The family of a Connecticut man seek answers in the death of the newlywed who disappeared in 2005 while on Mediterranean honeymoon cruise.
On June 25, 2005, George Smith IV married Jennifer Hagel in a cliffside ceremony in Newport, Rhode Island.
The Smith Family
George was very close to his family. Here he is pictured with his father, George Smith III; his mother, Maureen, and his sister, Bree.
Father and son
George Smith was slated to take over his father’s liquor store in Greenwich, Connecticut.
The newlyweds
Newlyweds George and Jennifer wave goodbye as they head off to catch a plane bound for their Mediterranean cruise.
A honeymoon cruise
On June 29, 2005, the newlyweds, aboard Royal Caribbean’s Brilliance of the Seas, set sail from Barcelona, Spain.
The Askins
George and Jennifer met 20-year-old Josh Askin and his family on a tour of Florence, Italy. The Askins were on the cruise as well.
July 4, 2005
On July 4, 2005, George and Jennifer Smith spent the day touring Mykonos, Greece. George’s family says Greece was one of his favorite places.
Toasting their future
That night, the couple had dinner aboard the ship and toasted their future together according to Jennifer.
In the casino
Around midnight on July 5, the couple headed to the casino on the third floor. Casino security cameras captured Jennifer in the casino that night.
Last known image of George Smith
Casino security cameras also captured George at the casino. This is the last known image of George from that night.
The blood stain
At 7:30 a.m. on July 5, 2005, passengers awoke to a huge blood stain on the metal canopy. George Smith had gone overboard in the waters between Greece and Turkey.
Jennifer Smith
Jennifer Smith said she had very little memory after leaving the casino the night prior. She had been found passed out in a hallway around 4:30 a.m. — the time George Smith is thought to have gone overboard.
Passengers interviewed
Turkish police boarded the ship and interviewed the last known men to see George Smith alive. Josh Askin and three Russian-American men: Rusty Kofman, Greg Rozenberg, and Zach Rozenberg. They said they had partied with George Smith into the early morning hours. [Shown clockwise from top right: Kofman, Zach Rozenberg, Greg Rozenberg and Askin]
The Smith’s cabin
According to the young men, shortly after 4 a.m., they had brought George back to his cabin and while Josh went to the bathroom, the other guys had taken off George’s shoes and put a drunken George to bed. This is a photo of the Smith cabin showing one of George’s shoes on the floor.
Room service
The young men said that after putting George to bed, they had all left and then went back to one of their cabins and ordered a lot of room service.
Rumors and theories
Rumors and theories surrounding George Smith’s disappearance began almost immediately. Early on, the ship’s captain described it as a likely accident.
The Smith’s cabin
A balcony chair had been found with its back against the railing. This photo taken by Royal Caribbean shows the balcony after the Turkish forensic investigation.
Blood on bed sheets
The Smith family has never believed the accident theory. They believe there was foul play and point out that an “ear witness” heard an argument on George’s balcony and George’s blood had been found in the cabin — two small lines of blood on the bed sheets.
The Smith’s cabin
This photo was taken by the ship’s safety officer upon entering the Smith cabin the morning of July 5, 2005. The room is messy, but not trashed.
Attorney Mike Jones
The FBI has been investigating George Smith’s disappearance for almost eight years, but it has gone nowhere. Mike Jones, an attorney hired by the Smiths, is trying to move the case forward.
Room service records checked
In 2010, Mike Jones got his hands on Royal Caribbean’s case file. Room service records do not show any order being delivered to the men last seen with George Smith that night. Mike Jones believes that their alibis don’t hold up.
Lawyer Keith Greer
Josh Askin’s lawyer, Keith Greer, argues that it could have been an oversight in the hand-written documentation.
Greg Rozenberg questioned
Mike Jones took the depositions of the four young men last seen with George Smith. In 2010, he found Greg Rozenberg in a Florida prison serving a three-year sentence for trafficking oxycodone. Greg Rozenberg told Jones he didn’t have it in his heart to kill anyone.
Provacative video
Jones learned of a potentially damaging videotape made by some of these men just hours after George disappeared. On the tape, Jones says the three Russian-Americans are seen and heard making callous remarks about George’s death and at the end Greg Rozenberg says “I told you I was gangsta.”
The provocative videotape
The FBI is in possession of the provocative videotape and the Smith family wonders why more has not been done. Lawyers for the young men say that their clients did nothing wrong. No one has ever been charged in connection with George Smith’s disappearance.
George Smith
The Smith family hopes that one day the case will be solved and say they will never stop fighting for George.
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