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FBI Investigating Suspicious Death On Cruise Ship That Set Sail From Baltimore

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Mysterious death on the high seas. A female cruise ship passenger was found dead inside her cabin. That ship has now returned to Baltimore.

Meghan McCorkell has the latest on the investigation.

Officials say that woman's husband found her dead inside their cabin. Now the FBI is involved in the investigation.


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There's a padlock on the door of cabin number 7110 on Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas. Inside, a husband told investigators he found his wife dead.

WJZ has learned FBI agents boarded the ship Monday morning. Officials are calling the death suspicious and say it is an active investigation.

"Generally, a suspicious death is in order when there is an unexpected death or not easily explained circumstances, like no obvious signs of trauma," said security expert Rob Weinhold.

Weinhold says the key to the case could be inside that cabin.

"At the end of the day, the crime scene needs to be preserved so that physical evidence as well as witness testimony can be used to determine exactly what happened," he said.

The seven-day cruise traveled from Baltimore to Port Canaveral, Fla., and onto Nassau in the Bahamas, then Cococay before turning around.

The Enchantment of the Seas arrived back in Baltimore Monday morning. That's when the investigation began.

Maritime attorney Jim Walker, who runs the blog "Cruise Law News," started hearing of the death Sunday night.

"You could call it gossip or just scuttlebutt that there was either a murder or a death on the seventh floor," Walker said.

Passengers posted messages on his blog saying they saw the FBI board the ship and the room blocked off by a guard.

"One of the people on the ship said they were detaining everyone on the seventh floor," said Walker.

Now, investigators will determine if foul play was involved.

In a statement, Royal Caribbean says they immediately notified the FBI and local law enforcement of the death. They are now assisting the family of the woman who died.

Investigators will not disclose where the woman who died is from.

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