Dark Voyage

An Aspiring Actress Dies Under Mysterious Circumstances

(CBS)  Clete Hyman, in the room next door, says he heard strange sounds coming from the Smith cabin at 4:00 a.m. "Suddenly there was an argument out on the Smith balcony," he recalls.


After a couple of minutes Hyman says he heard someone say goodnight and then says he saw three men walking away from the room.

Next Hyman says he heard what sounded like furniture being moved - followed by silence.

"After about two minutes of total silence, however there was a large, what I would call a horrific thud," Clete recalls.

The thud is believed to be the sound of George hitting the awning. At almost the same moment, a crew member found Jennifer on the other side of the ship, passed out in a hallway.

Investigators later found traces of blood in the Smith cabin.

Like Jamie, answers for the Smiths have been tough to come by. The FBI won’t talk about the investigation and the person they counted on the most - Jennifer - says she has virtually no memory of what happened that night.

Her lawyer backed up her story, saying that she passed a polygraph test with flying colors.

At first, the Smiths were supportive but they soon grew apart. But George’s sister Bree and her family still hoped to join forces with Jennifer when she filed her wrongful death suit against Royal Caribbean - that and that alone they said - would finally yield answers.

But just days before filing, Jennifer reached a settlement on her own with Royal Caribbean for $1.1 million. In addition, the cruise line agreed to give Jennifer access to its information on the case, something she hoped would bring some closure to both families. It didn't.

"Jennifer went behind our back, without my parents' knowledge and has proposed a settlement with Royal Caribbean that we didn’t even know about," says Bree.

The Smiths say Jennifer settled because she doesn’t want to answer questions under oath about her actions that night. They don’t believe she had anything to do with George’s death but they do believe she knows more than she’s telling.

Jennifer refused our request for an on-camera interview, but told 48 Hours she and her family were deeply hurt by the Smith accusations, that she has fully cooperated with the FBI and has nothing to hide. “Short of turning back the hands of time," she says, "there may be nothing I can do that will satisfy George’s family."

The Smiths meanwhile filed their own suit against Royal Caribbean, but it was dismissed. They are appealing and have vowed to continue their fight.

"When we get answers for our son, we can lay his soul to rest. Because right now we can’t do that. And I’m gonna keep going till I can do that for my son. I owe him that," says Maureen.

Jamie Barnett feels she owes her daughter Ashley the same thing. "I had a dream a couple of months ago," she recalls. "And Ashley appeared to me in the dream. And I said, ‘Ashley come home.’ And she said, ‘Mom I can’t come home. I have things I have to take care of.’ I felt like she was telling me you’ve got things that you have to take care of. Because I can’t rest until you do."