The 20-year-old passenger who leaped from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship last week after an argument with his father has been identified as a former high school football player and enthusiastic hunter living in Florida. Police in Broward County identified the missing man as Levion Parker, 20, from North Port, Florida
This identification comes as the US Coast Guard called off its search in the waters off the Bahamas. Parker was missing since he jumped overboard on April 4, witnessed by his brother and father during a cruise to Cuba and the Bahamas' Grand Inagua Island, as stated by the Broward County Sheriff's Office. Parker is believed to have died.
Young Man Fought With Dad
The cruise ship Liberty of the Seas was only hours away from reaching Fort Lauderdale at the end of a four-day cruise when Francel Parker, Levion's father, encountered Levion and his brother Seth, 18, as they emerged from a hot tub around 3:30 am.
"His dad was fussing at him for being drunk, I guess," fellow passenger Bryan Sims said.
"When we got to them, he said to his dad, 'I'll fix this right now.' And he jumped out the window in front of us all."
It remains unclear how Levion could have been drunk, considering that the minimum age for alcohol consumption on Royal Caribbean ships during sailings originating in North America or the Caribbean is 21.
Posts on social media reveal that Parker frequently went fishing and hunting. Before he graduated in 2022, he also played football at North Port High School, according to the Daily Mail.
Sims claimed that only seconds before the horrifying event on April 4, Levion and his brother had been merrily conversing in the hot tub on the 11th deck of the 154,000-ton liner.
"I had hung out with him and his brother in the hot tub until 3.30am," Sims told the NY Post.
"It was standing room only. He sat right beside me the whole time. We chatted about different things, and he told me that he worked on yachts and other types of boats in Florida.
"I would say around 3.30 to 3.45am him and his brother left the hot tub. I just assumed they were headed to bed."
The Final Sighting
Sims went to the bathroom, showered, and then went to the elevators. While traveling there, he saw the two brothers and their father, Francel Parker, exiting the sliding doors next to the elevators.
"As we were walking from the hot tub back to the elevators, his dad and brother were walking towards us. His dad was fussing at him for being drunk, I guess," Sims said of the moment before Parker jumped.
Royal Caribbean sent out search boats right away to find him.
"The ship's crew immediately launched a search and rescue effort alongside the US Coast Guard, who has taken over the search," the statement read at the time.
Parker's father runs a wholesale air conditioning company out of Florida, and the family was sailing on the yacht as guests of Tropic Supply.
According to Daily Mail, Tropic Supply invited a large number of contractors to celebrate the company's 50th anniversary.
According to the Washington Post, there have been close to 400 overboard incidents on major cruise companies between 2000 and 2020. Many cruise lines have added extra safety precautions and installed surveillance cameras because many incidents end in death.
