WHEN Ashley Barnett boarded the Carnival Paradise party cruise for three days of non-stop fun, no one could have imagined that she would never make it back to shore alive.
But 20 years on, the 24-year-old’s death remains a complete mystery. A crime scene was never sealed off, no independent police force investigated, and there was no clear suspect – only a body and a ship that sailed on despite the tragedy.
Her mother, Jamie Barnett, still lives with the agony of losing her daughter and is still asking the same questions: how did Ashley die, who was with her, and why did nobody stop to find out?
Ashley, a model and aspiring actress, boarded the Carnival Paradise in Long Beach, California, on October 14, 2005, with her boyfriend and pals a week before her 25th birthday.
By 2.45pm the next day, she was pronounced dead in her cabin.
A call from the ship’s nurse came hours later at around 6pm – telling Jamie her daughter was gone, but the cause was unknown.
Meanwhile, the cruise continued its party schedule and her daughter’s death was quietly pushed aside.
Her body remained on board for hours as the cruise carried on toward its scheduled stop in Ensenada, Mexico.
Only later that same day – when the ship finally docked – was she taken off the vessel and her body handed over to Mexican authorities.
Jamie from Burbank, California, told The Sun: “I couldn’t believe it. Nobody ever came and talked to me. It was horrific.
“They just dumped her in Mexico. Nobody got off with her.”
While the Paradise sailed on, Ashley’s body was left in a morgue in Ensenada. No one from the ship got off with her, her mother said. Not her boyfriend. Not her friends. Not a single crew member.
After receiving the news of her daughter’s sudden death, Jamie boarded a plane to Mexico, but she claims she was met with a wall of silence.
The ship had already docked when she arrived, and despite waiting four hours at the harbour for answers, no one reached out to her.
Jamie recalls: “I stood and stood and stood at the harbour, waiting for someone from the ship to come talk to me.
“The captain just kept going and passed me by and never said a word to me.”
Drug riddle
The night before her death, Ashley’s boyfriend claims the pair visited the casino and went to a concert before returning to their cabin.
Following an alleged disagreement, Ashley’s boyfriend says he went back out, and she stayed in.
After returning to the cabin in the early hours, he claims he went to sleep next to Ashley.
The next day, he woke and went upstairs to join friends – leaving Ashley who he believed was still asleep, alone.
After returning to the cabin, he was unable to wake her up, and she was tragically pronounced dead soon after.
The boat docked in Ensenada on the Pacific coast of Mexico, and the authorities boarded the ship to determine if there were any suspicious circumstances. The FBI was also notified.
While Ashley remained in the Mexican morgue, her boyfriend and the rest of their group stayed on the ship and returned to California.
Jamie says she did not hear from the boyfriend until the day after her daughter died.
He claimed he did not know what had happened to her, but said some of his medications was missing.
It was later concluded that Ashley had died from a methadone drug overdose – but her friends and family insist she was very anti-drugs, and her boyfriend denied ever giving her methadone.
Methadone is a so-called “legal high” drug, used to help addicts stop taking heroin.
Jamie told The Sun: “Ashley would not have taken methadone.
“How did this drug end up in her beautiful, healthy body? Who did it?”
The high seas are a pretty lawless territory. It’s as lawless as you can get.
Jamie Barnett
Jamie decided to take matters into her own hands and organised a private pathologist and a second autopsy in the US.
But because Ashley was autopsied and embalmed in Mexico before she was brought home, the US coroner refused to carry out a second examination.
Evidence evaporated with every hour the ship had delayed coming to shore, and by the time her body returned to the United States days later, crucial evidence was already gone.
Her organs had been removed, embalming chemicals had altered her body, and the scene itself no longer existed.
Any real chance of determining when or how the drug entered the system had been lost.
Death at sea
On land, a death triggers trained investigators, preserved scenes, and accountability. But at sea, it’s a completely different situation.
When someone dies on a cruise ship, the ship’s medical staff – not law enforcement – makes the initial determination.
The cabin is controlled by the cruise line, not the police, and evidence collection is optional as the ship continues moving.
Jurisdiction also depends on where the ship is flagged, where the death occurred, and which port is reached first.
By the time outside authorities step in, the scene may already be altered or gone completely.
Jamie explained: “There’s no independent police that’s got your best interests at heart.
“The high seas are a pretty lawless territory. It’s as lawless as you can get.”
“There’s no law enforcement or police. It’s just the ship’s own security staff — a few hours of online training, and suddenly they’re ‘investigators.’ It’s a total joke.
“I really thought the FBI would give me answers, but they told me almost nothing.”
Jamie threw herself into advocacy, helping to found and lead the International Cruise Victims group, fighting for safety reforms and accountability on cruise ships – and she has never stopped.
She says: “You can’t just wallow in your grief and do nothing — you have to fight.
“I woke up one night and thought, if this had happened to me and Ashley was the one who survived, she would have fought like a tiger to find out what happened.
“Something has to give. Something good has to come out of this horrific situation.”
‘Laws cease to exist’
Mexican authorities and the FBI questioned Ashley’s boyfriend early in the case, but no one was ever charged, and the FBI continues to list the investigation as open.
Ashley’s body was returned to the United States several days after her death and buried in Southern California, but to this day, her family still doesn’t know how the drug entered her system or why she died.
Sadly, Ashley Barnett’s case is not an anomaly.
Cruise ships – often vast, crowded and often poorly policed – have become the setting for disappearances, suspicious deaths and investigations that stall once the ship docks and evidence slips away.
In November, the death of 18-year-old Anna Kepner aboard the Carnival Horizon reignited scrutiny over cruise ship safety.
She was found dead under a bed in her cabinwrapped in a blanket and hidden beneath life vests.
Her death was ruled a homicide, caused by asphyxiation during what investigators described as a violent encounter – yet no suspect has been publicly charged.
Security expert Will Geddes says cruise ships present unique dangers.
He previously told The Sun: “They’re absolutely huge with thousands of people crammed onto them — they’re like mini towns on water.”
“If a crime is committed, it’s very difficult to track the suspect. They can get lost in the crowds.”
Geddes warned that access controls are minimal and policing is weak, creating an environment where offenders can move unseen.
“There is very little gateway access control – meaning people basically have free rein other than the staff areas,” he said.
Other cases stretch back decades.
In 1998, 23-year-old Amy Lynn Bradley vanished from a Royal Caribbean cruise while her family slept nearby.
Despite FBI involvement, reported sightings and a renewed spotlight from a recent Netflix documentary, she has never been found – one of the most haunting missing persons cases at sea.
In 2011, Disney cruise worker Rebecca Coriam disappeared shortly after disturbing CCTV footage showed her distressed on the ship’s internal phone.
The captain blamed a rogue wave, but former Scotland Yard commander Roy Ramm says the explanation doesn’t stand up.
“Somebody on that vessel was unquestionably responsible for her death,” he said.
Jamie’s warning is timely, with party boats gearing up for the holiday season.
She said: “When that ship goes out, you’re in international territory. And the laws cease to exist.”
“There’s no hospital on that ship that’s equivalent to what you would have on land.”
“Nobody’s going to properly investigate, especially not in the way they would on land.”
“You see on social media how cruise lines put out sweet little statements about how they’re taken care of the victim’s family – until you’re in it.”
Two decades on, Jamie still has the same unanswered questions, and her message to would-be passengers is stark.
Seh adds: “I wake up every morning, wishing I could hold my daughter just one more time.
“People need to be aware of the fine print in their ticket… what rights they’re giving up.
“If I can help do something that saves anybody else from ever having to do this or go through this… that’s what I’m going to do.”