19-Year-Old Who Went Overboard on Cruise Ship Yet to Be Found: 'We Need to Apply Pressure'
A rep for the Royal Caribbean cruise line confirmed to PEOPLE that "the ship's crew immediately launched a search and rescue operation and is working closely with local authorities"
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A 19-year-old man is still missing after going overboard on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship.A 19-year-old Texas man is still missing amid an ongoing search after he went overboard in the Caribbean while on the Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas cruise ship on Tuesday.
A rep for the Royal Caribbean cruise line said in a statement to PEOPLE: “On August 29, a guest sailing on Wonder of the Seas went overboard. The ship's crew immediately launched a search and rescue operation and is working closely with local authorities. Out of respect for the family, we will not share further details about this unfortunate event.”
The missing passenger was identified by his sister Savannah on Facebook as Sigmund Ropich. She is urging everyone to contact the Cuban Border Guard to “keep searching until they find him” as they have “the right to stop at any time.”
It remains unclear how Ropich went overboard after the vessel set sail for a seven-day voyage from Port Canaveral, Florida, on Aug. 27.
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However, in a voice recording captured by passenger Jenna Izzo and obtained by CNN. the ship captain announced on the intercom at the time of Ropich's disappearance: “We actually have report of a man overboard. We have slowed the ship down.”
“We just want our brother home. They’re taking too long and barely telling us anything," Savannah told the outlet.
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She said in a separate statement to Insider: "We were told by the Cuban officials that they are done searching in the ocean. They are continuing only on the coast and land. I have a strong feeling they're going to end this search.”
"We are very hopeful if they open [the] search back in the ocean," she continued. "We need them to open it again."
Savannah wrote in an Aug. 31 Facebook post, “We need to apply pressure... Sigmund is not just ‘a man.’ HE IS A SON, A BIG AND A LITTLE BROTHER, A COUSIN, AN UNCLE, A NEPHEW, A FRIEND, A HOMIE, A CLASSMATE, A CO-WORKER, A NEIGHBOR!!!”
She later added, “THEY NEED TO KNOW THAT THIS BOY IS NOT JUST A RANDOM PERSON... THERE IS AN ARMY THAT IS ROOTIN FOR HIM TO COME HOME. I am begging anyone and everyone... Please.. I just want my brother home.”
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