Man 'jumps off' cruise ship during wedding anniversary trip with wife as family reveal chilling theory
The family of a husband and father-of-three who's believed to have jumped off a Carnival cruise ship during a wedding anniversary trip with his wife have spoken out.
On September 18, Thomas Gigler disappeared from the Carnival Panorama, six days into a trip from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to Long Beach, California.
The 56-year-old computer programmer was travelling with his wife Michelle and three children aged 13, 11 and nine. Carnival said CCTV indicated he had 'jumped overboard'.
Rumours that Gigler was going through marital issues have since circulated, and now his sister Wendy Dowden has spoken to the media to dismiss the claims.
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Dowden told MailOnline the couple 'were getting along quite well', adding that she thinks Thomas may have suffered a 'psychotic break' prior to allegedly jumping.
She added: "We think something must have happened in his head. He wasn’t in his right mind to have done this."
Thomas was on the cruise ship sailing from Mexico to California to celebrate his 15th wedding anniversary with his wife Michelle, 48.
After Thomas went missing, Michelle asked cruise staff to help her find him the following morning, People reports.
Thomas' name was called out on the ship’s public address system to no avail. On Saturday afternoon, the decision was made to turn the cruise ship around.
The Sun reports that from 3.30pm, staff sent passengers to their rooms and IDed every single person onboard the cruise ship.
However, there was still no sign of Thomas, so staff combed through hours of security footage, and found what appeared to be the moment he allegedly jumped overboard when the ship was just off the coast of Baja, California.
The US and Mexican Coast Guard have been involved in the search efforts, though Thomas has not been found as of yet.
"The Coast Guard launched fixed wing aircraft to assist with the search and is coordinating search efforts with the Mexican Navy and commercial vessels in the area," a spokesperson for the Coast Guard said in a statement.
Thomas is understood to have jumped from the 11th deck of the ship and is now presumed to have died as a result.
In the aftermath of the incident, a Carnival Cruise spokesperson said: "Carnival Cruise Line confirmed Saturday that a male guest aboard Carnival Panorama jumped overboard while the ship was sailing from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to Long Beach, California.
"When notified of a missing guest, the ship’s team initiated search and investigation procedures, including reviewing CCTV footage and notifying both the US and Mexico Coast Guards.
"Carnival is providing support to the family who was travelling with the guest, and our thoughts and prayers are with them and their loved ones."
Michael Bedwell, a passenger onboard the cruise ship, told ABC 7 of the horrific events of that day.
"I’ve done a lot of cruises here and never had anything like this done before. We just did what they told us to do and [crew members] were walking around saying, ‘OK everyone back to your rooms,’" he said.
"We didn’t really know what was going on. They just kept saying they are looking for a person and now we know he jumped overboard I guess."
The passenger said the lockdown lasted around an hour before it was announced: "The team has completed the review of our man overboard cameras. Sadly, we’ve been able to confirm that the guest has gone overboard. Local authorities will continue the search and rescue."
Topics: Cruise ship, US News, Travel
Callum Jones