Solo traveler Suzanne Rees’s cruise adventure came to a devastating end on a remote Australian island, after other members of the group realized she had never returned to the ship.
A grandmother who died alone on a remote island suffered a heartbreaking fate after she was abandoned by a cruise ship.
Suzanne Rees, 80, had been part of a 60-night Coral Expeditions cruise, which was set to explore some of Australia’s most majestic sites. On Saturday, October 25, passengers aboard the Coral Adventurer disembarked at Lizard Island, about 240 kilometers from Cairns, Queensland.
The picturesque, almost deserted island is famous for its coral reefs and idyllic beaches, which attract divers from all over. That day, Suzanne, traveling alone, joined other members of the cruise group on an organized hike up Cook’s Look Trail, the island’s highest peak. Tragically, he never made it back to the ship.
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After becoming ill, Suzanne was supposedly asked to return down the mountain without an escort and, while she lay ill, the cruise ship departed for its next location. This was the first stop on the Coral Adventurer’s long circumnavigation of Australia, a holiday costing a staggering £40,000 per person.
“Then the ship left, apparently without counting the passengers. At some point in that sequence, or shortly after, Mom died alone,” said Suzanne’s daughter, Katherine. The Australian.
Katherine shared that her family was “shocked and saddened” that elderly Suzanne had allegedly been abandoned due to “lack of care and common sense.” It is understood Suzanne was only reported missing after she failed to show up for dinner, around five hours after she went missing.
Yachtsman Traci Ayris and her companion Matthew, who were aboard the SV Vellamo anchored near Lizard Island, had been listening to emergency radio transmissions sent from the ship Coral Expeditions.
“They did counts of the divers (which we heard), but apparently not of other guests on the island,” Traci told the Cairns Mail.
He added: “The last people got off the track and onto the tender and then the (boat) left very shortly after. There wasn’t much time between the time the last passengers left the beach and the time they anchored. We even commented, ‘Wow, they went fast.'”
The traveler was reported missing shortly before midnight, and emergency services searched by land and sea throughout the night. The next day, Suzanne’s body was recovered from a mountain, about 50 meters from the hiking trail.
Witness Traci said 7NEWS: “The search began around midnight with a helicopter and the crew searched until 3am.” He continued: “All of us in our boats in the bay were saddened by the events. It was immensely tragic that the hiker had not strayed far from the path we ourselves had taken the day before.”
In a statement previously given to news.com.au, Queensland Police said they were investigating the “sudden and non-suspicious death of a missing woman in her 80s.” The force stated: “The woman was reported missing to police on October 25, after failing to board a boat in waters off Queensland earlier on Saturday.”
Coral Expeditions CEO Mark Fifiel also issued the following statement: “We have expressed our deepest condolences to the Rees family and are deeply sorry that this has occurred. The circumstances of his tragic death are the subject of official investigations. We are cooperating fully with those investigations to establish the facts. For this reason, it would be inappropriate to comment further on the investigations while they are ongoing. We continue to provide our full support to the Rees family at this difficult time.”
Meanwhile, the guardian reports that the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has been informed of the incident and is conducting investigations. A multi-agency investigation will look into how and why the Australian native, who is remembered as an enthusiastic hiker and gardener after her death, was allegedly abandoned.
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