonnie Ales, 40, of Simonton, about 6:45 a.m. Friday when she left their cabin, after the ship Elation had left Belize and was steaming toward its home port in Galveston, Carnival spokeswoman Jennifer de la Cruz said.
A passenger saw her on an upper deck about 7:15 a.m. as the ship passed about 30 miles south of the Mexican island of Cozumel, de la Cruz said. The seven-day voyage included stops in Mexico and Belize.
Passengers disembarking Sunday from the Elation at Galveston said they first learned that Ales was missing Friday morning when an announcement was made on the ship's public address system asking her to phone or go to the purser's office.
A photo of Ales, who passengers said was traveling with her husband and two teenage children, was broadcast on the ship's televisions.
"We all looked," said John Besiso, 35, of Katy. His wife, Lisa, 35, said, "Everybody was upset and concerned."
Later the captain announced that he feared Ales was overboard and that he was turning the ship around to return to the area where she was last seen, passengers said.
"He was really frantic," said passenger Pam Gaspard, 37, of Orange. She said the ship turned around about noon. About 1 p.m., passengers were asked to go to the rail and look for Ales, Gaspard said.
She was not found, so the ship began to retrace its course toward Cozumel, she said.
Passenger Jeff Boren, 42, of Belton, said the Elation traveled for about six hours before arriving in the area where Ales was last seen on the upper deck.
Boren and other passengers said they saw two Mexican naval or coast guard vessels and a third, private ship that appeared to be a large freighter steaming in a search pattern.
Gaspard said there was little danger of accidentally falling overboard, noting that the railing is chest high.
OK, I missed you on the first search but subsequently I did find you in cyber space. You said you were 12 when this happened when in fact you were 13, you stayed with a friend that night but didn’t know about your mother missing till you heard the sirens??? Your father didn’t come looking for you., a girl of 13, on a cruise ship to tell you your mother was missing??? Sorry about the mistrust but we have seen countless number of people come on here claiming to be relatives in old news stories. A word of caution, you should never give out your real name anywhere in public on the internet. I am pinging the moderator to see if they will delte that info from your post above.
I am not challenging you. If you are her daughter then I can only say that I am sorry for your loss.
Wacky Ranch would have been my choice of terms. I am not an emotional person.
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He's DEAD, Jim !!
Yup, she put out way too much info about her family, if it was realy the daughter, and if it was 16 to boot.
Vonnie Ales
Date: June 23, 2005
Bruise: Missing
Bruise Location: At Sea Near Cozumel
Age: 40
Home Town: Simonton, (near Houston) Texas
Cruise Line: Carnival Cruise Lines
Ship: Elation
Details:
Vonnie disappeared on the Carnival Cruise ship Elation between Belize and Galveston, Texas.
She was traveling with her husband and two teenage sons.
Mrs. Ales was reported missing at 11 a.m. on Friday by her husband as the cruise ship Elation was returning to Galveston, Texas, after a stop in Belize
Her family last saw Vonnie about 6:45 a.m. Friday
Passengers last saw her by herself just after 7 a.m. as the ship was 30 miles off Mexico.
Several passengers said they visited with Vonnie Ales during the cruise and she seemed fine. But they also said Ales mentioned she had epilepsy, and had some medicine that would make her really tired, and she would fall asleep for about a day and a half to two days
Once the ship received notification that she was missing, they did a full ship search and notified authorities once they did not find her.
A passenger, John Besiso, 35, of Katy and his wife, Lisa, 35 said the captain announced that he feared Ales was overboard and that he was turning the ship around to return to the area where she was last seen. the ship turned around about noon.
At about 1 p.m. passengers were asked to go to the rail and look along the deck for Ales and the ship turned around again
Elation steamed for about six hours before arriving in the area where Ales was last seen on the upper deck.
The FBI reported that Ales neither had an accident nor was the victim of foul play.
http://www.cruisebruise.com/Vonnie_Ales.html
Vini Vidi ... ZOT !
Yep.
I’ve seen this happen here before.
Something happens and it makes news and they come here
to FR, sign up and post away.
Troll thrown overboard after severe mauling by Viking Kitties. Cause of Death: Suicide.
I had left the forum. Was the pretend daughter zotted?
Yep. “She’s dead, Jim!”
I wasn’t buying her validity. That is why I posted 41 I believe.
It’s 43 not 41. 41 was one of the fake daughters posts.
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