News Article

http://articles.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20060406080009990037&ncid=NWS00010000000001

Just read this article and went to search for information and couldnt find any. How come this is the first I am reading something like that-- I mean for this not even to be on the boards?? How scarey that it has taken from Oct 2005 til now for it to go to press.

(April 6) -- A new mystery on the high seas is the latest to plague the cruise ship industry, which has been under fire recently for the way it deals with onboard crimes.

The latest involves the sudden death of an aspiring actress during a Carnival cruise in October. As 48 Hours Mystery correspondent Bill Lagattuta reports, Ashley Barnett's family is desperate for answers.

Barnett was just turning 25. To celebrate, she booked the cruise with her boyfriend.

The day after they boarded in Long Beach, Calif., Barnett was dead. Nearly six months later, what happened aboard the ship remains a mystery.

Barnett's family hired lawyer Gloria Allred in their search for answers.

"On Oct. 15, 2005," Allred told a news conference, "Ashley's boyfriend ran into the hallway screaming for help. Another guest on the cruise, a volunteer fireman, heard the boyfriend's screams and started CPR, and instructed him to call 911."

But, Lagattuta says, it was too late.

That night, Barnett's mother got a phone call she never could have imagined from the ship's nurse.

"She said, 'I'm terribly, terribly sorry to tell you your daughter passed away today,' " Jamie Barnett told Lagattuta. "And I said, 'No, she didn't. No, she didn't. This is a joke. This is very cruel.' "

The official cause of death was listed as toxic effects of methadone, but Barnett's family insists she never did drugs.

"I know that she would never have knowingly or willingly ingested that," Jamie said. "She had no patience with drugs. In fact, one of her friends told me, if she was ever in a room with anybody when they thought they would party a little bit, Ashley would leave the room. She wouldn't stay in the room."

Jamie, crying, told reporters: "I wake up every morning wishing I could hold her just one more time. … I wake up every morning praying that no other mother ever has to live this nightmare."

Carnival issued a statement saying, "The situation was handled appropriately and reported to all applicable law enforcement authorities."

But Barnett's friends and family say Carnival has been stonewalling them.

They say her body was left with the coroner in Mexico while the cruise, and her boyfriend, continued on.

"Are they ashamed of something?" Allred asked at the news conference. "It's unconscionable that they won't give up their records and give Ashley's parents the answers they are seeking."

When she died, Barnett was working for composer John Debny, who remarked to Lagattuta: "No one is forthcoming. I must tell you, no one that we talked with has been very forthcoming. And that's a shame. … She had her whole life in front of her. Everybody loved her. And she had so many things yet to accomplish."

The family says Barnett's boyfriend told them he had no idea what happened. The FBI says the investigation is ongoing. Her family has hired its own investigator, and hopes for a meeting with officials from Carnival.

4/6/06

Copyright 2006, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Sad, indeed. Perhaps mysterious. But what could Carnival possibly be "hiding?"

This may be it on Cruise junkie

October17

Paradise

Carnival Cruise Line

Disembarkation was delayed 6 hours until the ship was cleared by the FBI which was investigating a woman's death during the cruise (sometime Saturday, reportedly on R deck around room 145). Many assumed it was drug-related since there was evidence of drug use on board, but this is just conjecture. According to news reports, "authorities do not believe foul play was involved." The cruise, running 14 - 17 October, was the Xingolati Groove Cruise of the Pacific. Embarkation of the next cruise was also delayed. The death was later ruled to be caused by “the toxic effects of methadone,”

Well-- the article is no longer on the main page and in a matter of minutes it was pulled. Doing a google search pulled up some interesting items.

Did this really happen? any one hear of it?

sounds like the boyfriend did it to me as "the body was left in mexico and the boyfriend sailed on" i would be asking why he continued his vacation instead of staying with the body and flying home with it!

This was on the Early Show - I believe yesterday.

Sad.

The article says her boyfriend continued on. He stayed on the cruise? That doesn't make any sense. There's more to this story that hasn't been told.

I wounder who did the autopsy.

I find it a little odd that the boyfriend continued with the cruise & did not stay with the body!

They say her body was left with the coroner in Mexico while the cruise, and her boyfriend, continued on.

He must have really loved her..........:rolleyes:

Very sad for the girls family and friends. I cant imagine her boyfriend staying on board. He says he does not know what happened, yet he was in the room with her ? Something smells real fishy here. The thought of being in international waters is kinda scary to me, but I am going to try to be cautious while on my cruise. Anyone else had any kind of legal or other problems while on board ?

Maybe because we live on the West Coast we did hear something about this on our local news........

I do question one aspect of the statements about the girl and that is her reaction whenever someone near her was doing drugs. Ever heard the saying; 'ye who doth protest the loudest?' (sp?) It has been my observation that those who are addicted tend to react in such a manner to hide their own addiction.

Even if you don't hear about it much Meth is a serious and wide spread addiction crossing all social barriers. It is also an addiction often not suspected until they arrive at our ER dead. Some families even accuse the ER of altering their loved ones' lab results because they had no clue.

I always believed that if you died on the ship they put you in the ships morgue til you get home. why was the girl left somewhere else.?

If I die on a cruise the body is taken off the ship??

Well-- the article is no longer on the main page and in a matter of minutes it was pulled. Doing a google search pulled up some interesting items.

 

Did this really happen? any one hear of it?

I heard of it the othr day. It was a preview to a news story, however, I did not see the story.

her body was left with the coroner in Mexico while the cruise, and her boyfriend, continued on.

What was his thought process? Sounds quite suspicious. What's the saying . . . "nearest and dearest" are those more often the guilty ones.

I saw it on one of the news channels last night, i think it was probably accidental but is odd that the boyfriend stayed on the cruise.

The news showed home video and it looked pretty wild.

I saw it on one of the news channels last night, i think it was probably accidental but is odd that the boyfriend stayed on the cruise.

The news showed home video and it looked pretty wild.

What did it show?

Hey Serene56,

Not on this subject but can you refresh me on how to check for your cabin number. I forgot!

Hey Serene56,

 

Not on this subject but can you refresh me on how to check for your cabin number. I forgot!

is that for your cruise in November?? You aint gonna find til 45 days out remember.

funpass needs to be filled out and completed. once thats done you go to carnival home page and scroll to the bottom and click on funpass.

fill in the needed information- then next screen will give you two options-- click on view gifts. add anything at all to your cart.. submit it then scroll down. if your cabin is assigned you will see a # if not you will see GTEE

I always believed that if you died on the ship they put you in the ships morgue til you get home. why was the girl left somewhere else.?

 

If I die on a cruise the body is taken off the ship??

Do the ships have a morgue? I would imagine they would want the body off the boat immediately, but I don't know.

I guess the real question is did she write and try to get a free cruise because hers was cut short?

We were on the Oct. 23rd Pride Cruise, not one word was mentioned.

See the CBS News clip here: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/04/05/earlyshow/main1472710.shtml?source=RSS&attr=U.S._1472710

As always, blame the cruiseline, They need to look at her boyfriend.

From the video clip I saw, there was lots of partying going on around her and she looked well involved. And for her mom saying "she would never do that" well, all mothers say that about their kids. I know from experience as my DH used to be addicted to Meth and no one was suspicious at all!

I also find it strange that they are just releasing this info and that the boyfriend sailed on.

Meth is short for Methamphetamine or crystal Meth...like we all see on the streets or hear about on the news...

METHADONE is a synthetic narcotic derivative used to help taper someone off their addiction to heroin....according to the autopsy reports she had toxic levels of METHADONE....This medication is prescribed to the type of people noted above....so SOMEONE may have carried this on board legally as a prescription and somehow given her some OR she took it herself for some reason....

Just wanted to clear that up for those who didn't know there was a difference in the two drugs.

June

Sorry Serene....my searching sucked (as mrdood pointed out) and I started another thread, forgive me!

Anyhow, Blooper posted a good point of view over there and I agree. It's not Carnival's fault at all.

Meth is short for Methamphetamine or crystal Meth...like we all see on the streets or hear about on the news...

METHADONE is a synthetic narcotic derivative used to help taper someone off their addiction to heroin....according to the autopsy reports she had toxic levels of METHADONE....This medication is prescribed to the type of people noted above....so SOMEONE may have carried this on board legally as a prescription and somehow given her some OR she took it herself for some reason....

Just wanted to clear that up for those who didn't know there was a difference in the two drugs.

 

June

You are correct... Thanks for posting that. I was just trying to make the point that parents usually don't know that their kids are using drugs. No matter what it might be.