Forensic Expert Investigates Cruise Ship Disappearance

MIAMI -- A world-renowned forensic expert who has joined the investigation into the disappearance of a cruise ship passenger said the chances of finding out what happened to him are 50-50.

On Monday, Dr. Henry Lee boarded the Brilliance of the Seas, the Royal Caribbean ship from which George Smith disappeared in July 2005.

Lee, who was hired by Smith's wife and her family, said blood stains found on a canopy will be at the center of his investigation.

Royal Caribbean is offering only limited cooperation. The cruise line gave Lee four hours to conduct his investigation Monday.

Smith's family claims the Connecticut man was murdered. The questions of where Smith's bride was at the time he disappeared and if the Federal Bureau of Investigation has any suspects have not yet been answered.

The family said noise was reported coming from Smith's cabin and that security was called but did nothing. Blood was later found in two places.

The family believes the cruise line intentionally slowed the investigation and even painted over bloodstains before investigators could take DNA.

"They believe their son was murdered aboard the 'Brilliance of the Seas' and that Royal Caribbean has deliberately attempted to cover up what happened to George, and to portray this to the media and the public as some sort of unfortunate accident," maritime lawyer Brett Rivkind said.

Lee wanted to toss a mannequin over the rail of the ship to duplicate what might have been Smith's death plunge, but Royal Caribbean denied his request.

"The only issue with the mannequin experiment is that the request came very late," said Capt. Bill Wright, of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.

Lee, who gained fame as a forensic expert in O.J. Simpson's trial, had his team members go over Smith's cabin, six months after the disappearance. The ship has sailed often during that time.

Lee said he was able to conduct three of five experiments, and Royal Caribbean said there would be more.

"We did not have the opportunity to examine the carpet and padding. That will probably yield much more evidence. Of course, we did plan to conduct a mannequin experiment. That wasn't conducted," Lee said.

The case is laced with bitter battles between the families and the cruise line, tales of binge drinking and wild parties, but Monday was all about basic investigations by the experts.

"I did find something, but I cannot tell you what we found," Lee said.

The mannequin test will be conducted at the Brilliance of the Seas' sister ship, which is in dry dock in the Bahamas, NBC 6's Hank Tester reported.