Cruise expert Dr. Ross Klein reports on his website that a young Brazilian woman working as an assistant waiter on the Costa Magica has disappeared from the cruise ship in the Mediterranean. She was last seen on Friday, June 1 but authorities were not notified of her disappearance until yesterday, Saturday. The Magica had sailed from Malta towards Catania, Sicily and was about 20 miles from the Sicilian coast when the young woman disappeared.

According to a Brazilian newspaper Globo, the crewmember is Lais Santiago, age 21.  She is from Lais Santiago - Costa Magica Cruise Ship - Missing Cremember - BrazilSantos, on the coast of Sao Paulo, Brazil.  

Her brother, Lucas Santiago, confirmed his sister’s disappearance.  There are conflicting accounts about her boyfriend who is described as being either from Brazil or India, with most accounts suggesting that he is also a Brazilian. The crewmember’s family stated that they have had no contact with him, but he was questioned by police.  Some internet accounts suggest that she may have made a call late at night with the next account indicating that her boyfriend reported her missing the following morning after she allegedly did not return to the cabin.

The family also spoke with her co-employees, one of whom stated that Lais was friendly and had no enemy on board. She didn’t drink, smoke or do drugs, "which is very common on ships." 

According to Dr. Klein’s database of passengers and crewmembers missing from cruise ships, this is the 182nd person to go overboard from a cruise ship since 2000. 

In this day and age, and with all of the incredible technology available, how can anyone "disappear" from a cruise ship without the closed circuit television video cameras not capturing the event?  

Do you have information about this case?  Please leave a comment below.

June 4, 2012 Update: There are a couple of comments, one from Brazil and one from Portugal, suggesting that the vessel’s video camera captured images of Ms. Santiago going to the rail, hesitating, and then going overboard around 2:00 AM.

The Brazilian newspaper Globo published a report  today confirming that Ms.Santiago apparently jumped as indicated above.

Ms. Santiago’s brother is quoted saying that his sister loved working on the ship, but had been complaining a lot lately. "Lais would resign and return to Brazil in the next 28 days. She loved working in the ship, but was tired."

 

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