The Latest: Girl's death probe includes cruise line scrutiny

By Associated Press 12 July 2019, 12:00AM

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Latest on an Indiana toddler's fatal fall from a cruise ship in Puerto Rico (all times local):

3:50 p.m.

Puerto Rico authorities say they're taking numerous approaches in their investigation into an 18-month-old Indiana girl's fatal fall from a cruise ship, including exploring possible negligence by the cruise line.

Public security secretary Elmer Román said Thursday that "multiple angles are under investigation" in Chloe Wiegand's death Sunday. She fell from an open 11th-story window on the Freedom of the Seas when it was docked in the U.S. island territory.

Román says the probe includes looking at possible negligence by Royal Caribbean Cruises.

The cruise line said Wednesday that it's assisting authorities in San Juan in the investigation. The company called the death a tragic incident in a statement Monday and said it is helping the family.

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3:15 p.m.

An attorney for the family of an 18-month-old girl who fell to her death from a cruise ship in Puerto Rico says a hearse and police escort will meet them at a Chicago airport and take them home to Indiana.

Attorney Michael Winkleman says Chloe Wiegand's family flew Thursday morning from the U.S. island territory to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and boarded a flight to Chicago with the toddler's body. He didn't say which relatives are flying back.

Winkleman has challenged a Puerto Rico police report that Chloe slipped from her grandfather's hands Sunday as he held her out of an 11th-story window on the Freedom of the Seas. Winkleman says she plunged from an open window in a children's play area on the ship.

The family lives in Granger, Indiana.

By Associated Press 12 July 2019, 12:00AM

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