Carnival Cruise Line says an autistic 22-year-old missing since Sunday had climbed over a ship’s deck rail, going overboard during a cruise from Alabama to the western Caribbean.
The Miami-based company provided a statement from Luke Renner’s family, sent by a public relations firm.
The Renners say they are devastated by Luke’s death but do not blame Wishes4Me, the special needs group which organized the cruise. The family from Johns Creek, Georgia, says they are thankful he was with people they loved and trusted when he died.
According to Carnival’s email, Renner’s family believes he may have thought he was going swimming.
An earlier statement said Renner was in a group of nine, with three chaperons.
The Carnival Fantasy left Mobile, Alabama, on Saturday. It has a passenger capacity of 2,675 people.
(Associated Press, copyright 2018)
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