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Missing honeymooner's family offers $100,000 reward in 9-year-old case

Missing honeymooner's family offers $100,000 reward in 9-year-old case
The family of George Smith IV, who went missing from his Mediterranean honeymoon cruise nine years ago, are offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

The highly publicized case that has never been solved is the topic of a CBS '48 Hours' segment that will air Saturday. A preview of the show disclosed the new reward.

Smith vanished from Royal Caribbean International's Brilliance of the Seas in July 2005 after a night of heavy drinking. His bride was found passed out in a corridor and wheeled back to their stateroom by ship's crew. A bloodstain was photographed on a lifeboat canopy beneath their balcony. No body was found.

The FBI investigated but no charges were ever filed. Private detectives looked at the evidence, too.

The case led to a congressional subcommittee hearing about cruise ship safety in 2005.

Royal Caribbean, which has always maintained it acted appropriately in connection with the incident, reached an approximately $1.1m settlement with Smith’s widow, Jennifer Hagel Smith, in 2006. His parents, who believe their son was murdered, challenged the settlement.

In 2007 a Miami court threw out a case filed by the family. It was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it could not be refiled.