Her body has not yet been recovered and experts are reportedly puzzled over how the 5’2″ Ertek could have fallen over a 3-foot-tall guard rail on the ship in the South Pacific off the coast of Tahiti. Her son, Gokce Atuk, said jewelry was missing from the safe in his mother’s cabin, the Mail reported. Ertek was celebrating her birthday on the Norwegian Spirit during a holiday in the South Sea Islands with a partner at the time of her death. According to Turkish news source Hürriyet Daily News, CCTV footage from the cruise ship shows Ertek falling from the ocean liner at around 3am on the 26th. Her 74-year-old partner did not report her missing until 20 hours later, prompting the ship’s crew to keep the unnamed Swiss man under surveillance until the ship docked in Tahiti three days later, Hürriyet Daily News reported. “The balconies are made entirely of glass and have railings. Their height easily reaches the chest of a medium-sized person.” — Ship’s officer unnamed Ertek’s partner was then questioned by Tahitian police before eventually being released due to a lack of evidence, the Daily Mail reports, and Ertek’s lawyers are now filing a lawsuit against the cruise ship operator, as well as claiming that it is the country of Tahiti’s responsibility. will continue to lead the investigation into the circumstances of her death. According to Turkish news agency Sabah, an unnamed officer working on the Norwegian Spirit cruise ship has spoken about Ertek’s death on social media. “Safety on board is a really important issue,” the officer was quoted as saying. “Precautions are taken into account from the shipbuilding phase. Balconies are all glass and have railings. Their height easily reaches the chest of a medium-sized person. You can’t fall. To jump you have to make an effort because it is not easy to put your foot down [the balcony]. You have to go up [a] chair. It’s also unlikely that someone will fall down drunk.” Ertek reportedly began building her fortune in 1995 when she opened the first Tiffany & Co. store. in Istanbul, Turkey and has continued to serve as the primary distributor of the brand’s luxury jewelry in its home country for more than two decades. The Daily Beast reached out to Tiffany & Co. and Norwegian Spirit for comments.
