Truemors
The Coast Guard on Monday suspended an ocean search for a Pine Hill woman missing from a cruise ship, but family members said they're still looking for answers about their loved one's disappearance.
Mindy Jordan, 46, fell overboard from the Norwegian Dawn about 7:50 p.m. Sunday, when the cruise ship was about 45 miles northeast of Atlantic City, according to the Coast Guard.
But Jordan's relatives want an investigation into the incident, her sister, Julie August of Mount Laurel, said Monday.
"My sister is a professional. She's a nurse and a mother," said August. "This is not somebody who's going to be jumping up on a rail."
Relatives learned of Jordan's disappearance from her boyfriend and traveling companion, Jorge Caputo of Pine Hill, August said.
"He said she was clowning around and she fell over," said August. "Who knows? We weren't there."
But, she contended, "It's just not adding up."
A Coast Guard spokesman said a "marine casualty investigation" will look into the cruise ship's operation during the incident.
"From what I understand, the FBI's also involved in this particular case," said the spokesman, Petty Officer Christopher Evanson. "They are separate investigations."
An FBI representative could not be reached for comment.
Caputo also could not be reached as the cruise ship, which left New York at 4 p.m. Sunday, continued en route to Bermuda.
The Coast Guard, which was told of Jordan's disappearance at 8:21 p.m. Sunday, conducted a helicopter search over about 60 square miles until shortly after 3 a.m. Monday.
Norwegian Dawn crew members also threw life rings into the ocean and deployed a small boat to look for Jordan.
The Coast Guard search, which was suspended due to bad weather, would be resumed only if more is learned about Jordan's location, Evanson said.
Family members expect the worst.
"It's been such a long time," said August, who said Jordan is the mother of two teenage children.
"My mother had talked to her (by phone) while she was on her way to the ship, and she sounded fine," added August. "She was happy to be going."
She described Jordan, a licensed practical nurse who provided home health care, as "loving and warmhearted."
"She generally took care of children who were dying or on life support," said August. "That tells you the kind of person she was."
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ATLANTIC CITY - Monday's stormy weather forced the Coast Guard to calloff the search for a woman who apparently fell off a cruise ship about45 miles northeast of the resort, officials said.
TheU.S. Coast Guard said it received a call at about 8:21 p.m. Sunday thata 46-year-old woman on the Norwegian Dawn cruise ship fell overboard. Ahelicopter crew from the Atlantic City station arrived about 40 minuteslater and ran search patterns until 10:53 p.m., with no success. AnHH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Cape Cod, Mass., arrived shortlyafter midnight and searched for three hours until they were forced toquit because of bad weather.
The search for the passenger resumedMonday morning, but was called off at about noon because of foulweather, said Petty Officer Nyx Cangemi, of the Atlantic City station.
The operation was one of four weather-related rescues launched from the Atlantic City station Monday, Cangemi said.
"It's been a busy, busy day since we've had this foul weather come through," Cangemi said.
The Norwegian Dawnleft the Manhattan Cruise Terminal at 4 p.m. Sunday, bound for Bermuda,Norwegian Cruise Lines spokeswoman AnneMarie Matthews said Monday in areleased statement. The passenger was reported overboard at 7:50 p.m.The ship's crew began an immediate search and alerted the Coast Guard.
TheCoast Guard released the ship at midnight Monday and took over thesearch-and-rescue operation, and the Norwegian Dawn continued on itsjourney, Matthews said.
"Our thoughts and prayers remain with the family and friends of the guest during this difficult time," Matthews said.
Neither the Coast Guard nor the cruise line released the name of the passenger or told how the woman fell off the ship.
ButLouise Jordan, of Bordentown, told WPVI-TV 6 in Philadelphia that herdaughter, Mindy Jordan, 46, was the missing passenger. Mindy Jordan'sboyfriend, Jorge Caputo, of Pine Hill, called her family from the ship.
"Whathe told me on the phone was she fell over the railing and fell tosomething down on a lower deck and that he ran to try and save her butshe lost her grip and fell," Louise Jordan told the television station.
TheNational Weather Service had posted gale warnings in its marineforecast for Sunday night, said meteorologist Bob Wanton of the MountHolly station. The forecast called for periods of rain, with winds from20 to 25 knots, increasing to 35 to 30 knots. Seas were forecast to be5 to 8 feet, increasing to 8 to 11 feet.
Cangemi said theNorwegian Dawn incident was the first time the Coast Guard was calledabout a passenger falling off a cruise ship since he was transferred toNew Jersey about a year ago. But when he was stationed near the Gulf ofMexico, this type of mishap occurred more frequently.
Monday wasan especially busy day, and Coast Guard crews based in Atlantic Cityhad three other weather-related rescues besides the missing cruisepassenger, Cangemi said. Two people were rescued when their researchboat fell apart and took on water off the coast of Rehoboth Beach,Del., and one of them later died; crews worked to rescue a sailor whobeached off 10th Street in Ocean City, Md.; and two sailors wererescued after their boat's engine failed off the coast of Liston Point,Del.
The rain and high winds made it difficult to fly rescuehelicopters, and the pilots had to work hard to keep their crew andcraft safe, Cangemi said.
"We train out in foul weather all thetime," Cangemi said. "It's something we prepare for and hope we neverhave to put into action."
Cangemi urged mariners to know theirown limits and those of their boats, and not to go out in a storm if itisn't absolutely necessary.
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