Woman Jumps Off Cruise Ship Into Gulf Of Mexico Following Altercation With Man

A woman went missing in the Gulf of Mexico after jumping off a cruise ship Wednesday, following an altercation with a man.

The US Coast Guard is currently searching about 150 miles from the shore of Louisiana for the 32-year-old Baton Rouge woman, according to a statement.

Passengers said she jumped off the rail of the Carnival Valor cruise ship after an altercation with another man in the hot tub area. Kim Barnette, one of the passengers on the ship, told WAFB the ship’s security was called when the argument occurred, and they confronted the woman in the hot tub area on the ship’s 10th deck at around 2:30 p.m.

“Security got her out of the hot tub. Whenever they got to take her into custody, apparently she was upset and went over the rail,” the Baton Rouge resident told the outlet.

“Apparently, she was handcuffed, she jumped over the side of the ship,” passenger Darrell Morris told the publication, while another passenger named Randy claimed, “When she jumped off, she apparently hit her head on the side of the boat. And, then she hit the water face first.”

Barnette told the publication a loud noise made her go to the balcony. “There are some lifeboats there that apparently she hit on the way down. Which when it hit, it was pretty loud, and of course, there was a disturbance here on the ship, which made me go on my balcony on deck 7.”

Although passengers claimed the woman was in handcuffs, a spokesperson for Carnival Cruise Line said the woman was not handcuffed before she went overboard.

The mood on the cruise ship — which departed Tuesday from Cozumel, Mexico, and docked Thursday in New Orleans — completely changed after the woman plunged from the ship, the passengers said.

“The feeling onboard the ship right now is a little subdued. Of course, most people are at dinner or in their cabins. There’s not a lot of activity that you see going on board, that you see with people. Because everybody is praying for the family because it’s a pretty bad situation,” Barnette told the outlet.

Carnival Cruise Lines said search and rescue procedures began immediately after the woman went overboard.

"Carnival Valor supported the search for a guest who jumped overboard from her balcony on Wednesday afternoon while the ship was at sea," the cruise line said in a statement to PEOPLE.

“The ship's command immediately began search and rescue procedures, returned to the area near where the incident occurred and notified the U.S. Coast Guard,” the statement continued. “Carnival's CARE team is providing support to the guest's husband who was traveling with her, as well as her family. Coast Guard officials took over the search effort and released Carnival Valor on Wednesday evening. Our thoughts are with our guest's family.”