FL FL - Kevin McGrath, 26, missing from a cruise ship, Miami, 4 Sept 2023

[caradana]

Royal Caribbean diamond here - a lot of cruises in my life, blessedly. A couple thoughts. One, that inside cabin was tiny, and if a family member roommate was up at 7 or 8 to go to family breakfast, he noticed his roommate wasn’t there, short of some extreme situation. That room is TINY. To wake up and not notice a missing human in that room is akin to not noticing you’re in an elevator with someone … it doesn’t happen … in my opinion, something was noticed before the family breakfast gathering. Two, we are now at the point of exclusion on theories given the time that has elapsed. If he had stowed away on board, managed to be on board for the return to sea and headed back to water, it’s wild to believe he would not be detected even now, many days later. I think we can reasonably discount that. If he had disembarked and not re-boarded in Bimini, we would know that by now.

 

[branmuffin]

Does anyone find it perplexing that out of the 2000+ passengers, not to mention the 1000+ crew members that were onboard, no one, at least none that I’ve found, have come forward to speak to news media or post on social saying they remember seeing him somewhere on the ship that evening prior to him being last seen in the cabin by his brother. I really find that hard to believe. One of those people has got to want their 15 minutes of fame to be on the news or have a post or video go viral.

Just because KM's keycard opened the door at 3:30 am doesn't mean he came into the cabin.

I know that KM is a twin although not an identical twin. However, I've known a couple of sets of twins who, even though they were fraternal, looked a lot alike. If you use your key card for drinks and you are being denied service by the bar staff I presume your keycard is flagged so you can't buy anymore drinks. However, if you look enough alike, is it possible that the twins exchanged keycards so one or the other could continue to buy drinks, especially if it was busy?

The cabin door opened several times from the inside but who was leaving the room, Kevin or his brother? The brother has provided conflicting timelines which makes me wonder whether he is covering something up, perhaps through fear or guilt.

 

[DeDee]

Stranger things have happened but why would this gentleman, and father of two, choose to off himself while on a fabulous celebratory cruise with 40 loved family members?

He's last tracked by cellular video as dancing before he's reported missing. His ship card was last used at 3:30am but was it him entering the tiny cabin or someone using his card?

It could be the statement in his MP flyer about may need special assistance was added because he was last seen highly intoxicated. Was there a robbery gone wrong situ?

Video from SEPT 07, 2023

Cellphone video captured Kevin McGrath dancing to the music on a Carnival cruise Sunday evening, and then -- nothing.

"We know that at 3:30 in the morning, he used the key card to get back in the room, and anytime between then and 7:30 in the morning when he was supposed to meet my family for breakfast is when he went missing," his sister said. https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/florida-family-baffled-after-man-seemingly-vanishes-from-%EF%BB%BFcarnival-cruise/ar-AA1gojuj

 

[Charlot123]

Just because KM's keycard opened the door at 3:30 am doesn't mean he came into the cabin.

I know that KM is a twin although not an identical twin. However, I've known a couple of sets of twins who, even though they were fraternal, looked a lot alike. If you use your key card for drinks and you are being denied service by the bar staff I presume your keycard is flagged so you can't buy anymore drinks. However, if you look enough alike, is it possible that the twins exchanged keycards so one or the other could continue to buy drinks, especially if it was busy?

The cabin door opened several times from the inside but who was leaving the room, Kevin or his brother? The brother has provided conflicting timelines which makes me wonder whether he is covering something up, perhaps through fear or guilt.

I am thinking, neither fear nor guilt. Two brothers, twins. I mean, if the relationships were good, they’d grow up together, start dating at the same time. Lots of things they knew about one another, probably never got into details. Andre may have noticed his brother walking out and never asked a question, or asked a question, was answered “I am going to talk to someone”, and never ask, to whom? I bet Andre explained all to the investigator, we don’t know what was said, that’s all. There must have been a mundane explanation to all of it at the moment.

 

[steeltowngirl]

Any word on locating Kevin’s cell phone? Was he using the ship’s Wi-Fi, and if yes, when did it last connect?

 

[LauraAnne]

I haven't seen any media mention any reason he'd want to disappear - pending criminal charge, something shameful about to surface, etc. I wonder if there's some reason he'd want to leave.

Additionally, as everyone knows, his key card isn't a clear indication he was anywhere. It's just a keycard anyone could have used to help cover up a disappearance.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Any word on locating Kevin’s cell phone? Was he using the ship’s Wi-Fi, and if yes, when did it last connect?

Not just the cell phone, but what became of KM's personal belongings? Probably not a lot of stuff because the cruise was of short duration. If KM didn't take his things with him, who packed them when the stateroom had to be vacated?

 

[Kakidoll]

Does said picture or your passport photo match up with your cruise card? I can't imagine that there isn't some way to make sure that a cruise card actually belongs to a specific person. What if a passenger loses his/her card while visiting a port? Without photo confirmation, someone else could use the card to board the ship when they are not the individual to whom the card was issued.

Even before Covid shut cruise lines down for a few years, Princess had already launched their "Medallion" that tracks passengers wherever they are on the ship. The medallion comes with a lanyard, but you can purchase necklaces, wristbands, etc. if you prefer. The medallion replace a cruise card for onboard shopping, bars, casino, etc. You can even order food or drinks on the medallion phone app, and wait staff know exactly where to find you because your photo is on the medallion. I have only sailed on Princess since 2002 (20+ cruises), but I'm sure that other cruise lines have face-recognition technology in some way, shape, or form that matches up with passengers' cruise cards. JMO

yes. when they scan your card for whatever you passport photo shows up. I will say i look totally different than my 9 year old passport photo.. but its still used.

 

[iamnotagolem]

Stranger things have happened but why would this gentleman, and father of two, choose to off himself while on a fabulous celebratory cruise with 40 loved family members?

He's last tracked by cellular video as dancing before he's reported missing. His ship card was last used at 3:30am but was it him entering the tiny cabin or someone using his card?

It could be the statement in his MP flyer about may need special assistance was added because he was last seen highly intoxicated. Was there a robbery gone wrong situ?

Video from SEPT 07, 2023

Maybe it was the impending return to normal life that caused him to do it.

 

[aggiekel2005]

yes. when they scan your card for whatever you passport photo shows up. I will say i look totally different than my 9 year old passport photo.. but its still used.

Is it your passport photo? Last year when we took our family on a cruise, part of the check-in process involved us taking a photo (similar to a passport) photo before boarding the ship. I always assumed this was the photo that pulled up when they scanned your card so it was the most accurate representation of you at the time. I could be totally wrong though.

 

[JenniD]

Is it your passport photo? Last year when we took our family on a cruise, part of the check-in process involved us taking a photo (similar to a passport) photo before boarding the ship. I always assumed this was the photo that pulled up when they scanned your card so it was the most accurate representation of you at the time. I could be totally wrong though.

I think that is correct

 

[Kakidoll]

Is it your passport photo? Last year when we took our family on a cruise, part of the check-in process involved us taking a photo (similar to a passport) photo before boarding the ship. I always assumed this was the photo that pulled up when they scanned your card so it was the most accurate representation of you at the time. I could be totally wrong though.

Some do new photos even if they have your passport photo. Each port is different. I haven't had my photo taken except once in the last 5 cruises..and she did it just because she said i looked better as i had lost weight

 

[PromotedPawn]

I'm having trouble finding any articles regarding Kevin that aren't over 3-4 days old. I find it disturbing. Maybe someone else here has better luck.

Have they stopped searching? Is his disappearance being investigated? Have they located him and just haven't released info yet? Was any body able to locate an official missing person's page created by his family?

MOO

 

[steeltowngirl]

I'm having trouble finding any articles regarding Kevin that aren't over 3-4 days old. I find it disturbing. Maybe someone else here has better luck.

Have they stopped searching? Is his disappearance being investigated? Have they located him and just haven't released info yet? Was any body able to locate an official missing person's page created by his family?

MOO

Coast Guard stopped searching waters. Still missing. Determined not to be on the ship, nor to have gone overboard.

Make sense? Nope.

A spokesperson with Carnival Cruise Line said an extensive search was carried out by the ship’s officials, but McGrath was not found.

The U.S. Coast Guard was contacted and searched the waters around the ship via helicopter, and officers with the Miami-Dade Police Department boarded and searched the ship.

The spokesperson also said McGrath was not detected by surveillance systems, including U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, during the debarkation.

Police said they determined McGrath did not go overboard, and it was eventually cleared to sail.

Officials search for Carnival cruise passenger who mysteriously disappeared from docked boat

Kevin McGrath, 26, was last seen in his cabin by his brother around 2:00 a.m. while the ship was docked at Port Miami.

www.cleveland19.com

 

[Speculaytor]

Great, he is last seen at 2am and nobody thinks he went overboard? No search of the water at all? I know they said the ship did not detect anyone going overboard, but do they have every place covered with cameras? And if they do, they should be able to trace his las movements? If he is nowhere on the boat, and he was last seen at 2am, IDK?

 

[steeltowngirl]

Great, he is last seen at 2am and nobody thinks he went overboard? No search of the water at all? I know they said the ship did not detect anyone going overboard, but do they have every place covered with cameras? And if they do, they should be able to trace his las movements? If he is nowhere on the boat, and he was last seen at 2am, IDK?

They did search the waters, but we have heard nothing about his last known whereabouts from ship cameras. I’d be asking for that if I were the family. Also, how sure are they that he didn’t go overboard?

The ship’s CCTV did not indicate anyone falling overboard during the cruise nor did the shipboard cameras provide an explanation where Mr. McGrath may have gone. Carnival claims that it conducted a complete search of the ship. Like all other Carnival cruise ships, the Carnival Conquest is not equipped with an automatic man overboard (MOB) system which would have instantly reported someone going over the railing, recorded the event, and then tracked the overboard passenger in the water..

Mystery Involving Missing Passenger From Carnival Conquest

A passenger was reported missing from a Carnival cruise ship yesterday following a three-day cruise from Miami. Several local and national news outlets

www.cruiselawnews.com

 

[LadyL]

sadly, IMO he went overboard somewhere the cameras didn't quite reach

 

[SleuthyQ]

<modsnip - quoted post was an article about another person's case, not Kevin>

The only person that has even claimed to see him on the ship on Sunday is his brother at 2am Monday morning. Otherwise, no sequence of events for the day has been released. No one traveling with the group has come out and said after boarding the ship after being in Bimini for the day that they ate dinner with Kevin, went to a show, the casino or anywhere else on the ship after Bimini. I think a very plausible option is he never got back on the ship in Bimini and had some help from his brother or someone else to get his sign and sail card scanned as if he HAD gotten back on the ship. It’s also interesting I believe that no one, out of the 2000+ passengers and 1000+ crew members on that ship that only two videos have come out (both taken Saturday night in the atrium of the ship). No one else has spoken up and said publicly that they remember seeing him anywhere or that they have found him in any photos or videos they took personally. I think this is a theory that should definitely be considered. Also, something like this could be why we have heard nothing else from LE.

 

[IceIce9]

Great, he is last seen at 2am and nobody thinks he went overboard? No search of the water at all? I know they said the ship did not detect anyone going overboard, but do they have every place covered with cameras? And if they do, they should be able to trace his las movements? If he is nowhere on the boat, and he was last seen at 2am, IDK?

Yes. There was an extensive coast guard search.

‘I'm sick to my stomach’: Coast Guard suspends search for vanished cruise passenger

Kevin McGrath didn't show up to breakfast nor debarkation after his family's cruise, and there's no trace of where he could be.

www.usatoday.com

The U.S. Coast Guard searched 3,300 square nautical miles with helicopters, but nothing showed up.

 

[ArianeEmory]

I think a very plausible option is he never got back on the ship in Bimini and had some help from his brother or someone else to get his sign and sail card scanned as if he HAD gotten back on the ship.

Respectfully, I don't find this very plausible. The exit/entry of a cruise ship when it's docked at a visiting port is a small and tightly controlled, single-file bottleneck. There is even an x-ray detector for your bags when you re-enter the ship. It isn't like the self-checkout line at the grocery, and there would be no way to scan two different ID cards on the way onto or off the ship. It would be about the same thing as trying to scan someone else's boarding pass at an airplane gate to 'prove' they got on the plane.

I'm also not sure what the point would be of "sneaking" off at Bimini--the Bimini islands are tiny, so he would be spotted pretty quickly. They're also very, very close to the coast of Florida, so if he wanted to escape from the US for some reason, he could just do that ... from Florida.

Finally, I don't think anyone's turned up any reason he would want to escape from the United States.

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