Sister of teenager who fell overboard cruise ship speaks out ‘misinformation’
The sister of a 19-year-old Washington man who fell overboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship earlier this week is speaking out against “misinformation” as she pleads for answers and desperately tries to maintain hope amid her family’s tragedy.
Savannah Ropich flogged on Saturday in a Facebook post to a woman who claimed she was also a passenger aboard Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas, saying that the captain announced that the video showed the young man jumping overboard.
“She has no idea what’s going on with my brother’s whereabouts and situation,” Ropich, who lives in Texas, said in the post.
The woman, who can be seen on TikTok as @brunausaflorida_official, also claimed a sick passenger had to be dropped off in the Cayman Islands while a search was carried out for 19-year-old Sigmund Ropich, who fell off the boat off the coast of Cuba on Tuesday.
The mail could not reach them immediately.
The US Coast Guard, which is scheduled to investigate once the ship returns to the US, did not immediately respond to Postal inquiries.
Savannah Ropich urged people to report the woman and said she will soon be deleting the post about the woman altogether to focus on her brother.
She has been blocking “rude and insensitive” comments for days while posting photos and stories about her brother’s disappearance to encourage authorities to continue searching for him.
Her brother, a college student, was on a cruise with friends when he fell overboard from the world’s largest cruise ship. It was only day two of a seven-day cruise departing from Port Canaveral, Florida.
The crew spent about three hours combing the water after the ship turned around and retraced its route. An industry website reportedbut nothing came of it.
Savannah Ropich and other family members are asking for responses and updates, she said.
“He’s a son, a big brother and a little brother, a cousin, an uncle, a nephew, a friend, a mate, a classmate, a co-worker, a neighbor!!!” the distraught sister wrote in another post.
In a statement to the Post, Royal Caribbean said it was working closely with local authorities, but added, “Out of respect for the family, we will not be releasing any further details about this unfortunate event.”
