By T. D. Thornton
A desperate search at sea in the Gulf of Mexico continued Saturday for the wife of Karl Broberg, the nation's winningest Thoroughbred trainer.
Samantha Broberg, 33, was reported missing by traveling companions on a Carnival cruise ship that had departed from Galveston, TX, Thursday. A subsequent review of security camera footage revealed a woman falling overboard around 2:00 a.m. Friday.
A thorough search of the ship and an intense rescue effort from the air by the United States Coast Guard in an area about 200 miles off Galveston where Samantha was believed to have gone over has failed to turn up any trace of Samantha so far.
The New York Daily News reported Karl, 45, was not on the ship with his wife. The excursion was a four-day cruise to Cozumel, Mexico, with a group of her friends.
The Houston Chronicle described Samantha, of Arlington, as a stay-at-home mother of four children.
Rescue efforts have been hampered by a long time lag between when Samantha was believed to have gone overboard and the start of the air search.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that companions did not immediately realize Samantha was missing, and did not report her absence to the ship's crew until around noon Friday. The Coast Guard was not alerted until five hours after that, leaving a 15-hour gap between the fall of the woman recorded on video and the official notification of authorities.
According to CruiseLawNews, the ship was “apparently not equipped with an automatic man overboard system which should have alerted the bridge immediately when the young woman went over the rail so that immediate rescue measures could have been undertaken.”
Karl is currently the leading U.S. trainer in terms of wins this year (126). He had 10 horses entered Saturday at Prairie Meadows, Evangeline Downs, Louisiana Downs, and Lone Star Park, but had rushed home to be with his family.
The Broberg family released the following statement: “We are shocked and deeply saddened by the incident that occurred on the Carnival Cruise Ship. We hope and pray the U.S. Coast Guard is able to bring Samantha home. We ask for privacy as our family comes together during this difficult time.”
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