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Authorities in Cozumel, Mexico, have stepped up their search efforts, hoping to locate a missing 66-year-old American passenger who disembarked from Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas on Wednesday afternoon and never returned.
Edmond Bradley Solomon III, who suffers from dementia, was last seen at the SSA Pier in Cozumel wearing a white tank top, gray shorts, and dark glasses.
The Seguridad Ciudadana Cozumel (SCC), along with the Directorate of Public Security, the Secretary of the Navy, and the Civil Protection Cozumel, are spearheading a comprehensive search over land, sea, and air.
Initial searches were carried out in and around Passion Island, a popular cruise ship excursion located on the northern end of the island, but proved fruitless. By Friday, the FBI had been called in to assist in the search efforts..
On Wednesday, the day on which Solomon went missing, five cruise ships — Carnival Valor, Celebrity Ascent, Celebrity Apex, Norwegian Prima and Icon of the Seas — called to Cozumel, bringing over 20,000 passengers to the island.
According to reports, Solomon wandered off alone and has been missing since 1 p.m. on Wednesday. His wife, Mimi, debarked the ship and is currently staying in a hotel in Cozumel, Mexico awaiting word of her husband’s whereabouts.
In a plea on social media, Solomon’s daughter posted that her missing father “has frontotemporal dementia and can no longer understand complex processes or communicate clearly in conversation. He is very friendly and loves to meet new people, but due to his disease he is more quiet/reserved these days. He’s a figure-it-out-er, and that is how he approaches life.”
She said he had no phone or wallet and that “he traded his watch for a taxi ride yesterday [Wednesday], and that is the last we know of him.”
Anyone with information on his whereabouts are asked to report any information to authorities in Cozumel.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to assist with expenses for his wife.The GoFundMe organizer, who is a co-worker of Mrs. Solomon, said of the couple:
| “Mimi and Brad are both nurses that have dedicated their lives and careers to helping others. Mimi works at the local VA Hospital and is one of the most compassionate nurses I have ever worked with. She is also a breast cancer survivor. Between cancer and dementia, they have been through so much in the last few years and yet Mimi still shows up everyday to take care of others.” |
Icon of the Seas is currently on a seven-night Western Caribbean sailing from Miami, with stops this week in Costa Maya, Roatan Island, Cozumel, and CocoCay, and returning to Miami on Saturday morning.
At the time of publication, Royal Caribbean had not responded to requests for comment or further information.
This story is developing and will be updated.
