The Coast Guard has stopped the search for a Carnival cruise passenger who fell overboard
The Coast Guard said it stopped its search for Ronnie Peale Jr. on Wednesday after scouring 5,171-square-miles over the course of 60 hours.
Daniel Kramer/Reuters
- The search for a Carnival passenger who fell overboard has been suspended, the US Coast Guard said.
- Ronnie Peale Jr. 35, fell off the Carnival Magic ship and into the water on Monday, officials said.
- His fiancée said Peale Jr. was on his first-ever cruise and in his "happy place" before he fell.
The search for the missing Carnival passenger who fell overboard on his first-ever cruise as it returned from the Bahamas has been suspended, the US Coast Guard said.
Ronnie Peale Jr., a 35-year-old Virginia resident, plunged into the water early Monday after he leaned over a balcony railing on the Carnival Magic ship about 186 miles east of Jacksonville, Florida, officials have said.
The Coast Guard said it stopped its search for Peale Jr. on Wednesday after scouring 5,171 square miles by air and water over 60 hours.
"The decision to suspend the active search efforts pending further development is never one we take lightly. We offer our most sincere condolences to Mr. Peale's family and friends," Lt. Cmdr. Christopher Hooper, the Coast Guard District Seven search and rescue mission coordinator, said.
The operator of the cruise ship, Carnival Cruise Lines, contacted the Coast Guard on Monday at around 6:30 p.m., reporting that a passenger fell off the Carnival Magic and into the waters.
Peale Jr. was reported missing late Monday afternoon by his companion, the cruise line has said.
The cruise line told Insider in a statement that a review of closed-circuit security footage "confirms that he leaned over the railing of his stateroom balcony and dropped into the water at approximately 4:10 am early Monday morning."
Peale Jr.'s fiancée, Jennilyn Michelle Blosser, told WTKR that her partner was in his "happy place" on his first cruise before tragedy struck.
"He loved the cruise life," Blosser said, according to the news outlet. "Being able to drink, gamble, and socialize put him in his happy place."
Blosser said that Peale Jr. was the "life of the party," and told CNN that the pair went on the voyage to celebrate her birthday.