An 80-year-old was found dead on a remote Australian island after being stranded there. The woman’s family did not know it would be the last time they were seeing her when she decided to board a cruise ship. Suzanne Rees, who was separated from the group on the island, lost her life there. The woman’s family is now raising questions about the neglect on the cruise company’s part.
Rees embarked on a 60-day cruise when she got on board the Coral Adventurer. The cruise was supposed to take the travelers all around Australia during the duration of the trip. The trip that was supposed to cost over 52k USD ended up costing the woman her life.
The tourists disembarked on Lizard Island for a hike that was organized by the ship company. The late woman’s daughter, Katherine Rees, shared how her mother fell sick during the hike when the organizers asked her to climb down alone, according to a report by The Sun.
“Then the ship left, apparently without doing a passenger count. At some stage in that sequence, or shortly after, Mom died, alone,” Katherine revealed in an interview with The Australian. The woman’s family was left feeling “shocked and saddened” when they got to know how she had passed away.
An 80-year-old woman was found dead on Lizard Island after being left behind by the Coral Adventurer cruise ship. Authorities say the death is sudden but non-suspicious. Investigation ongoing. #ASEANNOW #AustraliaNews #CruiseTravel https://t.co/4CFJ9Li4fo
— ASEAN NOW Thailand (@ASEANNOWTH) October 29, 2025
Her daughter could not believe the “failure of care and common sense” on the organizers’ part. Several hours after she was left behind, the organizers realized that Suzanne had been left behind. The realization dawned upon them at 6 pm.
Reportedly, the police and the coroner are both looking into how the woman was left behind. Authorities have raised questions about how it took the organizers so long to realize that one of the passengers had been left behind.
The second question being investigated is why the organizers did not launch a search party as soon as they found out.“The group continued and boarded the vessel before realizing she was not there,” a source shared.
Another source speculated that the woman might have lost her footing and fallen off the cliff during the hike. A helicopter was brought in to search for the woman, who was later found dead around 4 pm the next day.
“The crew notified authorities that a woman was missing, and a search and rescue operation was launched on land and sea,” Mark Fifield, the CEO of Coral Expeditions, said in a statement.
Fifield noted how “deeply sorry” the company is while noting that they are extending their “full support” to Suzanne’s family through the “difficult process.”
