TURKEY - George Smith, 26, missing from cruise ship, July 2005

[LaurenD]

It sounds like they were/are both alcoholics. Sorry, if it offends friends of the probably deceased and his bride, but even people who were their friends have called the missing groom a hard drinker. This is the danger of getting seriously drunk outside your safety zone--it attracts predators.

Getting 'plowed' on occasion does not make a person an alcoholic. Sorry to all the 'virgin' non-drinkers out there but one can tie one on (even a couple times a month) and NOT be an alcoholic. To one person "fun" might be shopping at the mall. To another "fun" might be getting a buzz and sitting in the jacuzzi. Considering both are done in moderation, one is no more a shop-aholic than the other an alcoholic. Get over it, to each his/her own poison and/or detriment.

 

[LaurenD]

It sounds like they were/are both alcoholics. Sorry, if it offends friends of the probably deceased and his bride, but even people who were their friends have called the missing groom a hard drinker. This is the danger of getting seriously drunk outside your safety zone--it attracts predators.

And yes, I'm sure it did/would offend friends, family and themselves personally that you had the nerve to pass such judgement.
Yikes, gotta remember to lock those gates to the compound...

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

Henry Lee said on television last night that the awning is only about five feet long, and that the stain takes up "about a third" of that. By his estimate, the blood stain is only about two feet in length.

 

[nanandjim]

I thought it was very interesting that the blood stain looked to be in the shape of a body....was it just my imagination or did anyone notice that too?

I have issues with the report of the woman's scream that was heard that night. How strange that the woman heard it but the police officer said nothing about it. I don't think the woman was in the room next door to the Smith's so it would make sense that she heard it but the police officer didn't because the wife screamed in ANOTHER ROOM. Does that make sense? I tivo'd the Current Affair shows and saved them and watched them three times last night (the ones with the police officer's account) and not once does he say he heard a woman scream. Not only that but he heard a woman's voice in the hall which leads me to believe she was taken to another room where she screamed due to: being sexually assaulted? pushed around? whatever?!

From piecing together the witness accounts, here's what I speculate may have happened.
=>Husband and wife extremely drunk. Wife sitting at another table with a group of guys, drinking and flirting. Husband upset by this. Tries unsuccessfully to get wife to join him at his table. They argue. At this point, I guess he is cramping her style.
=>Wife leaves to go back to her room. Husband stays in bar. Unbeknownst to husband, wife is in room with the same group of guys partying and drinking.
=>Husband comes home from bar to find wife and guys in room. Argument and physical fight ensues. Wife screams to stop the fight.
=>Wife is out in hallway, talking with the guys, deciding where they are going to go and then they leave. Cabin is not locked when they leave.
=>Husband passes out on bed.
=>Drunken wife probably spent the evening with the guys and complained loudly about her no-good husband. Plus, the guys are pissed that George started a fight with them earlier. Some of the guys in her group head back to the room to beat the sh** out of the husband, to teach him a lesson, and it quickly got out of hand.
=>They ambush the husband, attacking him as he slept. He awakens and perhaps fights back the best way that he can. Perhaps, the furniture dragging is from George holding onto something as they are trying to pull him towards the balcony to throw him overboard.
=>Guys throw him over the balcony, and he hits the slanted awning. There is nothing for him to grab onto and he slides overboard. Handprint on side of ship is George being aware of what's going on and trying to hang on to the end.
=>The wife probably was so drunk that she passed out in the room where they all went. Perhaps, one or all of the guys had sex with her. She doesn't know. Afterwards, they placed her in a deck chair, where she remained passed out until the next day.

 

[nanandjim]

...Around 3AM, the guy in the room next to them heard male voices cheering--like a drinking game....

Maybe, the guys were cheering because the drunken wife started a striptease show, removing her clothes. I have heard that drunk women sometimes do this.

 

[PaperDoll]

I have heard that drunk women sometimes do this.

I would never drink with my clothes on... :crazy: hehe saves me the trouble from taking them off...

:blowkiss:

 

[nanandjim]

I would never drink with my clothes on... :crazy: hehe saves me the trouble from taking them off...

:blowkiss:

If I had my clothes off, others would be getting drunk as fast as they could!

 

[LaurenD]

I would never drink with my clothes on... :crazy: hehe saves me the trouble from taking them off...

:blowkiss:

A true So Cal'er.....:dance: Gotta luv ya...

 

[PaperDoll]

If I had my clothes off, others would be getting drunk as fast as they could!

lol.. NanandJim, I have a feeling you don't look that bad..

 

[PaperDoll]

A true So Cal'er.....:dance: Gotta luv ya...

hehe :crazy:

 

[nanandjim]

lol.. NanandJim, I have a feeling you don't look that bad..

I just got in from running six miles. That should help some...

 

[PaperDoll]

I just got in from running six miles. That should help some...

Nothing like a good run... :dance:

 

[BillyGoatGruff]

Getting 'plowed' on occasion does not make a person an alcoholic. Sorry to all the 'virgin' non-drinkers out there but one can tie one on (even a couple times a month) and NOT be an alcoholic. To one person "fun" might be shopping at the mall. To another "fun" might be getting a buzz and sitting in the jacuzzi. Considering both are done in moderation, one is no more a shop-aholic than the other an alcoholic. Get over it, to each his/her own poison and/or detriment.

Drinking until you stagger and pass out is stupid and dangerous. Doing it where you dont' know the city/area, have no friends or family structure, and with people you just met is suicidal. I worked bars in New Orleans for the better part of a decade. I would see people staggering/puking/pissing themselves drunk outside their safety zone 100x a night. Feeling like you HAVE to be that drunk to have a good time is the sign of an alcoholic. I would leave work at 3-5 am and see the human sharks loitering about the Quarter, keeping a sharp eye out for the tourist who was so drunk they could barely stand up. Sometimes they would be in the bars, nursing a drink on the stool, other times they would be hanging on the street corner, within line-of-sight of the bar doorway. Rapes, murders and muggings related to the victim being drunk and oblivious to their surroundings were a weekly, if not daily occurence. A seriously drunk tourist is the equivalent to a zebra with a bad hind leg on the veldt.

 

[BillyGoatGruff]

And yes, I'm sure it did/would offend friends, family and themselves personally that you had the nerve to pass such judgement.
Yikes, gotta remember to lock those gates to the compound...

As someone who has worked in bars for 20+ years, I know from personal experience if you think you have to vomit or pass out in order to "party", or that you consider blacking out to be a standard side effect of partying, you are an alcoholic, whether you know it or your friends/family admit it (they already know). These people were drinking 160 proof liquor and several friends have already acknowledged they were both "hard partiers", which is the nice yuppie euphenism for "they had a drinking problem".
From someone who worked the French Quarter district for years, I can tell you that getting as wasted as this couple was widely reported to be, and under these circumstances--away from home and without friends or family in the area -- will get you mugged, raped or killed, if not all three. Picking up strangers while partying in this state will damn guarentee it.

 

[nanandjim]

...I worked bars in New Orleans for the better part of a decade. I would see people staggering/puking/pissing themselves drunk outside their safety zone 100x a night...

No offense, but that's one of the reasons that I never liked New Orleans. I know that a lot of people love it. To me, it just seems like a place where the drunks go to party.

I can't say that I was level-headed in my younger days. Oftentimes, I drank too much. For some reason, you think the more you drink, the more fun you'll have. It's ridiculous because you pay for it the next day. Of course, I never stopped to think that my body was reacting to the poison that I had put into it the night before.

Young people don't realize that their health will suffer when they reach middle age if they don't curb their actions while young and healthy.

I was never one to drink day in and day out. However, when I would go out, I would drink quite a bit (3-4 drinks). I cut back on my drinking in the last few years and haven't had a drink in 7.5 months. I am tempted to have a Cosmopolitan for old times sake, but I haven't had one yet...

 

[BillyGoatGruff]

No offense, but that's one of the reasons that I never liked New Orleans. I know that a lot of people love it. To me, it just seems like a place where the drunks go to party.

I can't say that I was level-headed in my younger days. Oftentimes, I drank too much. For some reason, you think the more you drink, the more fun you'll have. It's ridiculous because you pay for it the next day. Of course, I never stopped to think that my body was reacting to the poison that I had put into it the night before.

Young people don't realize that their health will suffer when they reach middle age if they don't curb their actions while young and healthy.

I was never one to drink day in and day out. However, when I would go out, I would drink quite a bit (3-4 drinks). I cut back on my drinking in the last few years and haven't had a drink in 7.5 months. I am tempted to have a Cosmopolitan for old times sake, but I haven't had one yet...

I got tired of it as well, which is why I leaft 15 years ago. I think the rest of the world (especially Midwest America) sees it as a public urinal where they can go and get sloppy drunk. People may go to NYC to party, but they also go to shop and go to the museums and the ball park and the plays and the symphony. Same with Chicago, Boston,etc.
New Orleans people come to eat, drink and publically vomit/piss in this country's most scenic historic district's streets.

 

[Tom'sGirl]

Henry Lee said on television last night that the awning is only about five feet long, and that the stain takes up "about a third" of that. By his estimate, the blood stain is only about two feet in length.

JG, I just finished reading this thread from the beginning and couldn't find an answer to a couple of questions. I may have missed it here as it's been a lot of reading.

1. Was the blood found in the cabin, and on the awning the same?
2. If the parents didn't supply a DNA sample couldn't they have gotten DNA from the victims personal items (i.e. tooth brush, hair comb'brush.underwear)

 

[LaurenD]

New Orleans people come to eat, drink and publically vomit/piss in this country's most scenic historic district's streets.

Oh my gosh. How incredibly sad. I have always wanted to go to New Orleans. I thought it was just kinda messy (from watching Cops during Mardi Gras) during the Mardis Gras period. Is it always that way? If so, guess I better make new travel plans.....

 

[LaurenD]

I cut back on my drinking in the last few years and haven't had a drink in 7.5 months. I am tempted to have a Cosmopolitan for old times sake, but I haven't had one yet...

Congrats Nanandjim to the no drinking and good health!:clap:

 

[Tom'sGirl]

Oh my gosh. How incredibly sad. I have always wanted to go to New Orleans. I thought it was just kinda messy (from watching Cops during Mardi Gras) during the Mardis Gras period. Is it always that way? If so, guess I better make new travel plans.....

Don't change your plans Lauren, just remember to pack a crappy pair of shoes to wear while walking on Bourbon Street, AND keep your money under you clothes and out of reach :crazy: