Search Called off for Missing Cruise Ship Passenger

The search for an American cruise ship passenger who fell overboard 33 miles off the Cuban coast has been suspended after more than 16 hours of searching.

 

The U.S. Coast Guard called off its search Thursday evening for 23-year-old Florida resident Brandon Paul, who reportedly fell from the eighth deck of the cruise ship Carnival Victory early Wednesday morning roughly 33 miles northwest of Pinar Del Rio, Cuba.

 

Rescue crews searched for more than 16 hours and covered nearly 3,500 square miles.

 

The U.S. Coast Guard sent two airplane crews and the Coast Guard Cutter Charles Sexton to search the area, with assistance from Cuban search and rescue authorities as well as the Carnival Victory and its search boat.