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Coast Guard calls off search for man seen jumping overboard off ...

Coast Guard calls off search for man seen jumping overboard off
After a day of searching more than 1,347 square miles, the Coast Guard has suspended the search for a man who reportedly jumped off a cruise ship.
The 2,052-passenger, 70,367-ton Carnival Elation sails to The Bahamas, Bermuda and Caribbean out of Jacksonville. Unveiled in 1998, it's one of Carnival's eight Fantasy Class vessels, which date to the 1990s.

The U.S. Coast Guard announced Monday night they were ending the search for a man who reportedly jumped from the deck of a Carnival cruise ship.

According to Carnival Cruise Line officials, the Elation crew was notified by his family members that Jaylen Hill, 30, was missing.

"Sadly, after an exhaustive on-board search and a review of security camera video, it was determined that he jumped," said Matt Lupoli, Senior Manager of Public Relations.

Here's what we know.

Man overboard!How easy is it to fall overboard on a cruise ship, and how can you survive?

Who jumped off a Carnival Cruise Line ship?

The U.S. Coast Guard identified the man as Jaylen Hill.

When did Jaylen Hill go missing?

Carnival Elation was on a four-day Bahamas cruise and returned to Jacksonville Monday morning. Hill was reported missing around 8 p.m., according to the Coast Guard.

“The crew was notified by his traveling companion late (Sunday) afternoon about his missing status after he had not been seen all day,” the cruise line said. 

Did Jaylen Hill jump overboard?

The cruise line said in a release that surveillance video showed Hill jumping overboard.

The Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2010 requires passenger vessels operating in the United States to "integrate technology that can be used for capturing images of passengers or detecting passengers who have fallen overboard, to the extent that such technology is available."

Carnival spokesperson Matt Lupoli told USA TODAY earlier this year that all ships have "safety barriers that are regulated by U.S. Coast Guard standards and prevent a guest from falling off."

Where did Hill jump off the Carnival Cruise ship?

Hill went missing 95 east of the coast of Melbourne, the Coast Guard said.

Rescue crews using the 87-foot cutter Tarpon from St Petersburg, a Hercules aircraft from Clearwater, and an Ocean Sentry plane from Miami searched more than 1,347 square miles searching for Hill, the Coast Guard said, but suspended the search efforts Monday evening.

"We offer our deepest condolences to the Hill family," said Petty Officer Eric Rodriguez, D7. "Our crews take our life saving mission very seriously. Any time we can't bring a loved one home to their family is a pain we all feel."

What is the Carnival Cruise ship Elation?

At 855 feet long, nearly 72,000 tons and staffed with 900 crewmembers, the Carnival Elation can carry nearly 2,200 guests.

The Elation returned to Jacksonville's port in October 2022 after being previously deployed to Port Canaveral. That marked a return for the cruise ship, which ran out of Jacksonville in 2015.

Have other people died on the Carnival Elation cruise ship?

In 2018, a Kansas woman died after falling from the balcony, but it wasn't an accident. Eric Duane Newman, 55, of Topeka, pleaded guilty the next year to second-degree murder for strangling Tamara Tucker, 50, of Lawson, Missouri, and pushing her off.

Kevin Wellons, 24, of Georgia, was seen going overboard in February 2017. The Coast Guard suspended its search 36 hours later.

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