Why was an elderly cruise passenger abandoned to die on remote island during once-in-a-lifetime lux voyage?

An 80-year-old cruise passenger was left to die on a remote island after being abandoned by her cruise ship during an $80,000 once-in-a-lifetime voyage — as cops are asking why no one realized she was missing for hours.The woman, who hasn’t been identified publicly, was on a hiking tour of Lizard Island — a rugged nature preserve on the Great Barrier Reef — with fellow passengers from the Coral Adventurer cruise ship on Saturday when she is believed to have separated from the group, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.The cruise liner set off from the island — which is about 20 miles from the coast of northwestern Australia— at around sunset as scheduled.It wasn’t for several hours that the crew realized the elderly woman — who was traveling alone — had never re-boarded the ship, and turned back.Her body was discovered by rescue crews early Sunday following a wide-scale search of the island.Authorities are now investigating how the woman was left behind in the first place — and whether she could have been saved if the alarm had been raised earlier.Her exact cause of death hasn’t yet been confirmed but police said it was being treated as “sudden and non-suspicious.”The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said it would be interviewing the ship’s crew when it docked in the city of Darwin in the coming days.Traci Ayris, who is currently sailing in the region, said she witnessed the rescue helicopters searching the island.

“We all felt so much for the Lizard Island Resort crew and the crews from [the] ships.You could hear the devastation in their voices [on the radio],” she told the ABC of the moment the woman’s body was discovered.“It was very sad in this paradise to have this tragedy occur.

It should have been a happy time for that lovely lady.”The tragic ordeal unfolded on the first stop of the ship’s 60-day voyage around Australia.The Coral Adventurer, which can cater for 120 guests and 46 crew, advertises sol...