Tim Sears Cruise Ship Passenger Overooard

Tim Sears

Assault On Cruise Ship - Spiked Drink

Carnival Cruise Lines Celebration - April 13, 2003

They had been enjoying the cruise that day, drinking beer on deck, and when night fall came the two friends split up, with Tim deciding to go dancing, and his friend deciding to try his luck in the casino.

Around 11pm he decided to locate his friend and went to the casino. That is the last thing he remembers. The next thing he remembers, he was waking up in is in the warm winter 60 degree waters of the Gulf Of Mexico, with no pants, no shoes, wearing only his boxers, a t-shirt and a sweatshirt. He had lost his glasses somewhere along the way, and couldn't see clearly.

Tim believes he was the victim of a drink spiking. He says in the past when he drank, he stayed alert, and had complete memory of the time he was drinking. He doesn't remember removing his pants or shoes. He doesn't remember anything after being in the casino. He doesn't remember how he got in the ocean. His eyeglasses were likely thrown off by the force of landing ten stories or more below the deck of the ship.

Nobody noticed Tim missing. His friend did not report him missing, though he wasn't seen onboard throughout the day. Nobody alerted the ship's crew, and no search for Tim was began. It was Tim and the ocean. It was going to be up to him, 100% to survive.

Tim swam through the night trying to find shore or a ship. But, no ships came near, and desperation began to set in along with the fear of being eaten alive by sharks or baracuda.

When daylight came, he had new hope that a ship would see him. He would see ships way off on the horizon, but he was too small in the water for them to see him. He took off his sweatshirt to expose his bright yellow t-shirt. Then, the tore the sweatshirt up making it into a large strip of cloth, so he could wave it in the air to draw attention.

He had been in the water for fourteen hours, swishing water in his mouth and spitting it out to try to keep hydrated, which only made him sick. His face and lips were red, dried and cracked from the sun. His legs were raw with a rash from his legs in constant motion in the salty ocean water. He knew he would not surviive another night in the water. He was cold, his body temperate had dropped to the ocean temperate, and he was tired.

At that point he went underwater, he was still 50 miles from shore, and having made his peace with God, was ready to die. Then, suddenly he found a new strength to fight for his life, rose to the surface, and began to fight for his life again, for three more hours.

Then, he saw a ship on the horizon, and he swam as fast as he could toward it. As he got closer to the ship, he figures within 200 feet, he thought he could see someone on deck, and he began to scream frantically, as loud as he could.

It was the cargo ship, Eny, heading toward Texas, and a crew member on deck heard Tim screaming. They rescued him, and he broke down in tears of joy.

Another case of a man rescued after being at sea overnight for 8 hours is here

Tim Sears

Date: April 13, 2003

Bruise: Assault - Spiked Drink

Bruise Location: Cozumel Mexico

Age: 31

Home Town: MIchigan

Cruise Line: Carnival Cruise Lines

Ship: Celebration:

Details:

Tim, an ex-military paratrooper, embarked from Texas on a five day cruise with his best friend, enroute to Cozumel and Playa del Carmen.