MELBOURNE, Australia — Authorities are investigating the death of 80-year-old cruise passenger Suzanne Rees, who was found dead on Lizard Island a day after being accidentally left behind by her cruise ship, the Coral Adventurer, during a Great Barrier Reef expedition.
Rees, a Sydney resident, was on the second day of a circumnavigation cruise around Australia when she joined other passengers for a hike to a scenic lookout on Saturday. According to reports, she began to feel unwell due to the extreme heat and was advised to return to the base of the trail. However, she was left unescorted — and the ship departed the island approximately five hours later without realizing she was missing.
Her daughter, Katherine Rees, has accused cruise operator Coral Expeditions of “a failure of care and common sense,” saying her mother was left to die alone.
“We understand from police that it was a very hot day, and Mum felt ill on the hill climb. She was asked to head down, unescorted. Then the ship left, apparently without doing a passenger count,” Katherine said in a statement. “At some stage in that sequence, or shortly after, Mum died, alone.”
Rees’ body was discovered the following day by a search helicopter crew about 50 meters off the hiking trail, according to The Australian. She is believed to have fallen from a slope or cliff.
Coral Expeditions CEO Mark Fifield said the company was fully cooperating with ongoing investigations by police, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, and workplace safety regulators.
“We have expressed our heartfelt condolences to the Rees family and remain deeply sorry that this has occurred,” Fifield said.
The Queensland Police Service has confirmed that Rees’ death is being treated as non-suspicious, but a coroner’s inquiry will examine whether safety or procedural failures contributed to the tragedy.
The incident has drawn comparisons to the 1998 disappearance of American tourists Tom and Eileen Lonergan, who were left behind during a scuba dive in the same region — a case that led to sweeping safety reforms in Australia’s tourism industry.