Luke Renner loved milkshakes, nachos, guacamole and smoothies. He also loved swimming and the ocean.
It could explain why the 22-year-old Johns Creek man, who had autism, went overboard from a cruise ship Sunday night.
“His family believes he may have been under the mistaken assumption that he was going swimming,” Carnival Cruise Line said in a statement.
Renner was on a five-night group trip to Mexico organized by the Gwinnett County-based Wishes 4 Me Foundation, which works with disabled adults. Three chaperones were part of the group.
“Although we are devastated by his death, we are thankful he was there with people we loved and trusted when he died,” his family said in a statement. “We are confident Wishes4Me watched over him with the utmost care and we do not hold them in any way responsible.”
Family spokesman Dan Curran said a private celebration of Renner’s life will be held sometime after the holidays.
Renner’s is at least the fourth presumed death since mid-November involving someone going overboard a cruise ship.
The U.S. Coast Guard on Sunday called off the search for the body of 26-year-old Thomas McElhany, who was reported missing from the Carnival Victory on Dec. 14 near the Florida Keys. On Dec. 8, a 69-year-old woman from Holland went overboard the MSC Preziosa, bound for Fort De France, Martinique. On Nov. 22, a 27-year-old crew member on Royal Caribbean’s Adventure of the Seas disappeared from the ship on its way to Cozumel, Mexico.
None of the bodies have been recovered.
According to data compiled by Ross Klein, associate dean of graduate studies and research at Memorial University of Newfoundland, 326 people (including passengers and crew members) went overboard from cruise ships internationally from 2006 to 2017. The author of numerous books and articles about the cruise industry, Klein testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Access in 2013.
“The number of people going overboard from cruise ships is significant, between 20 and 25 a year since 2009,” he said during prepared comments. Nearly 17 percent of overboard incidents resulted with the person being rescued, and that happened most often when the person’s disappearance was “observed and reported to officers who immediately execute(d) rescue procedures,” he said.
In the case of Renner and the three other recent overboard deaths, hours elapsed before anyone noticed them missing.
“Luke is with Jesus now,” his family said in their statement. “He can express himself clearly, and be understood. No more seizures, no more meds. We can’t wait to talk to him. We truly believe he knows he was well loved.”
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