Tiverton Woman's Death on Cruise Ship Linked to Medical Condition

The death of 67-year-old Tiverton woman found aboard a Norwegian Cruise Line ship that docked in Boston last Friday, Oct. 28, "demonstrably" links to her medical condition, according to Jake Wark, a spokesman for the Suffolk County district attorney's office in Massachusetts.

On Wednesday, Wark said since no foul play is involved, they cannot release the woman's identity. He said they notified the woman's next of kin shortly after her death. Wark could not reveal the woman's medical condition or exact cause of death.

The woman, and a 23-year-old New Hampshire man, reportedly died aboard the Norwegian Dawn last Thursday. Wark said both died in the medical bay of the ship.

"She and the 23-year-old man were strangers to one another," Wark said, "and their deaths, as far as we can tell, were entirely unrelated."

He said it was apparent to the ship's doctors and the medical examiner's office that the Tiverton woman's death was of natural causes. Wark noted that the young man's death initially concerned investigators, simply because of his age, but medical staff later revealed that his death was of natural causes, too.