The search for an Australian couple who went missing during a cruise trip on the Carnival Spirit has been called off according to Australian police.
Video surveillance footage from the ship's CCTV cameras shows a young woman, presumed to be Kristen Schroder, a real estate agent from New South Wales, jumping from the railing of the Carnival Cruise ship Wednesday night.
The footage later reveals a man presumed to be Paul Rossington, Schroder's boyfriend, jumping from the rail 20 seconds later in what is believe to be an attempt to rescue Schroder, police in New South Whales told the Herald Sun.
Earlier police reports say that no life preservers were missing from the ship. A missing life preserver might have indicated that Rossington attempted a rescue, notes the Associated Press.
The couple are now presumed dead after 48 hours of land and sea searches failed to turn up any results, according to USA Today on Friday.
Police have also ruled out an accidental death, according to the Australian. Law enforcement officials are now focusing their efforts to find out why the two might have jump from mid-deck into the sea.
"What [the footage] did was tell us two people went into the water and that's about as far as we can take it," Detective Superintendent Mark Hutchings, told the Sydney Morning Herald.
The couple was discovered missing Thursday morning after the Carnival Spirit docked at Sydney's Circular Quay after completing its 10-day journey. It's believed that none of the 2,680 people on board the Spirit witnessed the incident.
Carnival Cruises says that railings on board the Spirit were taller than industry standards with the intention of preventing accidental falls, a spokesperson for Carnival Cruises told the Associated Press.
Rossington and Schroder are the fourth people to go overboard on a cruise ship this year, according to the International Business Times. Back in March, a passenger went overboard while sailing on the Coral Princess and with another incident on board MSC Cruises’ Fantasia in February according to Dr. Ross Klein of CruiseJunkie.com.
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