June 9, 2007

Dark Voyage

An Aspiring Actress Dies Under Mysterious Circumstances

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    See more of Ashley Barnett's home video, filmed just hours before she died under mysterious circumstances.

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    Only On The Web: Bill Lagattuta talks about the case of Ashley Barnett, an aspiring actress who turns up dead in her cruise ship cabin.

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    Ashley Barnett  (Michael Maples/CBS)

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(CBS)  Ashley Barnett died Oct. 15, 2005

Asked if he feels responsible for Ashley's death, Geoff says, "I don’t feel responsible for her death."

"But you’re the one who brought the methadone onboard," Lagattuta asks Geoff.

"I know, it’s something I just have to live with and I’m trying to do that now, at where I’m at, you know," he replies.

Geoff says he has not withheld anything about that fateful weekend. "I have told everybody the story. I haven’t lied. I’ve been honest about it from day one. And I’ve told a lot of people it. A lot of people the story. And everything that I’ve told them is exactly what I know. That’s it. I haven’t hid anything," he says.

In a story filled with so many questions, there is one more part of the mystery that haunts both Geoff and Jamie. Remember, when the doctor and nurse arrived at the cabin, Carnival statements described Ashley as “unresponsive” and “cold to the “touch”.

Geoff says Ashley was warm when CPR was being performed. "She was still warm. She wasn’t cold. She, you know her lips weren’t blue," he explains.

And after receiving a 911 call that a passenger wasn’t breathing, Geoff and Jamie believe that Carnival should have brought more rescue equipment when they initially responded: specifically a device to shock Ashley’s heart.

"Everything you can do was not done," Jamie claims.

"You’re saying it wasn’t done in a timely fashion, or just wasn’t done," Lagattuta asks.

"In a timely fashion," she replies.

Carnival insists they responded rapidly and appropriately. Additional rescue equipment would not have made a difference, they say, because Ashley had already died before medical assistance was requested.

Geoff spent time in a professional treatment program for his addiction. Sadly, the person who thought she could save him is not around to know that.

"She’s in my heart and mind every day, all day long. There’s not a there’s not a minute that goes by I don’t think about her," he says tearfully. "You know I think about her all day long. And you know, I wish she wasn’t… You know I wish she was here with me. Not a minute goes by that I don’t think about her."

Meanwhile, Jamie is determined to see this investigation through to the end and find out how and why her daughter died.

In place of the big dreams Ashley Barnett once had, a Hollywood star marks the stone where she is buried.

"This could be the story of anybody. She was a victim of a lot of different people, or a lot of different circumstances that contributed to her untimely death. And it could happen again," Debney says.

"Somewhere in some port, some 25 year old girl is getting on a cruise ship with some friends. What do you want their parents to know?" Lagattuta asks Jamie Barnett.

"Don’t let 'em go. Don’t let 'em go," she says.



Jamie Barnett has filed a wrongful death suit against the Carnival Corporation. The FBI and Mexican authorities continue to investigate Ashley's death.


Produced By Nancy Kramer
©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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