FBI: Cruise Ship Death Does Not Suggest a Crime

The FBI said its initial investigation into a cruise ship passenger's death points to an accident.

"Our objective is first to rule out whether or not there was a crime here, and thus far the evidence — the information we have acquired — does not suggest a crime," New York FBI director Mark Mershon told FOX News. "But that is not definitive; we have a number of investigative steps we have yet to deploy."

Mindy Jordan of Pine Hill, N.J., fell into the Atlantic Ocean from a balcony of Norwegian Dawn on Sunday night, about two hours after boarding the Bermuda-bound vessel with her boyfriend.

Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line says surveillance video from an interior hallway shows that Jordan was alone in their room from 7:36 p.m. until 7:53 p.m., when an exterior camera shows her falling from the balcony.

Mershon said his agency has interviewed passengers and crew as well as Jordan's boyfriend, Jorge Caputo, and secured forensic evidence in her room.

The cruise line has said its preliminary investigation indicated that Jordan, a 46-year-old nurse and mother of two teenagers, slipped while trying to reach from the balcony of her room to the neighboring room, where Caputo was visiting with friends.

But that explanation has not satisfied Jordan's family.

Her mother, Louise Horton, of Bordentown, said the cruise line has told her about the surveillance video, which hasn't been made public, and that she doesn't believe the video shows exactly what happened leading up to the fall.

"If that happened, how would they know that?" Horton said of the cruise line's conclusions.

Mershon would not address the details of the case.

"What particularly was on her mind or took place on that balcony is not something we're prepared to discuss at this time," he told FOX News.

A cruise line spokeswoman did not immediately return an Associated Press phone call on Thursday.

Horton says she has declined the cruise line's offer to fly her to Bermuda to see the video and pick up her daughter's belongings. She says she's asked for the video to be sent to her.

The FBI's agents met the ship in Bermuda on Wednesday and interviewed some people aboard.

Jim Margolin, a spokesman for the FBI's New York office, said the agency might not make an announcement if its probe finds that no crime was committed.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.