Quantcast

New $100K reward in case of vanished cruiseship honeymooner George Smith IV

MoonPie

Stuck in the Middle of Nowhere
Joined
May 31, 2012
Messages
23,361
Reaction score
Reactions
205,634 15,870 190
208,190
Alleybux
10,880
Nine years ago - July 5, 2005 - George Smith IV vanished from his honeymoon cruise in the Aegean Sea. His body has never been found.

Contrary to what authorities have said, his mother, Maureen Smith, is certain it was no accident.

"I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that my son was murdered on that cruise ship," she tells CBS News' 48 HOURS.

Now, in a renewed push to solve the case, the family of the Greenwich, Conn. man says they are offering a $100,000 reward for information leading directly to the arrest and conviction of whoever was responsible for their son's disappearance.

News of the reward was disclosed to 48 HOURS, which will air "Murder at Sea?" this Saturday, the anniversary of the disappearance. The broadcast has also learned that a fresh team of FBI agents has been assigned to the case.

George Smith IV, and his bride Jennifer Hagel Smith, were on their honeymoon in waters between Greece and Turkey on the Royal Caribbean ship "Brilliance of the Seas," when the new groom went overboard, in what the ship's captain said was likely an accident.

murder5.jpg

The family of George Smith is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading directly to an arrest and conviction in his disappearance
"I am convinced people know what happened to George," his mother Maureen Smith tells 48 HOURS. "I know that maybe someone will come forward now with this $100,000 reward," said Smith.

George Smith IV vanished after a night of heavy drinking and gambling in the ship's casino. A passenger in a neighboring room heard men arguing on the Smiths' balcony. Another passenger heard furniture being moved. His bride was later found passed out in a hallway. The next morning passengers photographed a bloodstain on a lifeboat canopy beneath the couple's balcony.

48 HOURS' investigation includes revelations of questionable alibis, failed polygraphs and a provocative video that involves three of the four men who were the last to see Smith alive.

Michael Jones, the Smiths' attorney, believes the videotape recorded just hours after Smith went missing by those three other passengers on the cruise - Rusty Kofman, and Zach and Greg Rozenberg - is key to cracking the case.

"They pass a video camera around filming themselves commenting about George's death in a very callous way," Jones has previously told 48 HOURS. "But the really incriminating statement is one of them stands up at the end of the tape and sort of hunches his shoulders and flashes gang signs and says, 'Told ya I was gangsta' and in the context of the discussion about George's death, almost as if he's bragging about having done something to George."

Jones said the man who made those remarks is Greg Rozenberg.

Lawyers for Rusty Kofman and Zach Rozenberg declined to comment to 48 Hours about the tape. Greg Rozenberg's attorney said his client wasn't aware Smith was dead when the tape was made and was just making a stupid comment. All the men in the video say they had nothing to do with George Smith's death.

Speaking about the family's new $100,000 reward, Smith's sister Bree told 48 Hours, "I think the reward will propel people forward," adding, "People need to come forward and tell what they know and there needs to be justice."

"It's 9 years of fighting and we're gonna keep fighting and at this point in time I think we needed an extra little push," said Smith's mother, Maureen.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-100k-reward-in-case-of-george-smith-vanished-cruiseship-honeymooner/
 

GovtHooker

General Manager
Joined
Jul 9, 2011
Messages
1,245
Reaction score
Reactions
78 3
78
Alleybux
38
I'll be watching the story tomorrow night
 

HELLO Rupert

Team Owner
Joined
Feb 4, 2012
Messages
13,691
Reaction score
Reactions
10,075 139 89
10,180
Alleybux
52,650
There was a lot of evidence and even more unanswered questions, his "bride" was always very quiet.
 

Retrogal88

General Manager
Joined
Sep 3, 2020
Messages
1,226
Reaction score
Reactions
6,792 486 60
8,706
Alleybux
161,177
62332B58-4A99-46F0-85D3-F6E19176FA6C.jpeg
ADC57EEB-9880-4530-8C62-BEF3145449E0.jpeg
C2F8E165-031B-4D20-A280-8ECB6D7A0BE6.jpeg

Having married Jennifer Hagel eleven days earlier, George Smith was on his honeymoon, a two-week trip on a Mediterranean cruise stopping in Greece, Turkey, and Italy, among other locations.
George Allen Smith IV (born October 3, 1978) was an American man who disappeared overboard from the Royal Caribbean Internationalcruise ship MS Brilliance of the Seas in July 2005 under suspicious circumstances. His story has been reported on by Dateline NBC and 48 Hoursand was depicted in a television film called Deadly Honeymoon, which still airs on Lifetime.
Smith mysteriously disappeared in the early morning hours of July 5, 2005,[2][3] and evidence suggested that foul play might have been involved. Blood stains were found in his cabin as well as on the side of the ship, and it appeared that he might have been tossed off the ship or fallen overboard and drowned. The police suspected homicide.

On July 29, 2005, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced that they were investigating Smith's disappearance.[4]Geraldo Rivera aired a news story interviewing Josh Askin, one of the people last seen with Smith, along with two men of Russian origin; Greg Rozenberg and Zach Rozenberg. On June 29, 2006, it was announced that Royal Caribbean International had agreed to pay compensation to Smith's estate.[5]

Investigation of the disappearance continued in 2012. The New York Post reported that the matter had been referred to the Mafia division of the FBI. The television program Dateline shed new light on the theory that the death was most likely a robbery gone bad. Jennifer Hagel Smith, who remarried in 2009, and was criticized in certain quarters (particularly by Smith's family) for her conduct on the night of his disappearance, has contended that she believes it was an accident caused by her late husband's intoxication. In June 2006, Hagel Smith accepted compensation set at $1.1 million from Royal Caribbean. However, Smith's family later challenged the terms of the settlement as well as the amount of the monetary compensation.
Wikipedia
The FBI closed his case I believe in 2015. It’s still unsolved.
 

CoCoD

A woman in process...
Joined
Jun 29, 2008
Messages
41,081
Reaction score
Reactions
356,819 8,898 2,082
395,020
Alleybux
753,319
Hmmm...it seems rather odd that he'd be in shady business while on a honeymoon. Did Georgie meet up with Vladmir and Sergey and things went awry?

Anything is possible.
 

Retrogal88

General Manager
Joined
Sep 3, 2020
Messages
1,226
Reaction score
Reactions
6,792 486 60
8,706
Alleybux
161,177
Hmmm...it seems rather odd that he'd be in shady business while on a honeymoon. Did Georgie meet up with Vladmir and Sergey and things went awry?

Anything is possible.
He met them on the cruise actually. They got very drunk at the casino. Jennifer (the wife) was found drunk the next morning on the floor. Cruise personnel found her, and helped get back to her room. She went to the spa after because they had appointments the next morning and George was no where to be found
 

StarlessSky

General Manager
Joined
Dec 12, 2018
Messages
3,023
Reaction score
Reactions
34,854 1,040 531
34,465
Alleybux
735,134
I heard about this story years ago. I’ve always wondered how could things have possibly gone so wrong that he ended up tossed overboard by strangers. SMH.

I feel for his family. They’ll likely never know what happened. And his poor wife, what a horrible way for the honeymoon to end.
 

chocolateTy

Team Owner
Joined
May 15, 2012
Messages
26,842
Reaction score
Reactions
291,237 7,670 6,914
297,043
Alleybux
642,988
They may as well declare him deceased. Tossed overboard? He was probably eaten by something. May he RIP.
 

Retrogal88

General Manager
Joined
Sep 3, 2020
Messages
1,226
Reaction score
Reactions
6,792 486 60
8,706
Alleybux
161,177
They may as well declare him deceased. Tossed overboard? He was probably eaten by something. May he RIP.
I think they do have him declared dead. His family just fights because they wanna know what happened but they probably never will.
 

Retrogal88

General Manager
Joined
Sep 3, 2020
Messages
1,226
Reaction score
Reactions
6,792 486 60
8,706
Alleybux
161,177
I heard about this story years ago. I’ve always wondered how could things have possibly gone so wrong that he ended up tossed overboard by strangers. SMH.

I feel for his family. They’ll likely never know what happened. And his poor wife, what a horrible way for the honeymoon to end.
His family hates his wife. They think she had something to do with it. But I don’t think she did
 

Purplesquash01

General Manager
Joined
Oct 15, 2014
Messages
1,479
Reaction score
Reactions
5,084 2,011 143
5,155
Alleybux
181,353
I heard about this story years ago. I’ve always wondered how could things have possibly gone so wrong that he ended up tossed overboard by strangers. SMH.

I feel for his family. They’ll likely never know what happened. And his poor wife, what a horrible way for the honeymoon to end.

His poor wife my @$$. She got a fat settlement from the cruse line company than quickly remarried someone else. She doesn't even speak to her first husbands family anymore.
 

StarlessSky

General Manager
Joined
Dec 12, 2018
Messages
3,023
Reaction score
Reactions
34,854 1,040 531
34,465
Alleybux
735,134
His poor wife my @$$. She got a fat settlement from the cruse line company than quickly remarried someone else. She doesn't even speak to her first husbands family anymore.

As if money would sooth the pain that I’m sure came with losing her husband on their honeymoon. She was only awarded a little over a million dollars which was deemed his earning potential had he lived. But I’m sure the lawyers got a nice chunk of that and maybe even his parents too. My point, that settlement didn’t set her for life.

Regarding her 2nd marriage, she remarried in 2009, 4 years after this tragedy. I’d hardly call that remarrying quickly. Don’t think it’s horrible that she no longer speaks to George’s family. I mean really they were her in laws. What was the likelihood that they were thick as thieves before his death?
 

HELLO Rupert

Team Owner
Joined
Feb 4, 2012
Messages
13,691
Reaction score
Reactions
10,075 139 89
10,180
Alleybux
52,650
Hmmm...it seems rather odd that he'd be in shady business while on a honeymoon. Did Georgie meet up with Vladmir and Sergey and things went awry?

Anything is possible.
This has always been my theory. They did a whole lotta drinking that night...something went bad. Why would you plan to rob some one on a cruise ship? Not like you can run away...something happened and it got out of hand.
 

Similar Threads

Trending Threads

News Alley

Ask LSA

The Lounge

General Alley

Top Bottom