The US Coast Guard has ceased its search for a man who deliberately jumped from the deck of a CCL-Carnival ship. According to surveillance footage, the individual, identified as 30-year-old Jaylen Hill, leaped over the railing of the Carnival Elation ship on Sunday afternoon, July 23rd, off the coast of Melbourne, Florida.
On Monday night, July 24th, USCG officials announced that they had suspended the search "pending any further developments." They expressed their deepest condolences to the Hill family and emphasized the seriousness with which they approach their life-saving mission. The rescue teams covered a vast area of more than 1374 miles during their search, utilizing the 87-foot cutter Tarpon from St Petersburg, a Hercules aircraft from Clearwater, and an Ocean Sentry plane from Miami.
Carnival Cruise Line had been informed by Mr. Hill's travel companion that he had not been seen throughout the day on Sunday. After an exhaustive onboard search and a review of security camera footage, it was determined that he had jumped from the ship. The incident was immediately reported to the authorities, and Carnival was instructed to continue its journey to Jacksonville/JAXPORT (Florida), the final stop on the planned 4-day roundtrip to the Bahamas.
Despite extensive efforts, spanning over 60 hours and covering more than 5171 miles, the USCG was unable to locate the missing man, leading them to call off the search.