Family Hopes To Reopen Case In 2013 Mysterious Death
GROVELAND (CBS) -- The family of a woman who died on an Australian cruise ship years ago has new hope that her case will be reopened.
Jackie Kastrinelis was a 24-year-old dancer when she died in February of 2013. The ship she was on, the Seven Seas Voyager, had docked for its first night off the Northern coast of Australia; Kastrinelis was found dead the next morning.
Her family knows she was at a party the night before she died, but they know little else.
"A 24-year-old girl in good health, active, doesn't just fall asleep and not wake up," said Mike Kastrinelis, Jackie's father.
He and his wife, Kathy, had skyped with their daughter 12 hours before her death.
"She was in good spirits, happy, everything seemed good," said Kathy.
Jackie had been with the cruise line for about two years at the time of her death. She worked as a singer and dancer.
Authorities ruled that Jackie died of "sudden unexpected death syndrome" but her family is not convinced.
After asking for a second review, the Kastrinelis family was met with challenges from the Australian government. At one point, a blood sample went missing.
"It's been a constant fight and struggle to get information," said Mike.
Now, the Northern Territory said it is willing to consider reopening the case if the family makes a compelling argument to the coroner's office.
The Kastrinelis' credit a recent article about their daughter's death in an Australian paper for the sudden uptake in interest.
Kathy said with the possible reopening of Jackie's case they are "cautiously optimistic."
"This needs to be re-looked at and people need to be re-interviewed to find out where they were and who they saw," explained Kathy. "If at the end of that you can tell us 'we still can't say for sure what happened,' we'll live with that."
