Coast Guard Suspends Search for Missing N.C. Man

Goldsboro, N.C. — The U.S. Coast Guard said it has suspended its search for a North Carolina man who went missing from a cruise ship.

Brent Smith, 24, was last seen at around 1:45 a.m. Monday on the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line vessel Freedom of the Seas. He was on the cruise with members of his family.

Coast Guard officials said a pair of sandals belonging to Smith were found on the deck of the cruise ship, but there was no sign of him.

The Coast Guard had been searching a 130-mile-long area near the Bahamas between the Abaco Islands and San Salvador.

Smith is believed to live in Wayne County. He works with his father at the T.A. Loving Co., a construction firm in Goldsboro, family friends said.

He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington in December 2005 with a bachelor's degree in business administration, according to UNC-W officials.

Smith is still presumed missing, according to the Coast Guard.

A vigil was held Wednesday at his family's church, the Wilson Praise and Worship Center, at 200 W. Nash St. in Wilson.