Woman’s Body Found In Ship’s Ventilation Shaft Four Months After She Vanished

The body of a woman who went missing on a cruise four months ago has been found in a ventilation shaft on the vessel. Imelda Bechstein was on her way home from holiday in Sardinia when she apparently walked into an engine room and fell into the shaft. Her husband, Ernst, said that she could sometimes become disorientated and now believes the crew could have done more to help find the 74-year-old when she went missing. The couple had been sunbathing on the boat’s lounges as they headed back to Munich when Ernst fell asleep. Mr Bechstein said: ‘We rested in sleeping-chairs. When I woke up later, my wife had disappeared.’ The pensioner looked all over the ‘Sharden’ ferry, which can carry up to 2,908 passengers and 850 cars, but could not find his wife.

The captain ordered for the ship to be searched from top to bottom leading to the belief that Mrs Bechstein had fallen overboard. But now it has been reported that her body has been found on board the vessel in the crew’s maintenance shaft. Mr Bechstein said: ‘She should not have been able to enter the engine room area, it should have been curtained off.’ And he said if the crew had searched properly ‘she might still have been alive.’ Recent autopsy results showed that Imelda had died the night after she vanished and no other signs of violence were found on the body other than injuries from falling down the shaft. The body of the woman is still held in Genoa as the public prosecutor has not given a green light yet to release it. According to local media, investigations are currently being carried out against the captain and some others for negligent killing. Mr Bechstein said he just wants to see the body of his wife return home as soon as possible. He said: ‘I want to be able to at least bury my wife. She should finally find her last resting place.’