death of an Allure crew member in Cozumel

[wrp96]

They've arrested a 24 year old Mexican man in the death of the entertainer http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41522752/ns/travel-news/

[jessicalorene]

It sounds like there is a LOT of pieces missing from his story. Hope they get it cleared up, the poor woman and family

[enyliram]

royal is posting that there has ben an arrest for the murder. man arrested is age 24 mexican national.

[FLSteve11]

I'm not familiar with the source quoted here, but after reading the article, I do have to wonder about them. First of all, the Allure returned to Fort Lauderdale, not Miami. But more than that, the first sentence is horribly misleading. I do not wish to minimize the tragedy of what is being discussed, but let's be honest: 4 people, out of the thousands and thousands of passengers and crew to have sailed within the past two months, is absolutely not "many."

 

Also, to say that a passenger "fell" from the Liberty implies that he somehow lost his footing, toppled over the railing, and down he went. I'm not familiar with this case, but how often to people just "fall" off a ship? (As compared with being thrown over, or doing something stupid like trying to tightrope-walk on the railings?)

 

I would bet that most "falls" off a ship are actually suicides.

 

I remember one time reading that on those 100+ day round the world cruises that something like an average of 4+ people die on the cruise (as it is generally much older people, probably doing more exertion in 3 months then they have in decades)

[leagleze]

I believe that there is much more here than meets the eye. I think now that there are three families that have been ruined here: The crew members family, the passenger's family and finally the man charged with the crime's family.

 

I have cultivated relationships with the people who work at the bar where Nelson Perez works. I have known Nelson personally for four years now and have spent many afternoons with he and the rest of the staff.

 

My best childhood friend was spending the week in CZM the week that this occurred. He's a 'gearhead' so was very interested in the Allure. He was at the bar where Nelson works. He took a picture of Nelson and the rest of the staff with the meta data stamp of 4:22 p.m. on February 4, 2011. My friend and his wife left the bar a little after 5:00 p.m. on February 4, 2011. Nelson and the rest of the staff were still at the bar when they departed.

 

My friend has a photo of Allure underway leaving port from his hotel balcony with the meta data showing a time stamp of 6:12 p.m.

 

That means that Nelson 'hooked up' with the poor woman after 5:00 p.m. Crew should have already reported back to the ship by then. That means that Nelson and this woman would have had to 'cooked up' their meeting after Nelson rode his bicycle (with a broken pedal and in relatively poor condition, I've been threatening to bring down a new bike for him for a few years) to the meeting location, which means that she would have 'planned' to miss the boat. This seems a bit of a stretch to me. Additionally, as far back as I can remember, Nelson is off work at 4:00 p.m. So why, if he was planning on this meeting, would he stay until 5:00 p.m. with my friend and his wife? This makes no sense as well.

 

My friend and his wife saw no single women at the bar that day that they can remember and certainly no one with any type of accent that would not be Latino.

 

Then, Saturday, February 5, 2011, my friend and his wife were back hanging out and were talking with Nelson that day as well. He was not acting strangely (which I would assume he would if he had just killed someone).

 

My husband and I just returned from CZM where we spent a week there. We traveled to the island on February 19 and returned home on the 26th. It was so sad to see his brother and coworkers worried about their friend/family member. I think that this was just a rush to judgment and 'find someone' quickly to cover up what did/did not actually occur. What is also troubling is that the government of Mexico seems not to care that they have forced (by beatings) an individual into signing a confession (according to Nelson's friends and family who have spoken to him) and ruined yet another life.

 

Nelson speaks very little English. I do not know whether the entertainer spoke any Spanish, she very well may have since Europeans seem to have a system of education that seems to endorse learning the language of other nations. However, if she did not, it seems unlikely they would have engaged in any type of relationship. Further, even if she did speak Spanish, Nelson really does not seem to be the type (at least as far as I am aware) to speak to women at all. He is a very humble person. And to have him 'sign' a written confession: He cannot read or write in any language. This, again, seems to be a pin it on the poor, uneducated person.

 

Then there are the conflicting reports that the passenger gave the name at the hospital of the crew member. This seems odd to me as well. I don't know what happened there, but I can't imagine why should would have given that name if there was no connection. Further, why was she trying to commit suicide as is clear from the method? Also, initial reports were that this was not a suicide attempt but rather a piercing gone terribly wrong.

 

I'm sure I'll be flamed for this, but I thought it was important to put what I know out on the board. This is in NO WAY intended to diminish the great loss of the families that have lost loved ones on this sailing.

 

I just hope that in the end the truth will come out because it would be a horrible injustice not only to Nelson and his family, but to the family of the crew member as the actual perpetrator of the crime would not have been punished.