It is with a heavy heart that I write about more trouble in Antigua.  This is an island that I spent much time on as a yachtie and love both it’s natural beauty and the people.  While it is tough to share the bad news, I feel it’s in the best interest of yacht crew to know what is happening in their ports of call.

The facts as they have been reported are that a week ago on January 19th, Nina Elizabeth Nilssen, a thirty year old American graduate student from San Francisco was found murdered on a secluded trail at Windward Bay, near Pigeon Point Beach (a popular yachtie beach) in Falmouth Harbor.  Ms. Nilssen was a passenger on Royal Clipper, a multi-masted clipper ship that is a frequent sight in Falmouth Harbor.  She was traveling with her family who were celebrating her sister’s wedding. Ms. Nilssen was part of a group who were attending a barbeque on Pigeon Beach organized by the cruise ship.  She had gone walking alone and her body was found around 5 pm.  The cause of death has been determined to be a knife wound to the neck.  There are no confirmed reports that she was assault in any other way.

The Antigua police are looking for “a person of interest”, who has been described as a tall, slim, black male sporting an afro hairstyle.  He was also said to have one gold tooth in front and missing teeth.  He was wearing a wearing 3/4 Jean pants.  At this time no arrests have been made.  The local authorities have promised to meet and increase law enforcement efforts in the area.

Part of what makes this latest crime so upsetting is that it happened less than a year after the murder of Australian yachtie, Captain Drew Gollan, on a street in Falmouth in the evening in front of his partner and their young daughter.  At that time the Antigua authorities also promised increased security because of fears that that the mega-yachts would no longer patronage Antigua.  While some yachts did not stay, most did and by all accounts there were some positive changes including the arrest of Drew’s killer.

As we wait to see the outcome of this latest crime, it will probably have an effect on tourism especially from cruise ships, as the story is already making the main stream media in the United States.  Whether you are in Antigua or for that matter anyplace else in the Caribbean, please take care of yourself & your crew and stay safe.  Later in the week, I’ll follow up with some tips on what yacht crew can do to keep safe.

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