Blake Kepley

"Lots of children!"  That was one of the life ambitions of 20-year-old Blake Kepley in the summer of 2011.  The young man was thinking intensely about his future; he was taking a year off from Palomar College, SanMarcos, Calif., to think about what he really wanted to do in the future.  His dreams included tech school and the military, and his wide-ranging interests included music, politics, sports cars, motorcycles, the outdoors, and at some point settling into married life.

In July, he joined some 12 family members on a cruise ship voyage.  From this voyage, he has never returned.

A native of Fallbrook, Calif., he and his family had for a year been planning a cruise tour of the rugged Alaska coastline.  On July 17, the clan of family and relatives boarded the Oosterdam Holland America cruise ship in Seattle for an eight-day trip.

On the night of July 21, he was in a cabin with his father and brothers watching a late-night movie on TV.  About 1 a.m., the lights were turned off and everyone went to sleep.

The next morning, his father, Mark Kepley, woke up around 7 a.m. and looked around the cabin.  Blake was not there. When the others started to wake up, he asked them where Blake was. Nobody knew.

The ship had docked at the port of Ketchikan, Alaska, no more than an hour before.  Mark Kepley thought that possibly Blake had gone ashore to look around, so he went on land himself to search for his son, but found no trace of him.

Returning to the ship, he explained to the captain that Blake was missing, and the captain agreed to do a "level two" search, covering the whole ship.  The captain also checked the ship's electronic records ... every time the card key to a cabin is used, whether from the outside or inside, a record is made.  But although Blake was last seen in the cabin, there was no record of his using his "key" to exit.

The question of what happened to this 20-year-old man remains open.  No witness reported seeing him on deck and there was no video recording showing him anywhere near the rails or falling overboard.  The family have heard nothing about the status of any investigation, and are considering using the Freedom of Information Act to get information.

Said one family member who did not go on the voyage: "I had no idea when I said goodbye to Blake that there was a chance that he would be vulnerable traveling at sea on a cruise ship."

Unfortunately, as members of International Cruise Victims are aware, few people have any suspicion of how vulnerable passengers on cruise ships can be.  Until, that is, something horrific happens.

-- Edited by News Editor on Saturday 1st of October 2011 11:02:14 AM