A cruise passenger who was found dead on a Great Barrier Reef island, a day after she was accidentally abandoned there, has been pictured for the first time.
Suzanne Rees, 80, from Sydney, was on the second day of a Coral Expeditions cruise circumnavigating Australia when she disembarked the Coral Adventurer last Saturday at Lizard Island.
The island is around 17 miles north of Cooktown on the mainland, and is known for its beaches and 11 species of lizards.
The Coral Expeditions ship reportedly left the island around five hours before realising Suzanne was missing.
They reported her as gone, and a search crew was launched, before her body was spotted by a helicopter crew a day after she vanished.
Suzanne’s daughter, Katherine, said her mother fell ill on an organised climb on the island and escorted herself back down the mountain.
‘Then the ship left, apparently without doing a passenger count. At some stage in that sequence, or shortly after, Mum died, alone,’ she told The Australian.
Her body was found around 50metres away from the main hiking trail, which leads to a summit on Lizard Island.
In a statement, Coral Expeditions CEO Mark Fifield said: ‘The crew notified authorities that a woman was missing, and a search and rescue operation was launched on land and sea.
‘Following the operation, Coral Expeditions was notified by Queensland Police that the woman had been found deceased on Lizard Island.
‘While investigations into the incident are continuing, we are deeply sorry that this has occurred and are offering our full support to the woman’s family.
‘The Coral team has been in contact with the woman’s family, and we will continue to offer support to them through this difficult process.
‘We are working closely with Queensland Police and other authorities to support their investigation. We are unable to comment further while this process is underway.’
Earlier this year, a British father and son drowned after being swept away near the Great Barrier Reef.
Robin, 46, and Owen Reed, 17, were swimming at a beach not monitored by lifeguards when they got into trouble near the town of Seventeen Seventy, Queensland, on April 14.
Both Robin and Owen, from Caerphilly, Wales, were dead when they were pulled from the water by a police helicopter.
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