Ocean search for missing passenger suspended

[Jason]

MIAMI (AP) Coast Guard crews on Wednesday suspended their search for a passenger reported missing two days earlier on a cruise to the Bahamas.

Friends of Daniel Dipiero, 21, of Canfield, Ohio, last saw him on the Mariner of the Seas around midnight Sunday. About two hours later, shipboard security cameras show a man appearing to be Dipiero leaning on a rail near the front of the ship, authorities said.

He was reported missing Monday morning when his friends realized he had not slept in the cabin they shared. Royal Caribbean International notified the Coast Guard on Monday evening, after searching the ship and Coco Cay, an island owned by the cruise line.

Our thoughts and prayers remain with the young man's family and friends during this difficult time,'' company spokesman Michael Sheehan said.

Vessels and aircraft from the U.S. and Bahamian Coast Guards searched 900 square miles of ocean between Grand Bahama Island and Coco Cay. The ship had departed from Port Canaveral.

[hazelson]

That is so sad - what a waste of a young life.