Haunted by news about 80 year old woman left behind on Lizard Island

[Anonymous]

I am haunted by news stories about an as yet unnamed 80 year old passenger on a rather luxury adventure cruise who was left behind when the ship set sail at sunset.
She tired on a steep hike and stopped to rest. The expedition staff and others returned to the ship,

No one noticed she was gone for several hours. She was found dead the next day.
We sailed on that ship in 2020. Most passengers were "pensioners" but rather hardy as Australians tend to be. I think they did headcounts after every excursion or snorkel. Not this time or not well, apparently.

I climbed that trail on a prior trip to Lizard.
We visited Lizard with that ship. In 2020 we snorkeled instead.

I am just haunted thinking of her realizing she'd been forgotten. Maybe seeing them sail without her. Maybe trying to get to the beach alone. There's a resort, she may have been trying to find help.

Just awful. We are in our 70s and it just resonates.

Thank you for listening.

RIP dear adventurous lady.

[Anonymous]

That is very sad. I do wonder how she died that quickly. Was it very hot or cold?

[Anonymous]

She decided to have a little rest while the rest of her group continued the hike. I suspect that she had a medical event and that the outcome might not have changed if they had remembered her while boarding and gone out to look for her immediately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She decided to have a little rest while the rest of her group continued the hike. I suspect that she had a medical event and that the outcome might not have changed if they had remembered her while boarding and gone out to look for her immediately.

Not to be morbid but I would look forward to an ending like that for myself!
Toast to Adventure Lady!

[Anonymous]

You NEVER hike by yourself!

[Anonymous]

OP here apparently she felt tired and told them she was stopping to rest. They apparently continued down without her.
There were a couple of headcounts supposed to happen
1) expedition staff headcount off the beach into the explorer boats shuttling people back to ship
2) boarding ship
3) final count.
Nobody remembers her until hours later at dinner and they think she fell overboard. That indicates bad or no headcount.
She might or might not have died before they left her on the island to go to the boat.
Not noticing the "old lady" and looking for her before loading the last shuttle or pulling anchor is shocking lapse.

Her name is Susan Rees.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15240317/Woman-died-cruise-ship-pictured-Lizard-Island.html

[Anonymous]

What I find really sad is this was supposed to be a 60 day luxury cruise (yes, 6-0!) and this was her very first port stop.


https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/29/australia/australia-cruise-passenger-lizard-island-intl-hnk

[Anonymous]

BTW is was an 80,000AUD trip. That's over $50,000.
All Australian crew is their boast, a somewhat nationalist signal of quality.
They did headcounts on our trip. Somebody effed up or lied.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BTW is was an 80,000AUD trip. That's over $50,000.
All Australian crew is their boast, a somewhat nationalist signal of quality.
They did headcounts on our trip. Somebody effed up or lied.

+1

[Anonymous]

She shouldn't have been left behind and a staff member should have taken her back to the ship. Probably was understaffed considering the ages of the people involved.

[Anonymous]

The article, if all true, is pretty damning for the cruise ship and expedition provider.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am haunted by news stories about an as yet unnamed 80 year old passenger on a rather luxury adventure cruise who was left behind when the ship set sail at sunset.
She tired on a steep hike and stopped to rest. The expedition staff and others returned to the ship,

No one noticed she was gone for several hours. She was found dead the next day.
We sailed on that ship in 2020. Most passengers were "pensioners" but rather hardy as Australians tend to be. I think they did headcounts after every excursion or snorkel. Not this time or not well, apparently.

I climbed that trail on a prior trip to Lizard.
We visited Lizard with that ship. In 2020 we snorkeled instead.

I am just haunted thinking of her realizing she'd been forgotten. Maybe seeing them sail without her. Maybe trying to get to the beach alone. There's a resort, she may have been trying to find help.

Just awful. We are in our 70s and it just resonates.

Thank you for listening.

RIP dear adventurous lady.

Obvious foul play.
How did they know she tired and stopped to rest if nobody was with her?
Sounds like she was killed or hurt and left for dead. Anyone could survive a night in 80-90F mild weather, exposure would not have killed her.

[Anonymous]

If I was on the hike, I would have waited with her. So few people are willing to help others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She decided to have a little rest while the rest of her group continued the hike. I suspect that she had a medical event and that the outcome might not have changed if they had remembered her while boarding and gone out to look for her immediately.

This is what I was thinking, too. They might find out that she had a medical event that caused her to need to stop and rest. That said, the staff should have been attentive to their customers/clients if this was an event organized by the tour group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You NEVER hike by yourself!

She went with people so don't blame the victim. Sounds like the others left her behind.