Mystery over woman lost at sea
Family angry, frustrated over lack of information about Canadian’s disappearance from cruise
VANCOUVER— The family of a missing Vancouver woman who disappeared while on a cruise ship holiday with her boyfriend say they’re frustrated by the lack of answers about how she could simply vanish.
Fariba Amani, 47, a businesswoman, was holidaying on a cruise ship voyage between the Bahamas and Palm Beach, Fla., when she disappeared.
Coast Guard air and sea crews, Miami police and the FBI conducted an extensive search over the waters and on board the Bahamas Celebration cruise ship after Amani was first reported missing by her boyfriend one week ago on Feb. 29.
The search was called off on March 1.
“We always wish that justice will work faster and in our hearts we think we already know what’s going on,” said Sally Amani, the younger sister of the missing woman.
“It’s difficult to be told to wait and be patient and we’ll get back to you. Those are not comforting words to us.” Amani said her sister has a son and a daughter who are devastated by their mother’s disappearance and that before Fariba left on the cruise she had told friends that she wanted to break up with her boyfriend after the trip. “But she wanted to give it one last shot to see if they might be able to work something out,” said Sally Amani. Fariba had been dating her boyfriend, Ramiz Golshani, for the past eight months after the two met in a salsa dancing class, said her sister. Golshani, who has since returned home to the Vancouver area, did not respond to requests for an interview. But he told the CBC he told investigators everything he knew about what happened. “If I had any per cent of guilt, I would not be out,” said Golshani. He has not talked to his girlfriend’s family. FBI spokesman James Marshall with the Miami division said Tuesday no information on the matter is being released. Coast Guard Captain Russ Tippets said an initial search was conducted by helicopters, planes and ships covering more than 1,600 square kilometres. The FBI and the Coast Guard were alerted to Amani’s disappearance after her boyfriend reported
“If I had any per cent of guilt, I would not be out.” RAMIZ GOLSHANI BOYFRIEND OF FARIBA AMANI, MISSING FROM CARIBBEAN CRUISE
he had not seen her since 1 a.m. Wednesday morning. The cruise docked in Florida at 7 a.m. on the last leg of its four-day cruise to the Bahamas. A cruise line official had said that Amani’s companion told them he last saw his girlfriend around 1 a.m. at the gift shop before heading to the ship’s casino. Glenn Ryerson, vice-president of sales and marketing for Celebration Cruise Line, said on Tuesday the investigation is still in the hands of the FBI. “There was a passenger who seemingly checked in with us and her cabin mate reported she was missing when we were entering the port,” said Ryerson. “There’s no evidence of any other thing at this point.”
Because the vessel had already docked, Ryerson said the cruise ship was not locked down and the passengers, some of whom had already disembarked, were not questioned.
“We’ve given (investigators) our complete track from when we left Grand Bahama last night, every position that we took during the evening,” ABC News quoted Charles Kinnear, president of Celebration Cruise Line.
“We’re still hoping for the best — that somehow she snuck off the vessel or she is still hiding somewhere.”
The International Cruise Victims Association, a group advocating for more safety measures on board cruise ships, reports that 170 people have gone missing at sea since 1995.