Gregory Rozenberg - George Smith - Cruise DisappearanceThis weekend saw a renewed interest of the public into the disappearance of cruise passenger George Smith with the airing of a "update" of the unsolved case by Dateline NBC called "Overboard."

The Dateline program focused on the four men last seen with Mr. Smith: Gregory Rozenberg, Zachary Rozenberg, Rostislav ("Rusty") Kofman, and Josh Askin.  These four cruise passengers were in Mr. Smith’s cabin after 4:00 AM in the morning shortly before Mr. Smith went overboard. 

Although Dateline suggested there is a new focus by the FBI on these four passengers, the truth of the matter is that the FBI focused on these four shortly after Mr. Smith’s death in July 2005 – over six and one-half years ago.

Many news sources, including the New York Post, are reporting that the "Russians" (the two Rozenberg brothers and Rostislav Kofman) all reside in New York and allegedly are now subject to the scrutiny of the FBI "mafia team" in New York.  Hogwash.  Greg Rozenberg lived in South Florida (Boca Raton) for years.  He has spent years in a prison in Florida.  He now lives in Dade City, Florida.

Greg Rozenberg has been arrested multiple times in Florida for various alleged offenses ranging from driving with a suspended license to possession of cannabis to trafficking oxycodone.  His mug shots are readily available on line, including the one below taken in 2009.  

The Dateline show showed snippets from the deposition of Mr. Rozenberg which was taken by one of the lawyers for the Smith family while Mr. Rozenberg was in jail in Florida.  My impression of the Gregory Rozenberg - George Smith - Cruise Disappearancecomplete deposition is that the Smith family’s lawyer did his best to try and lead inmate Rozenberg to testify against Mr. Smith’s wife, Jennifer Hagel.  To see a lawyer for the Smith family try and lead a felon into implicating a completely innocent widow is one of the most disgusting things I have ever seen. 

Jennifer Hagel passsed a FBI polygraph in 2005.  The FBI never considered her a suspect in her husband’s death.   

You can watch parts of the video deposition of Greg Rosenberg shown on dateline here.

We will show other portions of the two hour Rozenberg deposition, and explain why that deposition was taken, in another article.

Do you have information about Greg Rozenberg, or fellow cruise passengers Zach Rosenberg, Rusty Kofman and Josh Askin, which may provide answers to solve the George Smith case?

 

Photo credits:

Top:  Greg Rozenberg’s Facebook

Bottom:  Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office