PHOTO: Honeymooner George Smith vanished from the Brilliance of the Seas nine years ago. (Courtesy of Royal Caribbean International)
Nine years after Connecticut honeymooner George A. Smith IV disappeared from a Royal Caribbean International ship in the Aegean Sea near Turkey, his family is offering a $100,000 reward in hopes of generating new leads.
Plus, the show "48 Hours" aired an updated broadcast about the case, called "Murder at Sea?" on July 5, nine years to the day that he vanished from the Brilliance of the Seas.
"I am convinced people know what happened to George," his mother, Maureen Smith, says in the show, according to a CBS News press release. "I know that maybe someone will come forward now with this $100,000 reward."
George Smith vanished in the early hours of July 5, 2005, after a night of drinking and gambling with his new wife, Jennifer Hagel Smith. Through the years, there were reports that neighbors heard partying, fighting and furniture being moved in the Smiths' balcony cabin, and that Jennifer was found passed out in a hallway. The next morning, passengers photographed a blood stain on a lifeboat canopy below the Smiths' room. Smith's body has never been found.
The reward undoubtedly renews interest in the sensational case. From time to time, new reports would surface and the "48 Hours" broadcast focused on four men believed to be among the last people to see George Smith alive.
George Smith's sister Bree, an attorney, hopes the reward will finally convince someone who knows something to talk. "I think it's a matter of time, and I think the reward will propel people forward," Bree told "48 Hours." "People need to come forward and tell what they know, and there needs to be justice."
The family maintains a Facebook page called Justice for George Smith to relay information about the case. Jennifer Hagel Smith, who settled with Royal Caribbean for about a million dollars, has since remarried.
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