A 14-year-old American boy, Aydin Brown, has been reported missing in the cruise port of Rostock-Warnemünde in northern Germany, after debarking Caribbean Princess on Thursday morning, July 4, 2024.
Brown is traveling with his grandmother aboard the Princess Cruises ship, but it is not clear whether he debarked with her or on his own when the ship docked for a day in port.
Brown was last reported at roughly 7-7:30 a.m., wearing a “dark jacket, dark pants, and retro shoes” according to the Rostock police report. He is 5′ 7″ tall with long dark hair, and is reported as autistic.
Authorities have recovered a photo from a surveillance camera at the Warnemünde train station showing Brown and an unknown witness, who is urgently asked to come forward to help locate the young man. The witness is described as 20-25 years old, slim, with very long hair that was braided into a ponytail.
“It cannot be ruled out that the missing person made contact with the gaming scene in Germany and that the previously unknown witness is also active in the scene,” the police report stated. “Initial investigations have shown that Aydin Brown was in personal contact with this previously unknown person shortly after leaving the ship.”
The Warnemünde train station is just one-quarter mile from the cruise port, and easy walk of just a few minutes.
To be clear, the unknown witness is not considered a suspect at this time, but is simply asked to come forward with any possible information about Brown’s whereabouts.
Any member of the public who may have additional information is also asked to contact local authorities. To date, there is no report of suspected foul play, but authorities are being diligent and thorough in their investigation.
Caribbean Princess is currently sailing a 12-night sailing roundtrip from Southampton, UK. The ship departed on Sunday, June 30, and has already called at two ports in Denmark.
While Caribbean Princess departed Warnemünde on schedule, Brown’s grandmother reportedly remained behind in the city to stay in touch with authorities. It is unclear whether other family members are also traveling on the cruise.
Read Also: What Happens If You Miss Your Cruise Ship?
The 112,894-gross-ton, Grand-class ship can welcome 3,142 passengers on each sailing and is also home to approximately 1,200 international crew members. Caribbean Princess is now continuing on to ports in Sweden, Lithuania, and Norway before she is scheduled to return to Southampton on July 12.
No other cruise ships were docked in Warnemünde on Thursday, July 4.
Other Passengers Missing From Cruise Ships
A cruise port can be a very confusing and crowded place, particularly when guests are enjoying a day in port and there are hundreds, even thousands of people moving back and forth in just a few hours. Unfortunately, this can lead to families or groups becoming separated and missing persons reports are sometimes necessary.
In December 2023, a 15-year-old girl was missing from Norwegian Spirit when the ship was visiting Dunedin, New Zealand. Local authorities used social media to spread the word about the missing teen, and she was quickly located and reunited with her parents.
More recently, in early June an 18-year-old young man was separated from his parents at a port of call (the young man did not identify either the cruise ship or the port) when they failed to return to the ship on time, and he remained onboard as the ship sailed away. His parents did rejoin the ship – at their own expense – at the next port of call.
While both of these incidents were resolved with the families reuniting, unfortunately not all such situations end so happily. In April, a 66-year-old man with dementia became separated from his family in Cozumel, and despite exhaustive search efforts, he has not been located.
Cruise Hive’s thoughts are with the family and friends of Aydin Brown with positive thoughts and hope that he is safely located very soon.
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