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A grandmother who died alone on a remote island suffered a heartbreaking fate after a cruise ship left her behind. Suzanne Rees, 80, had been part of a 60-night Coral Expeditions cruise, which had been all set to explore some of Australia's most majestic sites. On Saturday, October 25, those onboard the Coral Adventurer disembarked at Lizard Island, some 240km from Cairns, Queensland. The picturesque, near-deserted island is famed for its coral reefs and idyllic beaches, which attract divers far and wide. That day, solo traveller Suzanne joined other members of the cruise group for an organised hike along the Cook's Look trail - the highest peak of the island. Tragically, she never made it back to the boat. After falling ill, Suzanne was reportedly asked to travel back down the mountain, unescorted, and, while she lay stricken, the cruise ship departed to its next location . This was the first stop on the Coral Adventurer's long circumnavigation of Australia , a holiday which costs an astonishing £40,000 per person. "Then the ship left, apparently without doing a passenger count. At some stage in that sequence, or shortly after, Mum died, alone," Suzanne's daughter Katherine told The Australian . Katherine shared that her family was "shocked and saddened" that elderly Suzanne had allegedly been abandoned due to a "failure of care and common sense". It's understood that Suzanne was only reported missing after she failed to show up for dinner, some five hours after she vanished. Yachtie Traci Ayris and her partner Matthew, who were aboard SV Vellamo anchored close to Lizard Island, had been listening to emergency radio transmissions sent from the Coral Expeditions vessel. "They did headcounts for snorkelers (which we heard) but not for other guests on the island, it would seem," Traci told the Cairns Post . She added: "The last people came down from the track and got into tender then the (ship) left very soon after that. There was not a lot of time between when the last passengers left the beach to when they up anchored. We even commented, 'Wow they left fast'." The missing traveller's disappearance was reported shortly before midnight, with emergency services searching across land and sea throughout the night. The following day, Suzanne's body was retrieved from a mountain, some 50m off the hiking trail. Eyewitness Traci told 7NEWS: "The search started around midnight with a chopper and the crew searched until 3 am." She continued, "All of us on our boats in the bay were saddened by the events. It was immensely tragic that the hiker had not strayed far from the path that we ourselves had hiked the day before." In a statement previously given to news.com.au, Queensland Police said they were investigating the "sudden and non-suspicious death of a missing woman in her 80s". The force stated: "The woman was reported missing to the police on 25 October, after failing to board a vessel in waters off Queensland earlier on Saturday." Coral Expeditions CEO Mark Fifiel has also issued the following statement: "We have expressed our heartfelt condolences to the Rees family and remain deeply sorry that this has occurred. The circumstances of her tragic death are the subject of official investigations. We are fully cooperating with those investigations to determine the facts. For this reason, it would be inappropriate to comment further on the investigations while they are underway. We continue to provide our full support to the Rees family through this difficult time.” Meanwhile, The Guardian reports that the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has been made aware of the incident and is making inquiries. A multi-agency investigation will probe how and why the Australian native, who is being remembered as a keen bushwalker and gardener following her death, was allegedly abandoned. Do you have a story to share? Email me at julia.banim@reachplc.com
