25-year-old actor mysteriously dies aboard cruise prompting death investigation request from her mom
Topics: News, World News, Travel, Crime
Kit Roberts
Featured Image Credit: Getty/Brian VanderBrug
Topics: News, World News, Travel, Crime
The mother of a 25-year-old actor has called for more in depth investigations into deaths at sea after her daughter's tragic death.
On October 14 2005, actor Ashley Barnett was found dead in her cabin on board a Carnival Line cruise ship.
Ashley's mom Jamie has since told The US Sun that years after her daughter's death there is still no clarity about what actually happened.
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An account of the night by Ashley's boyfriend told that they had gone back to their cabin together after going to a concert and casino together.
He left the cabin at around 2.30am after the pair allegedly got into a dispute, going back to the casino and leaving Ashley alone in the room.
The boyfriend claimed he returned to the room less than two hours after leaving and went to sleep with Ashley.
He then woke up the following afternoon and went to join his friends upstairs, assuming Ashley was still sleeping.
When he returned to the cabin he couldn't wake her up and found that she wasn't breathing.
Despite the attempts of first responders to save her Ashley was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Jamie opened up about why it was difficult to establish exactly what happened to her daughter.
She said: "She was autopsied, and before she could come back to the United States, her body had to be embalmed.
"So by the time her body came back, any forensic pathologist had very little to go on to figure out what happened. It was a long, perilous journey, which had no real answers in the end."
If someone dies on land then their death will be investigated by the authority in the area where they died.
But when someone dies at sea it's more complicated to establish how a death should be investigated.
Jamie said: "I'll never get all the answers. That's one of the most heartbreaking aspects of all losing someone like that on a cruise ship.
"It's just all different when it happens at sea, and people don't realise that at all."
Speaking about how the loss affected her, she added: "I wake up every morning, wishing I could hold my daughter just one more time. And I pray that no other mother ever has to live this nightmare."
UNILAD has contacted Carnival Cruise Line for a comment.