Jewelry Tycoon Plunges to Death Off Cruise Ship
Tiffany's jewelry tycoon, 71, plunges to her death from Norwegian Spirit cruise ship at 3am off Tahiti coast as it's revealed gems were stolen from her cabin - and boyfriend took TWENTY HOURS to report her missing. Dilek Ertek, 71 - the distributor of Tiffany in Turkey for over 20 years - fell into South Pacific off the coast of Tahiti from the Norwegian Spirit ship on October 26. Respected Turkish newspaper Sabah reported that her family have urged police to investigate Miss Ertek's Swiss national lover, who was with her on the trip. Her son Gokce Atuk says jewelry had gone missing from the safe in his mother's cabin. And despite ship CCTV footage showing she probably fell at 3am, her unnamed lover only reported her missing some 20 hours later, according to local media.
Experts seem baffled over how Miss Ertek - who was just 5ft2 and tee-total - was able to fall over the 3ft-high guard rail to her cabin. The 74-year-old partner was kept under observation by the ship's crew in a separate cabin before they then docked in Tahiti three days later. He was reportedly questioned by police in Tahiti before being released due to a lack of evidence. He has since returned to Switzerland. A search at sea for Miss Ertek's body has been discontinued. Miss Ertek had boarded the vessel on October 24 in Papeete Island, French Polynesia, to celebrate her birthday in Bora Bora, a small South Pacific island on November 5. The cruise was set to end in Honolulu, in Hawaii.
A search for her body was organised immediately but to no avail, with the vessel reporting the situation to the authorities and returning to the nearest port, on Papeete Island. Security footage from the vessel is being studied, with images showing that an unknown figure fell into the sea at that time, according to Turkish media. Turkish media has reported that there are also issues with the investigation. It is claimed that Tahitian authorities did not search Miss Ertek's room properly. Some feel they have only gone through the motions as the death happened outside their area of jurisdiction. But lawyers for Miss Ertek have reportedly argued that the investigation is Tahiti's responsibility as it was the closest country when the incident happened at sea. Her lawyers are reportedly preparing to file a suit against the ship's operator.
Gokce Atuk reportedly went to Tahiti to help with the search efforts, which have now been stopped, prompting him to launch legal challenges. Captain Mustafa Can reportedly said: 'It is difficult to fall from this type of passenger and cruise ship.' Dilek Ertek was born in Istanbul and graduated from Mimar Sinan University, Department of Architecture. She went on to study diamonds at the Gemological Institute of America in New York. At the end of 1995, she opened the first Tiffany store in Istanbul. She was the distributor of Tiffany & Co in Turkey for more than 20 years.
