US Coast Guard Suspends Search for Father of Three Lost at Sea
Thomas Gigler, 56, presumed dead after going overboard from Carnival Panorama during anniversary trip.
The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended its search for Thomas Gigler, a 56-year-old California father of three who went overboard from the Carnival Panorama cruise ship on Saturday, September 19. Gigler is presumed dead.
The search was suspended on Wednesday after crews spent more than 41 hours covering 1,707 square miles of ocean without finding any sign of Gigler. The Coast Guard stated that the search would be resumed if new information becomes available.
Gigler disappeared from the ship approximately 57 miles off the coast of Mexico. He was traveling with his wife, Michelle, 48, to celebrate their anniversary. The couple resides in Redlands, California.
Carnival confirmed that a passenger had gone overboard and that ship's crew initiated search and investigation procedures, including reviewing surveillance footage and notifying both U.S. and Mexican authorities. The Coast Guard received the initial report of a missing passenger at about 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Gigler was last seen aboard the ship at approximately 11:30 p.m. Friday.
A Mexican Navy vessel and six good Samaritan vessels assisted in the extensive search effort. Capt. Jessica Davila, chief of incident management for the Coast Guard Southwest District, expressed condolences to Gigler's family, stating that decisions to suspend search operations are difficult and made with careful consideration of all available information.
The Coast Guard utilizes factors such as time elapsed, environmental conditions, and survival likelihood in its search-and-rescue planning. The service also employs a Probability of Survival Decision Aid (PSDA) model, developed by the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, to help estimate survival times in cold-water conditions. This model provides guidance alongside other available information.
Gigler, a computer programmer who had worked for Esri for 24 years, was on the Carnival Panorama as it traveled from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, toward Long Beach. The reason for his disappearance remains unclear.