PHOTO: George Smith went missing from Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas. (Courtesy of Royal Caribbean International)
The FBI has closed its investigation of the disappearance of honeymooner George A. Smith IV from the Brilliance of the Seas in the Aegean Sea near Turkey in July 2005, Smith's family posted on Facebook.
"We were told by the Connecticut FBI that there was not enough evidence to prove that George had been murdered and that his death may have been the result of an accident!" the Facebook post read.
The family said they were told the news in a meeting with Patricia M. Ferrick, the special agent in charge of the FBI's New Haven division in Connecticut, and that George's belongings would be returned to his wife of 10 days, who has since remarried. A phone call seeking comment from the New Haven FBI office was not immediately returned.
The Smith family believes George was murdered and didn't accidentally fall overboard from his stateroom balcony. A blood stain was reportedly photographed on a lifeboat canopy below the Smiths' stateroom, but his body has never been found.
In July, the Smith family offered a $100,000 reward for new information in the case, and the CBS investigative show "48 Hours" broadcast an updated version of its story on the case.
The Smith family Facebook post said George Smith's belongings will be returned to his wife of 10 days who has since remarried, Jennifer Hagel Agne. The family accuses her of failing to work with them to determine the truth of what happened to George.
The Smith family says it is not dropping its efforts to have the case investigated.
"We are outraged and disgusted by this justice system," they wrote on Facebook. "If anything positive came out of this meeting it's that we are free to attempt to move George's investigation to another jurisdiction, such as New York. Upon request from our attorney Michael Jones, the Connecticut FBI agreed not to block our efforts to move the case away from Connecticut and that will be our next step forward."
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