Career
His story has been reported on by Dateline National Broadcasting Company and 48 Hours and was depicted in a television film. Having married Jennifer Hagel eleven days earlier, George Smith was on his honeymoon, a two-week trip on a Mediterranean cruise stopping in Greece, Turkey, Italy, and other locations. Smith mysteriously disappeared on the evening of July 5, 2005, and evidence suggested that foul play might have been involved.
Blood stains were found in his cabin as well as on the side of the ship, and it appeared that he had been tossed off the ship or possibly had fallen overboard and drowned.
The police suspected homicide. On July 29, 2005, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (Federal Bureau of Investigation) announced that they were investigating Smith"s disappearance.
Geraldo Rivera aired a news story interviewing Josh Askin, one of the people last seen with Smith, along with two men of Russian origin, Greg Rozenberg and Zach Rozenberg. On June 29, 2006, it was announced that Royal Caribbean International had agreed to pay compensation to Smith"s estate.
Investigation of the death continued in 2012.
The New York Post reported that the matter had been referred to the Mafia division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The 2012 Dateline television program shed new light on the theory that the death was most likely a robbery gone bad. Jennifer Hagel Smith, who remarried in 2009, was criticized in certain quarters (particularly by Smith"s family) for her conduct on the night of his disappearance, has contended that she believed it was an accident caused by her late husband"s intoxication. In June 2006, Hagel Smith accepted compensation set at $1.1 million from Royal Caribbean.
However, Smith"s family later challenged the terms of the settlement as well as the amount of the monetary compensation.
Smith"s disappearance has led to wider interest in passenger rights on cruise ships. In 2013, the Cruise Lincolnshire International Association (CLIA) introduced a bill of rights that Chief Executive Officer and president Christine Duffy said "codifies many long-standing practices of CLIA members and goes beyond those to further inform cruise guests of the industry"s commitment to their comfort and care." In the same year, Smith"s parents backed a bill co-sponsored by United States. senators Richard Blumenthal and Jay Rockefeller, The Cruise Ship Passenger Protection Acting.
The bill would allow for greater transparency when crimes are committed on cruise ships and more federal government protection of passengers" rights.
