An 80-year-old who tragically died after she failed to board a cruise ship on Lizard Island has been identified, as her daughter speaks about her horror final moments
Australian retiree Suzanne Rees, who was travelling solo, was allegedly left behind by the Coral Adventurer on the first stop of a 60-day, $52,681 USD circumnavigation of Australia, and was not reported missing until hours later on the night of October 25.
She reportedly died in “sudden and non-suspicious” circumstances after failing to board the ship off Lizard Island, an exclusive Far North Queensland hotspot.
Rees’ daughter Katherine Rees has broken her silence on the tragedy, saying it appears there was a “failure of care and common sense” that led to her mother dying alone.
“We understand from the police that it was a very hot day, and Mom fell ill on the hill climb,” a heartbroken Katherine told The Australian.
“She was asked to head down, unescorted. Then the ship left, apparently without doing a passenger count. At some stage in that sequence, or shortly after, Mom died, alone.
“I hope that the coronial inquiry will find out what the company should have done that might have saved Mom’s life.”
News.com.au contacted Coral Adventurer for comment regarding the allegations – however it said it is not providing additional comments while the investigations remain underway.
Rees was on an organized hike and snorkeling tour
Rees was on an organized hiking and snorkeling excursion that involved passengers taking a smaller boat to Lizard Island, 56 miles northeast of Cooktown.
Authorities believe Rees was hiking Lizard Island’s highest summit off the Far North Queensland coast on Saturday.
Sources told The Australian that the woman had to stop when hiking the 2.5-mile trail to the island’s highest point, Cook’s Look, a three-hour round trip which is described by the Lizard Island Resort as “challenging” and recommended for guests with “medium to high fitness and agility”.
“The group continued on and boarded the vessel before realizing she was not there,” a source told the newspaper.
The woman fell down a cliff and was not reported missing to police until five hours later, when it was realized she did not turn up for dinner about 6pm.
The Coral Adventurer was turned around, and about seven crew members were sent ahead in a smaller boat to search the island with torches, The Australian reported.
A Nautilus Aviation helicopter is believed to have located the woman’s body on Sunday.
Katherine said she hoped a coronial inquest would shed more light on what happened to her mother.
‘How does something like this happen?’
Police are currently investigating Rees’ death and whether she could have been saved.
“How does something like this happen?” Sunrise host Nat Barr asked cruising expert Adrian Tassone on Wednesday morning’s show.
“That’s something that I am really struggling with trying to understand myself,” Tassone said.
“Cruise lines in normal sort of operation will always know who is on the ship and who is off the ship, so if the reports are to be believed and this woman was left behind on the island, I really can’t understand how that occurred.
“That’s something that I think most people are questioning and trying to come to grips with. Really there are systems in place across the board that should prevent that from happening, so I don’t know what happened in this instance that led to that occurring.
“This ship held a maximum of 120 passengers, so I struggle to understand how a headcount wasn’t conducted.
“Typically, you get on a cruise ship and you scan a card that is your key card, which indicates when you’re on and off the ship. Those manifests I understand are across all cruise lines.
“I don’t know if Coral Expeditions operates in a different manner to that, but I am really surprised something more robust isn’t in place that should have prevented this from happening,” Tassone added.
Coral Expeditions: ‘Deeply sorry’
Coral Expeditions chief executive Mark Fifield confirmed the death of a passenger of its Coral Adventurer vessel, during an excursion to Lizard Island, in a statement to news.com.au on Tuesday.
The vessel can carry up to 120 passengers and 46 crew.
“Coral Expeditions can confirm the tragic death of a passenger on the Coral Adventurer during an excursion to Lizard Island in Queensland,” he said.
“On Saturday October 25, the crew notified authorities that a woman was missing, and a search and rescue operation was launched on land and sea. Following the operation, Coral Expeditions was notified by Queensland Police that the woman had been found deceased on Lizard Island.
“While investigations into the incident are continuing, we are deeply sorry that this has occurred and are offering our full support to the woman’s family.
“The Coral team have been in contact with the woman’s family, and we will continue to offer support to them through this difficult process.
“We are working closely with Queensland Police and other authorities to support their investigation.”
Asked whether the woman’s family would be refunded her cruise fees, a spokesman for Coral Expeditions said on Wednesday the company would not comment on private conversations.
“What we can reiterate is that we are offering our full support to the woman’s family and will continue to do so,” he said.
Lizard Island is roughly 1,000 miles northeast of Brisbane and 60 miles northeast of Cooktown, its closest population center.
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