Miami – The Coast Guard is calling off the search for a gay man who fell off the side of a cruise ship early the morning of Nov. 6. The circumstances surrounding how the man fell are suspicious.
35-year-old Bernardo Albaz and his husband Eric were vacationing aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship when they were harassed by security crew members who taunted the couple with anti-gay remarks, according to NBC Miami.
Albaz became increasingly angry with the crew members, according to NBC Miami, and ended up in a confrontation with them inside his cabin, where he later fell overboard.
There are conflicting reports about what happened. Albaz’s family attorney says it wasn’t a suicide, and Albaz didn’t jump, but a Royal Caribbean statement says their security staff was responding to reports about a domestic dispute, they did not have an altercation with Albaz and they tried to keep him from jumping.
Video footage of the incident shows Albaz clinging for his life to a lifeboat before falling into the ocean.
The Coast Guard reports that they spotted a body matching Albaz’s description but weren’t able to recover it.
