American Cruise Passenger Missing in Sint Maarten

Ann Evans, a 55-year-old American woman, disappeared during an organized island tour in Sint Maarten in the Caribbean on November 20, prompting a joint search effort by authorities on the Dutch and French sides of the island.

Evans was a passenger on the Holland America Line's Rotterdam, a cruise ship that departed Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on November 16 for a 12-day round-trip voyage through the Caribbean. The stop in Sint Maarten marked the second port of call after Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas. Around 10 a.m., Evans left the ship, which was docked in Philipsburg on the Dutch side, and joined a bus tour. She disembarked in Marigot, on the French side of the island, known as the Collectivity of Saint Martin, but did not return to the bus or reboard the vessel before it departed later that day.

A missing persons alert was issued by the Police Force of Sint Maarten on November 26, six days after the incident. The alert stated that efforts to locate Evans were ongoing and that law enforcement on both sides of the island had been notified. "Law enforcement authorities on both the Dutch and French sides of the island have been alerted," the alert read. It urged the public to...