FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Mexican navy has joined the U.S. Coast Guard in calling off its search for a Florida woman who fell from the deck of a Miami-based cruise ship last week.
Jennifer Ellis-Seitz of Winter Haven, Fla., has been missing since Thursday after plunging the equivalent of 15 stories from the Norwegian Pearl. The 36-year-old journalist and freelance writer was traveling with her husband and mother when she dropped into the Gulf of Mexico near Cancun.
A ship surveillance video captured her fall but wasn't able to show whether she jumped, fell or was pushed. The FBI is investigating and said it will be weeks before its probe is complete.
Ellis-Seitz's family members said the woman suffered from "emotional issues," and they believe she jumped to her death.
But the investigation and search were complicated by the fact that Ellis-Seitz's husband, Raymond Seitz, didn't report her missing for at least eight hours, officials said. The cruise ship security staff then conducted an exhaustive sweep of the ship before alerting the Coast Guard, further delaying the search.
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Ellis-Seitz trained poll workers during the election season, according to media reports, and had also worked as a reporter for several Florida newspapers, including the Ledger, Tampa Tribune and Florida Today, according to a biography on her personal Web site.
She also is a school bus driver and founder of NewsHound Communications, which does writing, editing, proofreading, training and advertising, the Tribune said.
Her friends and colleagues described Ellis-Seitz as a good worker and a pleasure to be around.
Ellis-Seitz has been missing since Thursday.
