Australian authorities are investigating after an 80-year-old woman, abandoned by a cruise ship on an island in the Great Barrier Reef, was found dead, according to the BBC.

Last week, the woman was on an excursion to Lizard Island, 250 km north of Cairns, along with other passengers during a stopover, but she drifted away from the group and the ship departed without her, returning several hours later when the crew realized she was missing. She was found dead.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said it was investigating and would meet with the ship's crew when it docked in Darwin later this week.

The woman was on the first leg of a 60-day cruise around Australia, tickets for which cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Queensland Police said they would prepare a report for the coroner into the woman's "sudden and unsuspicious death."

(Unioneonline)

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