Woman falls to death from cruise balcony
A dream holiday has turned to a nightmare after a woman fell to her death from her cruise ship balcony on Sunday January 28, moments after she was allegedly seen arguing with her husband.
Juwanna Brooks, 44, was sailing with her husband in the Gulf of Mexico on board the Carnival Triumph for a five-day trip from New Orleans to Cozumel, Mexico when she fell overboard on the second night.
Passengers recall seeing Juwanna and her husband Scott arguing at dinner, just 30 minutes before the tragedy. The couple’s fight reportedly got so out of control that security was called to escort them out of the restaurant.
“It was scary,” 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.”
After docking in New Orleans, Mexican authorities conducted a search for Juwanna’s body, which has since been called off. The FBI has been called into the investigation.
According to Juwanna’s devastated mother Marilyn Winfrey, the cruise was a Christmas gift to her daughter from Scott and was the first she had ever been on.
“I’m still believing that she’s going to come home one way or the other. I want her to come home,” Marilyn said. “That’s mainly what I want right now, just to have closure.”