What was supposed to be a week-long getaway across the Pacific Ocean turned tragic for hundreds of passengers aboard Carnival Panorama on Saturday, September 19, when a fellow guest went overboard.
The man has now been identified as 56-year-old Thomas Gigler, who was sailing with his wife, Michelle, 48, and their three sons as they prepared to celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary this week.
Thomas had no history of mental health issues, according to his sister, who suggested that an immediate crisis may have driven his actions.
“Something must have happened in his head,” she said.
Man who jumped from a cruise ship ID’d as a family man from California
Thomas was father to three young sons, and his family resided in Redlands, California, about 64 miles east of Los Angeles.
Details about his career have also emerged, revealing that he spent all 24 years of his professional life at software development firm Esri.
Nothing in his life suggested he was looking to leave everything behind before his disappearance in the early hours of Saturday, which led his wife to reach out to the vessel’s administration for help.
Staff first asked Thomas to come forward in an announcement at around 11 a.m.
When there was no response, the message was repeated several times throughout the afternoon.
Passengers onboard were then ordered back to their rooms at 3:30 p.m. so staff could conduct a ship-wide search, going room to room and scanning IDs.
Carnival then began reviewing security camera footage, which confirmed that Thomas had jumped from the ship’s 11th deck and was near the Baja California coast.
Enrique Chagoya/Unsplash (not the actual photo)
A passenger in a cabin near the Giglers said the family was staying on the second deck, meaning Thomas climbed nine levels to leap.
He had not discussed plans to take such an extreme action with anyone on the ship; however, another passenger revealed that Thomas had spoken to him about marital troubles while sitting at a bar.
Thomas’ sister, Wendy Dowden, dismissed these allegations.
Dowden speculated a sudden psychotic episode may have driven Thomas to the brink
In an interview with the Daily Mail on Tuesday, September 22, Dowden described Thomas and Michelle as “getting along quite well.”
The couple’s decision to take a cruise to celebrate their milestone anniversary also appears consistent with her account, while a resurfaced family photo showing the pair and their three children at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic offers another glimpse into their seemingly unproblematic family life.
Dowden said that despite her brother never having experienced a mental health crisis before, the family believes a sudden psychotic complication may have caused him to harm himself.
“We think something must have happened in his head. He wasn’t in the right mind to have done this,” she said.
The US and Mexican Coast Guard are continuing to search for Thomas Gigler, but he is presumed deceased
Carnival said in a statement that Thomas went overboard while the ship was sailing from Vallarta, Mexico, to the port of Long Beach in Los Angeles, bringing authorities from both the US and Mexico into the investigation.
Nico Smit/Unsplash (not the actual photo)
The Mexican Coast Guard said it had already searched the area, while the Mexican Navy and nearby commercial vessels also joined the effort.
Though the authorities have yet to locate Thomas’ body and formally confirm his demise, reports suggest he is being considered deceased.
@abc7laA passenger on a Carnival cruise ship on its way back to Long Beach went overboard, prompting a lockdown in which passengers were told to return to their rooms. The cruise was on its seventh and final day before returning to Long Beach when it was discovered the passenger was missing. A crew member delivered the shocking announcement. Read more: https://abc7.la/GnaRSv♬ original sound – ABC7LA
Carnival said it offered support to the grieving family during their difficult time.
A video shared on Facebook by passenger Misty Hernandez corroborated this, showing fellow passengers coming together to remember Thomas, with a small memorial display on the ship covered in handwritten messages, prayers, and other tributes.
“Midlife crisis,” a netizen speculated about what may have led Thomas Gigler to jump
