Cruise ship passenger who jumped overboard was US father-of-three on anniversary trip

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The missing passenger who jumped from a cruise ship off Mexico last week has been identified as a father-of-three from Southern California.

Thomas Gigler, 56, was reportedly marking his 15th anniversary with his wife Michelle, 48, when he disappeared from the Carnival Panorama Saturday, the last day of a seven-night cruise along the coast of the Baja peninsula.

Gigler, a long-serving computer programmer for Esri, lived with his wife and three sons, aged nine, 11 and 13, in Redlands, east of Los Angeles, according to the Daily Mail. His family raised the alarm after he went missing but he has yet to be found.

His sister Wendy Dowden told the newspaper they are at a loss to why he would have gone overboard.

“We think something must have happened in his head. He wasn’t in his right mind to have done this,” she said. The couple would have celebrated their wedding anniversary on Wednesday 23 September, according to the Mail.

Tommy McGraw, 55, from Kentucky, was on board the ship at the time of Gigler’s disappearance. He told The Independent passengers were urged to go back to their rooms so that crew could search the decks and do accountability checks after the guest was reported missing.

McGraw, who was traveling with a group of four, said staff did not share any passenger information at the time, only that a family had reported a loved one missing. Passengers followed the instruction to return to their rooms for around two hours while searches were carried out.

“The captain made a statement they needed everyone to their staterooms so the crew could search the decks and do accountability checks room-to-room, scanning all sail and sign cards,” he said.

“When they did their door-to-door, they stated that they didn't have any other info and the captain would guide us over the intercom system.”

The captain announced after a couple of hours that a passenger had jumped overboard following a review of CCTV cameras on board, before the ship turned back to continue its journey to California.

McGraw said fellow cruisegoers set up a makeshift memorial of toy ducks while staff tended to the family, leaving notes and trinkets on board the ship on the return journey back to California.

“The ducks are a cruise passenger thing. People bring little ducks and place them all over the ship, kind of hide them, for others to find,” he explained.

“People will have ducks made with their names, cruise dates, ship name, hometown, etc.”

A spokesperson for Carnival Cruise Line told Fox News: “Carnival Cruise Line confirmed Saturday that a male guest aboard Carnival Panorama jumped overboard while the ship was sailing from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to Long Beach, California.

“When notified of a missing guest, the ship's team initiated search and investigation procedures, including reviewing CCTV footage and notifying both the U.S. and Mexico Coast Guards.”

The spokesperson said the company was providing support to the family, who was travelling with the missing guest at the time. The Independent has contacted Carnival Cruise Line for comment.

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