Police Investigating Toddler Cruise Ship Death as Possible Murder

The travel world was shocked earlier this month when an 18 month old girl fell from a cruise ship’s 11th floor to her death. Initial reports indicated that the girl’s grandfather may have accidentally dropped the girl from the ship either because he was playfully holding her over the side or because he tripped and fell while carrying her.

The girl’s family disputed the reports that the grandfather may have been at fault, and instead blamed the cruise line. They said that he had lifted the girl up to a line of large windows to allow her to bang on them as she had seen her brothers do a hockey game. Thinking that the cruise line had placed a window in the space where he lifted the girl, he lifted her and only realized that there was no glass in position when it was too late.

As the incident occurred  while the of the Freedom of the Seas was docked in Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rican police have jurisdiction over the case. Newsweek.com reports that the police have not ruled out any possibility, including murder. Sgt Jose D. Sanchez, acting head of the San Juan Police Department’s Homicide Division, told the Mail Online that “There are various possibilities. It could be a homicide. It could be a murder. It could be an accident.”