Woman falls to death from cruise balcony after passengers saw her 'arguing with husband'
An investigation has begun into how a woman fell overboard from her cruise ship balcony, moments after she was allegedly seen arguing with her husband.
While sailing in the Gulf of Mexico with her husband on the second night of a five-day holiday, Juwanna Brooks went over the balcony railing of her room on Sunday.
The Carnival Triumph was sailing at the Gulf of Mexico when the 44-year-old Louisiana woman fell to her death.
Passengers onboard say Mrs Brooks and her husband Scott were arguing at dinner about 30 minutes before the tragedy.
The argument got so out of control, the pair were escorted out of the restaurant by security, according to the witnesses.
“It was scary,” cruise passenger Nikki D’Andrea told KLFY-TV.
“We went to the balcony and looked over. They threw the life thing over and they had a search light going. Really sad, it was awful.”
The ship docked in New Orleans as Mexican authorities searched for Mrs Brooks’ body. The search has now been called off.
The FBI investigating how she came to fall over her balcony railing.
The holiday was a Christmas present to Mrs Brooks from her husband, and it was the first time she had been on a cruise, according to her heartbroken mother Marily Winfrey.
She said her daughter sent her a video shortly after she and her husband boarded the ship on Saturday - just a day before Ms Brooks went overboard.
"I'm still believing that she's going to come home one way or the other. I want her to come home,” Brooks’ mother, Marilyn Winfrey, said.
“That's mainly what I want right now, just to have closure."
The ship was sailing from New Orleans, to Cozumel, Mexico.
