The 80-year-old woman was found dead after disembarked and went for a hike on an island during the first stop of a £40-ticket cruise journey around the coast of Australia
A chilling twist has emerged after a woman was reportedly left for dead on a remote island when she missed a cruise ship.
Police and a coroner have launched an investigation after the 80-year-old solo traveller died during the first stop of a 60-day circumnavigation of Australia. Investigators have investigated numerous factors that include learning how the woman became stranded on the remote Far North Queensland island.
Investigators are also determining whether he woman could have been saved from the tourist spot. The woman, who was on the estimated £40,000 ticket cruise, was not reported missing until the Saturday, long after she was meant to re-board the ship.
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The ship departed from Cairns, in Queensland, on Friday before it anchored off the coast of Lizard Island the following day. Authorities said they believe the woman had been hiking Lizard Island’s summit off the Queensland coast.
Authorities understand the woman had been part of a group that walked up to the Cook’s look summit were she stopped and became lost on her way to the shop. A source told The Australian: “The group continued on and boarded the vessel before realising she was not there.”
Another source claimed she had fallen off a cliff. The tourist was reported missing on the Saturday night after she failed to return to the cruise ship.
Yachtie Traci Ayris said she raised “questions about safety protocols,” according to the Cairns Post. She and her partner were aboard the SV Vellamo when it was anchored off Lizard Island and had been listening to emergency radio transmissions sent from the ship, operated by Coral Expeditions.
She told the outlet: “They did headcounts for snorkelers (which we heard) but not for other guests on the island it would seem. The last people came down from the track and got into tender then the (ship) left very soon after that.
“There was not a lot of time between when the last passengers left the beach to when they up anchored.” A helicopter arrived after the search was called out at 3am and the woman’s remains were finally airlifted just before 4pm.
Coral Expeditions confirmed the woman had died in a statement shared with the Daily Mail. A spokesperson said: “The crew notified authorities that a woman was missing, and a search and rescue operation was launched on land and sea.
“Following the operation, Coral Expeditions was notified by Queensland Police that the woman had been found deceased on Lizard Island.” The organisation later said it had been in contact with her family as well as the Queensland Police.