December 4, 2025 • 32 mins
Newlywed nurse Megan Jensen and her five-year-old son Prester vanished mysteriously during their honeymoon cruise aboard the Majestic Coral in June 2023, 60 miles off the coast of Galveston, Texas. Despite extensive investigations by the FBI and Coast Guard, their bodies were never recovered. Suspicion quickly fell on Megan’s husband, Ethan Jensen, a Houston car dealership owner drowning in debt, who was secretly cheating with multiple women on the ship and had taken out a $1.5 million life insurance policy on Megan shortly before the wedding. The case involved digital forensics, hidden videos, and witness accounts revealing Ethan’s infidelity and possible motive for murder.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is True Crime case Files. In June twenty twenty three,
what was supposed to be a dream honeymoon became a
chilling mystery. On the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico,
a new Lavid mother and her five year old son
vanished without a trace aboard a luxury cruise ship bound
for Cosameo. Their cabin door was locked from the inside,
their belongings untouched, and the only person with more questions
(00:22):
than answers was her new husband. This is the case
of Megan and Prester Jensen, the missing family of the
Majestic Coral. In July of twenty twenty three, Megan Jensen
born Megan Reese was living what seemed to be the
happiest moment of her life. She was thirty one years old,
a registered nurse from Shrepport, Louisiana, and the devoted mother
of a five year old boy named Prestor. At Saint
(00:45):
Mary's Regional Hospital, where she worked in the pediatric wing,
coworkers said she was the kind of nurse who'd sing
to patience when they cried. She was bright, gentle, and
a little naive, the type to tip waiters forty dollars
no matter how the meal went, and to text apologies
for things that weren't even her fault. Megan had grown
up in a modest, middle class neighborhood in shripport. Her mother,
(01:07):
Janis Reste, taught second grade and her father, Tom Brees,
was a retired firefighter. She attended Louisiana Tech University, where
she earned her nursing degree, often balancing classes, part time work,
and raising her young son after her first marriage ended
in twenty eighteen. Friends from college remembered her as kind
and hard working, the one who would bring soup when
(01:28):
someone was sick and stay late to help study before exams.
By twenty twenty one, Megan's life had fallen into a
quiet routine, long shifts at the hospital, bedtime stories with Prester,
and coffee with her best friend, Carolyle's every Sunday afternoon.
Then that summer, she met Ethan Jensen, a thirty eight
year old car dealership owner from Houston, Texas, through a
(01:51):
dating app. He was older, confident, and generous with compliments.
He sent flowers to her workplace, took her own weekend trips,
and took told her she deserved to be treated like
a queen. Their relationship moved fast. Within a year, Ethan
proposed during a beach trip to Deston, Florida, and in
June twenty twenty three, they married in a small backyard
(02:12):
ceremony surrounded by family and friends. Megan wore a lace
gown and carried some flowers, her favorite. She told coworkers
she couldn't believe her luck. It feels like God finally
gave me a do over, she said. The couple's honeymoon
and aboard the Majestic Coral, a four thousand passenger cruise
ship sailing from Galveston, Texas to Cosmelo, Mexico, was supposed
(02:33):
to be a dream come true. It was Megan's first
real vacation in years. She brought Prester along, wanting to
make it a family trip. Passengers later recalled seeing her
everywhere on the ship, at the pool, at the buffet,
and even at the pirate night deck show, always smiling,
always protective of her son. She posted pictures to Facebook
(02:54):
of turquoise water and chocolate cake, captioned with hearts and
the words best time ever with my boys. Staff member
remembered her as polite and soft spoken, thanking them for
every small thing. But on the fourth night of the cruise,
that picture of happiness broke apart. Megan and Prester vanished.
Their cabin door was locked from the inside. Her phone, wallet,
and ID were neatly stacked on the vanity. There were
(03:16):
no witnesses and no signs of a struggle. The woman
who had spent her life caring for others and the
little boy she adored were suddenly gone. On the morning
of June fourteenth, twenty twenty three, at seven forty five am,
the Majestic Coral was sailing smoothly through the Gulf of Mexico,
about sixty miles off the coast of Galveston, Texas. The
(03:38):
sun had just come up and passengers were beginning to
fill the breakfast buffet. Housekeeping supervisor Anna Morales, a forty
four year old crew member from Honduras, noticed something odd.
Cabin eleven thousand, two hundred and eight, assigned to the
Jensen family still had its do not disturb sign hanging
on a handle. It had not been service since the
(03:58):
previous evening. Knock three times and called out housekeeping. There
was no answer. She waited, then tried again. When she
used her master key, she found the door locked from
the inside, which was unusual for that hour. She radioed
ship security, thinking perhaps the family had overslept. When two
security officers arrived and opened the door, what they found
(04:19):
made the hair stand up on the back of Anna's neck.
The room was spotless, the beds neatly made, folded, clothes
stacked on the chair, and Meghan's phone, wallet and ID
placed in a careful pile on the vanity. There was
no sign of a struggle, no spilled drinks, no scattered belongings.
He conpressed. HER's favorite stuffed dinosaur sat untouched on the pillow,
(04:40):
but Meghan and her five year old son were nowhere
to be found. The ship's security team quickly checked passenger
logs and key card data, confirming that neither Meghan nor
Prester had re entered the cabin after ten thirty pm
the night before. Officers reviewed hallway footage and found a
short video showing Meghan and her son walking hand in
hand along eleven's promenade at ten forty three pm. Both
(05:02):
appeared calm. Seconds later, the camera feed glitched, turning to
static for eight full seconds. When the image returned, they
were gone. No man overboard alarm had sounded overnight no
one had reported screams, splashes, or distress calls. The Gulf
waters that night were dark and choppy, with wind gusts
up to twenty miles per hour. If someone had gone overboard,
(05:25):
it was unlikely anyone would have seen or heard it.
When news of the disappearance spread among passengers, panic and
speculation took over. Rumors flew faster than official updates. Some
claimed Megan had run away with another man, while others
said she jumped overboard in despair. On social media, strangers
who never met her began posting wild theories. One post
(05:47):
on TikTok, with over two hundred thousand views, claimed the
sharks had eten Meghan and her son after they fell
from the ship. Another viral Facebook comment accused the crew's
company of covering up an abduction, saying the pair had
been kidnapped by Mexican drug lords and enslaved on the mainland.
A third rumor insisted Megan had faked her own death
to escape a troubled marriage. None of these claims were true.
(06:11):
By July, as the story spread nationwide, police in both
Texas and Louisiana were forced to investigate several people who
had spread these false rumors online, some of which had
harassed the Jensen and Rheese families directly. Authorities warned the
public to stop sharing unbverified and harmful speculation. Despite hundreds
of hours of searching in interviews with passengers and crew,
(06:33):
no bodies were ever recovered. The Gulf currents in June
were fast and unforgiving. The Majestic Coral sailed on to Cosamel,
but for Megan and Little Prest there was no trace,
only a locked cabin, a vanished family, and a growing
mystery that gripped both the ship and the world beyond it.
When the Majestic Coral finally returned to Galveston, Texas, two
(06:56):
days after the disappearance, the ship no longer felt like
a place of lead. The once bustling decks were quiet,
the pool closed, and families avoided Cabin eleven thousand, two
hundred and eight, where Megan and Prester Jensen had last
been seen. On June sixteen, twenty twenty three, federal agents
and Coast Guard officers boardered the ship to begin what
would become one of the most complex crewis investigations in
(07:18):
recent memory. FBI Special Agent Marcy Holland, a forty two
year old investigator from Houston led the case. She had
handled missing person cases before, but said this one felt
different from the start. With her was Coast Guard investigator
Dan Rourke fifty, a quiet but seasoned officer known for
his attention to detail. Together, they started inside the Jensen's cabin.
(07:42):
The room was unusually clean. The beds were made, clothes
folded neatly, and nothing seemed out of place. Megan's phone, wallet,
and ID were stacked carefully on the vanity, Prester's shoes
sat by the door, and his stuffed dinosaur lay on
the pillow. There was no blood on the sheets, no
overturned furniture, and no signs of a fight. But on
(08:03):
the balcony railing, investigators noticed something faint, a small smudge,
and a droplet of blood later confirmed to belong to made.
Officers sealed the cabin with yellow tape and photographed every inch.
They used luminal spray to check for hidden traces of
blood and dusted for fingerprints. Magens were everywhere on the
bathroom sink, the closet, and balcony door. Ethan Jensen's prints
(08:27):
were on the railing. Investigators reviewed the security footage frame
by frame. The final recording of Meghan and Prestor showed
them walking hand in hand along Deck elevens promenade it
ten forty three pm. The deck was dimly lit, lined
with lounge chairs and a metal railing that stood only
three feet high, unusually low for a modern cruise ship.
(08:48):
Just before the camera feed glitch, a shadowy figure could
be seen following several paces behind them. Though their bodies
were never recovered, investigators believed Meghan and Prester were pushed
or thrown over board late that night. No midday signal
was sent, no splash was reported, and no passengers came
forward saying they had heard cries for help. The Gulf
(09:08):
current that night was strong and cold, with winds gusting
above twenty miles per hour, recovery experts said would have
been impossible on shore, as fireworks from Galveston's Fourth of
July celebrations later filled the skies. That summer, the case
continued to draw national attention. What had begun as a
honeymoon had now become a mystery, with no bodies, no
(09:30):
clear witnesses, and only a faint smear of blood on
a cruise ship balcony. The last physical trace of a
mother and son lost at sea. The first person investigators
questioned was Raja Junior jib Javier, a twenty seven year
old cabin steward from Manila, Philippines, assigned to the Deck
eleven hallway, where the Jensen suite was located. It was
(09:52):
July of twenty twenty three, and by then the Majestic
Coral had already docked in Galveston, but whispers about Raja's
name were still spreading through the ship like wildfire. Raja
was known among the crew for his bright smile, quick jokes,
and easy charm. Other employees said he was charismatic, flirtatious,
and maybe too friendly with passengers. He was popular with guests,
(10:16):
often remembered by kids for folding towel animals into the
shape of swans or elephants. His nickname on board was Jimujib's,
a playful Tagalog word that roughly meant he pooped a lot.
According to ship records, Roja was the last confirmed person
to see Megan Jensen alive. Around ten twenty pm on
the night of June thirteen, twenty twenty three. He delivered
(10:37):
extra towels to Cabin eleven thousand, two hundred and eight,
after Megan had called housekeeping earlier in the evening. He
told investigators that Megan answered the door wearing a long
white T shirt and looked a little tired. Prester was
already asleep on the bed behind her. Raja said she
thanked him politely and smiled, but seemed sad, like something
was on her mind. After that short interaction, he said,
(11:00):
he returned to the staff galley on deck four, where
he stayed cleaning for the rest of the shift. Security
logs later confirmed his key card access there between ten
thirty pm and midnight. Still, within hours of the disappearance,
rumors began to swirl. Several crew members claimed they had
seen Megan and Roja talking close in the corridor earlier
that afternoon, near the elevator. Some suggested she had confided
(11:23):
in him about her marriage, or that the two had
been flirting. Others accused Raja of sneaking back into her
cabin that night. None of it was true. When the
FBI boarded the ship on June sixteenth, they brought rod
J in for questioning. He was nervous but cooperative, answering
every question through an interpreter. He insisted he had never
been alone with Megan and denied any inappropriate behavior. She
(11:47):
was kind, he said, but sad, like she had something
heavy inside her. Agents searched his locker, phone, and uniform.
They found nothing linking him to the Jensens. No messages,
no photos, no evidence of a relationship. Polygraph testing later
supported his story, and witness corroboration from fellow crew members
confirmed he was in the galley during the time investigators
(12:09):
believe Megan and Prester went missing. By early July, Raja
was officially cleared of any involvement, but for him, the
damage was already done. Words spread among the ship's one thousand,
two hundred staff members that he had been the last
one to see the lady. Some began calling him Nummu,
which means ghost, and tagalog, a cruel nickname that stuck
(12:30):
for months. He eventually asked to be transferred to another cruise, rock,
saying the Majestic Coral no longer felt the same. I
didn't do anything wrong, he later told a reporter, but
everyone looked at me like I was haunted. For investigators,
clearing Raja meant turning their focus elsewhere to someone much
closer to Megan than any crew member had ever been.
(12:51):
By early July of twenty twenty three, the focus of
the investigation had shifted to Bethan Jensen, Megan's thirty eight
year old husband. He was a well dressed man from
Houston who owned two used car dealerships, Jensen Autodirect in
Gulf City Motors. To friends and family, Ethan appeared successful
and confident, but investigators soon discovered a different picture. He
(13:12):
had filed for bankruptcy in twenty twenty two, only a
year before marrying Megan, and had never told her about it.
Court documents showed unpaid loans, lawsuits from former employees, and
repossessions of luxury vehicles. When The Majestic Coral reported Megan
and her five year old son, Prester, missing, Ethan told
ship's security that his wife had been mentally unstable. He
(13:33):
claimed Megan had talked about taking herself and pressed her
off this world, saying she had been crying and acting
strange before disappearing, But when investigators reviewed her text messages, journals,
and social media, they found no evidence of depression or
suicidal thoughts. Instead, her digital life was filled with plans,
screenshots of Disney World ticket packages, notes about Prest's kindergarten
(13:55):
enrollment in shripport, and photos of the matching swimsuits she
bought for the cruise. Friends later said Megan had seemed
excited and full of energy in the weeks before the trip.
She had sent selfies from the ship's buffet deck and
videos of Presters splashing in the kiddie pool. One message
to a coworker read, it finally feels like my life
is turning around. Ethan's version of events changed multiple times.
(14:18):
In his first interview with ship security, he said Megan
had walked out of the room after an argument about money. Later,
he claimed she'd gone to walk off her anxiety. Finally,
he told the FBI that she had jumped overboard in
a panic. His inconsistencies quickly raised red flags. When FBI
agents Marcy Holland and Dan Work examined the Jensen's cabin,
(14:39):
they noticed the balcony looked freshly whited down, almost too clean.
Forensic testing later found tiny droplets of blood along the
outer railing, just below the hand dryst DNA confirmed it
belonged to Megan. Ethan's finger prints were also found on
the metal rail near where the droplets were located. Investigators
also noted a thin, fresh scratch on Ethan Dan's right forearm.
(15:01):
When asked about it, he said it came from a
towel hook in the bathroom, but a forensic thethologist said
the shape and angle of the mark looked more like
a finger nail scratch, as if someone had grabbed him
during a struggle. As more details came out, Ethan's calm
demeanor began to crack. Witnesses from the crews remembered that
he appeared agitated and impatient. On the morning after Megan vanished,
(15:23):
a bartender told investigators Ethan had ordered two bourbons before
nine a m. And muttered that she finally did it.
Back in Texas, Megan's friends and coworkers were outraged by
the suggestion that she had taken her own life. One
nurse described her as the kind of meurseud sing to
patience when they cried, not someone ready to give up.
By mid July, investigators were convinced that Ethan knew more
(15:46):
than he was saying. With no bodies recovered, the case
remained classified as a suspicious disappearance, but in the eyes
of the public and increasingly the FBI, the Honeymoon's story
had begun to look a lot more like a cover up.
By August three, twenty twenty three, summer heat baked the
streets of Houston while the FBI's digital forensics lab buzzed
(16:08):
with activity inside a windowless office. Analysts had been working
for weeks to recover deleted files from the phones and
cloud accounts belonging to Meghan and Ethan Jensen. That morning.
What they found would completely change the direction of the investigation.
The report revealed that Ethan Jensen, Megan's thirty eight year
old husband, had not only been hiding financial problems, he'd
(16:30):
also been living a double life. Forensic data from his
phone showed that during the Gum Honeymoon cruise, Ethan had
been involved with at least five other women aboard the ship.
Some were passengers, others were crew members. Text messages showed flirtation,
late night meet ups, and explicit conversations that took place
while Meghan and her son, Prester were still alive and
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on board. But that was of the worst of it.
When agents seized Ethan's phone, they found a password protected
folder buried deep in the device's storage. Inside there were
dozens of short videos, secretly filmed clips of Megan walking
on deck, sitting by the pool, or brushing her hair
in their cabin. Some of the footage appeared to have
been recorded through the slightly open bathroom door or from
(17:11):
the reflection of a mirror. Mixed among them were similar
clips of other women he'd met during the cruise, women
who were unaware they were being recorded. It was sickening,
said one federal source familiar with the case. It told
us everything we needed to know about control, about obsession,
and about what might have happened that night. At nearly
the same time, another forensic breakthrough came from Megan's Iclaudbaco
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analysts had recovered fragments of a deleted photo that appeared
to be a casual mirror selfie. In it, Meghan was smiling,
her hair pulled back, wearing a white T shirt, likely
taken inside their cabin on the night she vanished. But
in the background of the image, faintly visible in the reflection,
was Ethan's figure holding her phone as though he had
taken the photo himself, while pretending it was hers. Investigators
(17:59):
were struck by the eerie image. It was like she
was there and not there at the same time. One
agent said she thought she was taking her own picture,
but he was controlling it. The discovery left no doubt
for the FBI this was no suicide and no accident.
The pattern of surveillance, manipulation, and infidelity pointed to something
far darker. Agents also learned that Ethan had deleted his
(18:22):
location history and fitness tracker data from the night of
June thirteen, the same hours Megan and Prester disappeared. Ship
Wi Fi logs showed his phone had been offline for
more than ninety minutes, an intentional disconnection that coincided with
the gap in the ship's security footage. By the first
week of August, investigators had a new theory. Megan and
Prester had confronted Ethan that night, and whatever happened next
(18:46):
was him an accident. In the heat of that Houston summer,
As the Majestic Coral continued its route through the Gulf,
the Jensen's Huntingmoon had become something else, entirely a crime story,
unraveling one secret at a time. By mid July twenty
twenty three, a new name had surfaced in the investigation.
Lauren Simmons, a thirty four year old travel influencer from Dallas,
(19:09):
Texas with more than two hundred thousand Instagram followers. Lauren
was well known online for posting selfies from beaches, luxury hotels,
and cruise ships. Her bright hair, loub laugh, and constant
live streaming made her hard to miss on the Majestic Coral.
According to witnesses, Lauren first met Ethan Jensen at one
of the ship's cocktail bars, the Sea Breeze Lounge, on
(19:32):
the second night of the cruise. She told reporters later
that she had just been looking for someone to talk
to and that Ethan seemed charming, like a guy on vacation,
not a husband. That chance meeting quickly escalated. By the
fourth night, multiple passengers reported seeing the two kissing on
the aft deck near the open air pool bar while
(19:53):
music from the ship's Pirate Night party played in the background.
Lauren later admitted to the encounter, but insisted she didn't
know Ethan was married. He told me his wife was
seasick and staying in the room, she said during a
July interview with a Houston TV station. I swear if
I'd known, I would have walked away. I was just
having fun, that's all. However, when the FBI seized Ethan's fund,
(20:16):
the story became even more complicated. Digital forensics revealed Ethan
had been messaging at least five different women during the cruise,
passengers and crew members alike. The messages were flirty, sometimes explicit,
and often sent late at night while Megan and Prester
were still on board. One recovered message sent the day
before Megan disappeared, read which I could throw my old
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life overboard and bleep you all day long. Another said
she's asleep you up. The timing of these messages, many
sent while Megan was still alive, painted a dark picture
of Ethan's state of mind in the days leading up
to her disappearance. Lauren became a key person of interest.
Investigators questioned her for more than four hours after the
ship docked in Galveston. I'd wearing sunglasses and a bright
(21:02):
pink hoodie, appearing more irritated than scared. I didn't kill anyone,
she told agents bluntly, he lied to me, that's all
this is. Security footage later confirmed Laurin's alibi at the time,
Megan and prest vanished some time between ten thirty PM
and midnight, Lauren was seen in the ship's casino, dancing
on a table topless and visibly drunk. Dozens of other
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passengers appeared in the footage, laughing and recording her on
their phones. The timestamp placed her there continuously during the
critical window of time, clearing her of direct involvement. Still,
her role in the story cemented Ethan's growing reputation among
both crew and passengers as the ship's lover boy. Our
tenders recalled seeing him flirting almost constantly, buying drinks for women,
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taking selfies, and disappearing into quiet corners of the ship.
Even after Megan and pressed he vanished, he was seen
chatting with other women, appearing strangely unconcerned. For investigators, Lauren
Simmons wasn't a suspect anymore, but she was a window
into Ethan's secret life, one that mixed charm, deceit, and betrayal.
(22:08):
Her testimony helped prove what Megan never knew that while
she was smiling for family photos and tucking her son
into bed, her new husband was already building a web
of lies that would soon come crashing down. By late
July twenty twenty three, after weeks of interviews, forensic testing,
and digital analysis. Investigators from the FBI and US Coast
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Guard had begun to piece together what really happened aboard
the Majestic Coraal. The evidence, financial, physical, and digital, all
pointed squarely to one man, Ethan Jensen, Megan's thirty eight
year old husband. Investigators discovered that just weeks before the wedding,
Ethan had secretly taken out a one point five million
dollars life insurance policy in Meghan's name, listing himself as
(22:52):
the sole beneficiary. The policy paperwork was found in a
folder in his home office in Houston, tucked between car
Loan documents. Megan's friends later said she had never mentioned
the policy and likely didn't even know it existed. At
the same time, Ethan's two car dealerships, Jensen Autodirect and
Gulf City Motors, were on the verge of colass. Financial
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records showed he was hundreds of thousands of dollars in
debt and under IRS investigation for falsifying sales records and
unpaid taxes. Bank statements revealed he had drained several accounts
in the days leading up to the crews, including one
of Megan's joint checking accounts. Witnesses aboard the ship recalled
that the night of June thirteenth, twenty twenty three, something
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seamed off about the Jensen's cabin. A neighboring passenger told
investigators she heard muffled shouting just after ten twenty p m,
followed by a loud thud against the wall. Another guest
staying two doors down, remembered hearing a man's voice saying,
just calm down, you're being dramatic. The sounds stopped soon after.
Based on security footage, card key data, and ship positioning,
(23:57):
investigators believe Ethan convinced Megan to step out on to
deck eleven for fresh air following their argument. The gulf
that night was windy and cold, the waves high and
dark beneath the ship's lights. Megan, who had discovered his
infidelities earlier that day, likely confronted him about the affairs, and,
according to messages recovered from her phone, threatened to annul
(24:19):
the marriage. Once they returned home. Agents now believed the
confrontation was the breaking point. Enraged and cornered, Ethan snapped.
The low three foot railing made it easy to push
someone off balance. Investigators concluded that Ethan shoved Megan overboard,
and moments later, in an effort to silence the only witness,
threw five year old press Her in after her. The
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ship's strong current and lack of an overboordler made recovery impossible.
By February twenty twenty four, after months of evidence review
and witness corroboration, the FBI formally concluded that Ethan Jensen
was responsible for the debts of Megan and her son.
When agents arrived at his Houston home on March twelfth,
twenty twenty four, they found him wearing gym clothes watering
(25:03):
his lawn. When told he was under arrest for double homicide,
he looked stunned but said nothing. Inside his house, agents
found several expensive watches, a nearly empty bank account, and
a half packed suitcase. He was taken into custody without incident.
As news broke. Megan's parents in shreport, Louisiana wept with
(25:23):
relief and sorrow. She was kind and gentle, and she
didn't deserve this, her mother told reporters. The once charming
husband Megan thought would give her a second chance at happiness, had,
investigators say planned her death for money and ended the
life of her young son to hide it. By October
twenty twenty four, the case against Ethan Jensen had become
(25:44):
one of the most closely watched true crime stories in
the Gulf Coast. The disappearance of Megan and Prester Jensen,
a young mother and her five year old son, had
haunted the public for over a year. With no bodies,
no eye witnesses, and only fragments of digital evidence. The
question lingered would Ethan ever faced trial for murder. In
(26:05):
early October inside Federal court in Galveston, the atmosphere was tense.
Prosecutors had spent more than a year building what they
believed was a solid case based on financial motive, digital forensics,
and witness statements from passengers aboard the Majestic Coral. The
lead prosecutor, District Attorney Dana Kirkland, forty five, was known
for her calm but relentless courtroom style. She described Ethan
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as a man who saw his wife not his love,
but as a payout. Kirkland's case rested on several key points.
The one point five million dollars life insurance policy taken
out weeks before the wedding, Ethan's financial collapse and IRS
brought investigation and the digital trail linking him to multiple
women aboard the ship. She argued that the timeline of
(26:49):
the night, along with Megan's deleted photo and the blood
found on the railing, painted a clear picture of murder.
But in a pre trial hearing held on October tenth,
twenty two, twenty four, Ethan's defense team fought back hard.
His attorney, Richard Hamley fifty two, was a well known
Houston defense lawyer, sharp, experienced, and unflinchingly confident. Surrounded by
(27:11):
a team of private investigators and forensic consultants, Hamley stood
before the judge and called the government's case a fantasy
built on circumstantial evidence. He argued there was no physical
proof of death, no bodies, no eyewitness, no murder weapon,
and no definitive video of the crime. You can't prove
a man guilty of murder when you can't even prove
(27:32):
a murder happened, Hamley told the court. He also suggested
that Micon might have fallen or even chosen to disappear
with her son. The hearings stretched over several days, filled
with debates about digital evidence, chain of custody and the
reliability of witness memory. Despite months of preparation, prosecutors faced
a grim reality their case hinged on inferences not physical proof.
(27:56):
By October twenty three, twenty twenty four, in a stunning
district Attorney Kirkland announced that the federal murder charges were
being withdrawn. Standing outside the courthouse, she told reporters, without
the recovery of the victim's bodies, and with limited forensic evidence,
we cannot meet the burden of proof required for a conviction.
(28:16):
Ethan Jensen walked out of court that afternoon a freeman.
He smiled briefly but said nothing to the press. For
Macon's family, the decision was devastating. Her mother, Linda Rese,
spoke through tears, saying they're gone. Everyone knows they're gone,
but now we'll never see justice. Legal experts called the
case one of the most frustrating in recent memory, a
(28:38):
murder without bodies and a husband who, though accused, might
never stand trial again. As October turned to November, the
cruise ship tragedy faded from the headlines, leaving behind one
of the cruelest truths in criminal law. Sometimes without bodies,
there can be no justice. By October twenty twenty four,
after the withdrawal of charges against Ethan Jensen, life began
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to move in unexpected directions for those involved in the case.
Ethan quietly relocated to Beaumont, Texas, a small city about
ninety miles east of Houston. Friends and family of his
new life say he remarried within months, choosing a woman
from his social circle who kept a low public profile.
He opened a modest used car sales lot on the
outskirts of town and lived a largely private life, rarely
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speaking to the media. Despite his new beginnings, Ethan continued
to publicly maintain that Meghan had jumped off the cruise
ship voluntarily, a claim widely dismissed by investigators and the
public alike. Meanwhile, Laurence Simmons, the Dallas travel influencer who
had been tangentially involved in the case, returned to her
online career. By late twenty twenty four, she had resumed
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posting travel content, visiting beaches, resorts, and cruises across the Caribbean. However,
she carefully deleted all posts related to the Majestic Coral,
including photos and videos from June twenty twenty three, while
she continued her influence a way she rarely discussed the
crews publicly, only occasionally responding to inquiries about the incident
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by saying she wasn't involved and didn't know what happened.
Raja Joemyjib Javier, the Filipino cabin stewart, who had been
the first person investigators interviewed, returned home to Manila after
being cleared of suspicion. Though he resumed work in the
hospitality industry, the stigma of the rumors being the last
person to see Megan alive lingered. Colleagues said he remained
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polite but quiet, avoiding crowded tourist areas and refusing interviews.
He's haunted by the gossip, one former coworker said, noting
that the nickname Numa had followed him for months, a
reminder of the false accusations that nearly overshadowed his life.
On the law enforcement side, FBI Special Agent Marcy Holland
continued to work on cold cases for another year, but
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eventually retired in twenty twenty five. She later admitted that
the Jensen case never left her dreams, describing it as
one of the most haunting investigatortions of her career. Her partner,
coast Guard investigator Dan Rourk, remained active in maritime safety enforcement,
advocating for better overboard monitoring systems. After the tragedy, Megan's parents,
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Linda and Robert Reees, channeled their grief into action. In
October twenty twenty four, they founded the Light Overboard Project,
a non profit organization pushing for improved surveillance cameras and
monitoring systems on cruise ships. Their goal was to prevent
other families from enduring the same uncertainty and heartbreak. The
organization also provides support for families whose loved ones vanish
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at sea, offering counseling and legal guidance. Despite the passage
of time, Megan and Prester Jensen's bodies have never been recovered,
leaving a lingering void in the hearts of their family
and friends. Cruise ships continue to operate in the Gulf,
unaware of the tragedy that unfolded aboard the Majestic Coral.
For those who knew Megan and Prestor, the case remains
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a somber reminder of how quickly a dream vacation can
turn into a lasting nightmare, and how the shadow of
loss can endure long after the public spot like fades.
A honeymoon meant to celebrate love ended in betrayal, greed
and tragedy. On the open sea, where no one can
hear a scream, the truth can drift away as easily
as a waive. This has been true crime case files
This is True Crime case Files. In June twenty twenty three,
what was supposed to be a dream honeymoon became a
chilling mystery. On the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico,
a new Lavid mother and her five year old son
vanished without a trace aboard a luxury cruise ship bound
for Cosameo. Their cabin door was locked from the inside,
their belongings untouched, and the only person with more questions
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than answers was her new husband. This is the case
of Megan and Prester Jensen, the missing family of the
Majestic Coral. In July of twenty twenty three, Megan Jensen
born Megan Reese was living what seemed to be the
happiest moment of her life. She was thirty one years old,
a registered nurse from Shrepport, Louisiana, and the devoted mother
of a five year old boy named Prestor. At Saint
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Mary's Regional Hospital, where she worked in the pediatric wing,
coworkers said she was the kind of nurse who'd sing
to patience when they cried. She was bright, gentle, and
a little naive, the type to tip waiters forty dollars
no matter how the meal went, and to text apologies
for things that weren't even her fault. Megan had grown
up in a modest, middle class neighborhood in shripport. Her mother,
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Janis Reste, taught second grade and her father, Tom Brees,
was a retired firefighter. She attended Louisiana Tech University, where
she earned her nursing degree, often balancing classes, part time work,
and raising her young son after her first marriage ended
in twenty eighteen. Friends from college remembered her as kind
and hard working, the one who would bring soup when
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someone was sick and stay late to help study before exams.
By twenty twenty one, Megan's life had fallen into a
quiet routine, long shifts at the hospital, bedtime stories with Prester,
and coffee with her best friend, Carolyle's every Sunday afternoon.
Then that summer, she met Ethan Jensen, a thirty eight
year old car dealership owner from Houston, Texas, through a
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dating app. He was older, confident, and generous with compliments.
He sent flowers to her workplace, took her own weekend trips,
and took told her she deserved to be treated like
a queen. Their relationship moved fast. Within a year, Ethan
proposed during a beach trip to Deston, Florida, and in
June twenty twenty three, they married in a small backyard
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ceremony surrounded by family and friends. Megan wore a lace
gown and carried some flowers, her favorite. She told coworkers
she couldn't believe her luck. It feels like God finally
gave me a do over, she said. The couple's honeymoon
and aboard the Majestic Coral, a four thousand passenger cruise
ship sailing from Galveston, Texas to Cosmelo, Mexico, was supposed
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to be a dream come true. It was Megan's first
real vacation in years. She brought Prester along, wanting to
make it a family trip. Passengers later recalled seeing her
everywhere on the ship, at the pool, at the buffet,
and even at the pirate night deck show, always smiling,
always protective of her son. She posted pictures to Facebook
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of turquoise water and chocolate cake, captioned with hearts and
the words best time ever with my boys. Staff member
remembered her as polite and soft spoken, thanking them for
every small thing. But on the fourth night of the cruise,
that picture of happiness broke apart. Megan and Prester vanished.
Their cabin door was locked from the inside. Her phone, wallet,
and ID were neatly stacked on the vanity. There were
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no witnesses and no signs of a struggle. The woman
who had spent her life caring for others and the
little boy she adored were suddenly gone. On the morning
of June fourteenth, twenty twenty three, at seven forty five am,
the Majestic Coral was sailing smoothly through the Gulf of Mexico,
about sixty miles off the coast of Galveston, Texas. The
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sun had just come up and passengers were beginning to
fill the breakfast buffet. Housekeeping supervisor Anna Morales, a forty
four year old crew member from Honduras, noticed something odd.
Cabin eleven thousand, two hundred and eight, assigned to the
Jensen family still had its do not disturb sign hanging
on a handle. It had not been service since the
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previous evening. Knock three times and called out housekeeping. There
was no answer. She waited, then tried again. When she
used her master key, she found the door locked from
the inside, which was unusual for that hour. She radioed
ship security, thinking perhaps the family had overslept. When two
security officers arrived and opened the door, what they found
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made the hair stand up on the back of Anna's neck.
The room was spotless, the beds neatly made, folded, clothes
stacked on the chair, and Meghan's phone, wallet and ID
placed in a careful pile on the vanity. There was
no sign of a struggle, no spilled drinks, no scattered belongings.
He conpressed. HER's favorite stuffed dinosaur sat untouched on the pillow,
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but Meghan and her five year old son were nowhere
to be found. The ship's security team quickly checked passenger
logs and key card data, confirming that neither Meghan nor
Prester had re entered the cabin after ten thirty pm
the night before. Officers reviewed hallway footage and found a
short video showing Meghan and her son walking hand in
hand along eleven's promenade at ten forty three pm. Both
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appeared calm. Seconds later, the camera feed glitched, turning to
static for eight full seconds. When the image returned, they
were gone. No man overboard alarm had sounded overnight no
one had reported screams, splashes, or distress calls. The Gulf
waters that night were dark and choppy, with wind gusts
up to twenty miles per hour. If someone had gone overboard,
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it was unlikely anyone would have seen or heard it.
When news of the disappearance spread among passengers, panic and
speculation took over. Rumors flew faster than official updates. Some
claimed Megan had run away with another man, while others
said she jumped overboard in despair. On social media, strangers
who never met her began posting wild theories. One post
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on TikTok, with over two hundred thousand views, claimed the
sharks had eten Meghan and her son after they fell
from the ship. Another viral Facebook comment accused the crew's
company of covering up an abduction, saying the pair had
been kidnapped by Mexican drug lords and enslaved on the mainland.
A third rumor insisted Megan had faked her own death
to escape a troubled marriage. None of these claims were true.
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By July, as the story spread nationwide, police in both
Texas and Louisiana were forced to investigate several people who
had spread these false rumors online, some of which had
harassed the Jensen and Rheese families directly. Authorities warned the
public to stop sharing unbverified and harmful speculation. Despite hundreds
of hours of searching in interviews with passengers and crew,
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no bodies were ever recovered. The Gulf currents in June
were fast and unforgiving. The Majestic Coral sailed on to Cosamel,
but for Megan and Little Prest there was no trace,
only a locked cabin, a vanished family, and a growing
mystery that gripped both the ship and the world beyond it.
When the Majestic Coral finally returned to Galveston, Texas, two
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days after the disappearance, the ship no longer felt like
a place of lead. The once bustling decks were quiet,
the pool closed, and families avoided Cabin eleven thousand, two
hundred and eight, where Megan and Prester Jensen had last
been seen. On June sixteen, twenty twenty three, federal agents
and Coast Guard officers boardered the ship to begin what
would become one of the most complex crewis investigations in
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recent memory. FBI Special Agent Marcy Holland, a forty two
year old investigator from Houston led the case. She had
handled missing person cases before, but said this one felt
different from the start. With her was Coast Guard investigator
Dan Rourke fifty, a quiet but seasoned officer known for
his attention to detail. Together, they started inside the Jensen's cabin.
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The room was unusually clean. The beds were made, clothes
folded neatly, and nothing seemed out of place. Megan's phone, wallet,
and ID were stacked carefully on the vanity, Prester's shoes
sat by the door, and his stuffed dinosaur lay on
the pillow. There was no blood on the sheets, no
overturned furniture, and no signs of a fight. But on
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the balcony railing, investigators noticed something faint, a small smudge,
and a droplet of blood later confirmed to belong to made.
Officers sealed the cabin with yellow tape and photographed every inch.
They used luminal spray to check for hidden traces of
blood and dusted for fingerprints. Magens were everywhere on the
bathroom sink, the closet, and balcony door. Ethan Jensen's prints
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were on the railing. Investigators reviewed the security footage frame
by frame. The final recording of Meghan and Prestor showed
them walking hand in hand along Deck elevens promenade it
ten forty three pm. The deck was dimly lit, lined
with lounge chairs and a metal railing that stood only
three feet high, unusually low for a modern cruise ship.
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Just before the camera feed glitch, a shadowy figure could
be seen following several paces behind them. Though their bodies
were never recovered, investigators believed Meghan and Prester were pushed
or thrown over board late that night. No midday signal
was sent, no splash was reported, and no passengers came
forward saying they had heard cries for help. The Gulf
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current that night was strong and cold, with winds gusting
above twenty miles per hour, recovery experts said would have
been impossible on shore, as fireworks from Galveston's Fourth of
July celebrations later filled the skies. That summer, the case
continued to draw national attention. What had begun as a
honeymoon had now become a mystery, with no bodies, no
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clear witnesses, and only a faint smear of blood on
a cruise ship balcony. The last physical trace of a
mother and son lost at sea. The first person investigators
questioned was Raja Junior jib Javier, a twenty seven year
old cabin steward from Manila, Philippines, assigned to the Deck
eleven hallway, where the Jensen suite was located. It was
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July of twenty twenty three, and by then the Majestic
Coral had already docked in Galveston, but whispers about Raja's
name were still spreading through the ship like wildfire. Raja
was known among the crew for his bright smile, quick jokes,
and easy charm. Other employees said he was charismatic, flirtatious,
and maybe too friendly with passengers. He was popular with guests,
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often remembered by kids for folding towel animals into the
shape of swans or elephants. His nickname on board was Jimujib's,
a playful Tagalog word that roughly meant he pooped a lot.
According to ship records, Roja was the last confirmed person
to see Megan Jensen alive. Around ten twenty pm on
the night of June thirteen, twenty twenty three. He delivered
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extra towels to Cabin eleven thousand, two hundred and eight,
after Megan had called housekeeping earlier in the evening. He
told investigators that Megan answered the door wearing a long
white T shirt and looked a little tired. Prester was
already asleep on the bed behind her. Raja said she
thanked him politely and smiled, but seemed sad, like something
was on her mind. After that short interaction, he said,
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he returned to the staff galley on deck four, where
he stayed cleaning for the rest of the shift. Security
logs later confirmed his key card access there between ten
thirty pm and midnight. Still, within hours of the disappearance,
rumors began to swirl. Several crew members claimed they had
seen Megan and Roja talking close in the corridor earlier
that afternoon, near the elevator. Some suggested she had confided
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in him about her marriage, or that the two had
been flirting. Others accused Raja of sneaking back into her
cabin that night. None of it was true. When the
FBI boarded the ship on June sixteenth, they brought rod
J in for questioning. He was nervous but cooperative, answering
every question through an interpreter. He insisted he had never
been alone with Megan and denied any inappropriate behavior. She
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was kind, he said, but sad, like she had something
heavy inside her. Agents searched his locker, phone, and uniform.
They found nothing linking him to the Jensens. No messages,
no photos, no evidence of a relationship. Polygraph testing later
supported his story, and witness corroboration from fellow crew members
confirmed he was in the galley during the time investigators
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believe Megan and Prester went missing. By early July, Raja
was officially cleared of any involvement, but for him, the
damage was already done. Words spread among the ship's one thousand,
two hundred staff members that he had been the last
one to see the lady. Some began calling him Nummu,
which means ghost, and tagalog, a cruel nickname that stuck
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for months. He eventually asked to be transferred to another cruise, rock,
saying the Majestic Coral no longer felt the same. I
didn't do anything wrong, he later told a reporter, but
everyone looked at me like I was haunted. For investigators,
clearing Raja meant turning their focus elsewhere to someone much
closer to Megan than any crew member had ever been.
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By early July of twenty twenty three, the focus of
the investigation had shifted to Bethan Jensen, Megan's thirty eight
year old husband. He was a well dressed man from
Houston who owned two used car dealerships, Jensen Autodirect in
Gulf City Motors. To friends and family, Ethan appeared successful
and confident, but investigators soon discovered a different picture. He
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had filed for bankruptcy in twenty twenty two, only a
year before marrying Megan, and had never told her about it.
Court documents showed unpaid loans, lawsuits from former employees, and
repossessions of luxury vehicles. When The Majestic Coral reported Megan
and her five year old son, Prester, missing, Ethan told
ship's security that his wife had been mentally unstable. He
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claimed Megan had talked about taking herself and pressed her
off this world, saying she had been crying and acting
strange before disappearing, But when investigators reviewed her text messages, journals,
and social media, they found no evidence of depression or
suicidal thoughts. Instead, her digital life was filled with plans,
screenshots of Disney World ticket packages, notes about Prest's kindergarten
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enrollment in shripport, and photos of the matching swimsuits she
bought for the cruise. Friends later said Megan had seemed
excited and full of energy in the weeks before the trip.
She had sent selfies from the ship's buffet deck and
videos of Presters splashing in the kiddie pool. One message
to a coworker read, it finally feels like my life
is turning around. Ethan's version of events changed multiple times.
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In his first interview with ship security, he said Megan
had walked out of the room after an argument about money. Later,
he claimed she'd gone to walk off her anxiety. Finally,
he told the FBI that she had jumped overboard in
a panic. His inconsistencies quickly raised red flags. When FBI
agents Marcy Holland and Dan Work examined the Jensen's cabin,
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they noticed the balcony looked freshly whited down, almost too clean.
Forensic testing later found tiny droplets of blood along the
outer railing, just below the hand dryst DNA confirmed it
belonged to Megan. Ethan's finger prints were also found on
the metal rail near where the droplets were located. Investigators
also noted a thin, fresh scratch on Ethan Dan's right forearm.
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When asked about it, he said it came from a
towel hook in the bathroom, but a forensic thethologist said
the shape and angle of the mark looked more like
a finger nail scratch, as if someone had grabbed him
during a struggle. As more details came out, Ethan's calm
demeanor began to crack. Witnesses from the crews remembered that
he appeared agitated and impatient. On the morning after Megan vanished,
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a bartender told investigators Ethan had ordered two bourbons before
nine a m. And muttered that she finally did it.
Back in Texas, Megan's friends and coworkers were outraged by
the suggestion that she had taken her own life. One
nurse described her as the kind of meurseud sing to
patience when they cried, not someone ready to give up.
By mid July, investigators were convinced that Ethan knew more
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than he was saying. With no bodies recovered, the case
remained classified as a suspicious disappearance, but in the eyes
of the public and increasingly the FBI, the Honeymoon's story
had begun to look a lot more like a cover up.
By August three, twenty twenty three, summer heat baked the
streets of Houston while the FBI's digital forensics lab buzzed
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with activity inside a windowless office. Analysts had been working
for weeks to recover deleted files from the phones and
cloud accounts belonging to Meghan and Ethan Jensen. That morning.
What they found would completely change the direction of the investigation.
The report revealed that Ethan Jensen, Megan's thirty eight year
old husband, had not only been hiding financial problems, he'd
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also been living a double life. Forensic data from his
phone showed that during the Gum Honeymoon cruise, Ethan had
been involved with at least five other women aboard the ship.
Some were passengers, others were crew members. Text messages showed flirtation,
late night meet ups, and explicit conversations that took place
while Meghan and her son, Prester were still alive and
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on board. But that was of the worst of it.
When agents seized Ethan's phone, they found a password protected
folder buried deep in the device's storage. Inside there were
dozens of short videos, secretly filmed clips of Megan walking
on deck, sitting by the pool, or brushing her hair
in their cabin. Some of the footage appeared to have
been recorded through the slightly open bathroom door or from
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the reflection of a mirror. Mixed among them were similar
clips of other women he'd met during the cruise, women
who were unaware they were being recorded. It was sickening,
said one federal source familiar with the case. It told
us everything we needed to know about control, about obsession,
and about what might have happened that night. At nearly
the same time, another forensic breakthrough came from Megan's Iclaudbaco
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analysts had recovered fragments of a deleted photo that appeared
to be a casual mirror selfie. In it, Meghan was smiling,
her hair pulled back, wearing a white T shirt, likely
taken inside their cabin on the night she vanished. But
in the background of the image, faintly visible in the reflection,
was Ethan's figure holding her phone as though he had
taken the photo himself, while pretending it was hers. Investigators
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were struck by the eerie image. It was like she
was there and not there at the same time. One
agent said she thought she was taking her own picture,
but he was controlling it. The discovery left no doubt
for the FBI this was no suicide and no accident.
The pattern of surveillance, manipulation, and infidelity pointed to something
far darker. Agents also learned that Ethan had deleted his
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location history and fitness tracker data from the night of
June thirteen, the same hours Megan and Prester disappeared. Ship
Wi Fi logs showed his phone had been offline for
more than ninety minutes, an intentional disconnection that coincided with
the gap in the ship's security footage. By the first
week of August, investigators had a new theory. Megan and
Prester had confronted Ethan that night, and whatever happened next
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was him an accident. In the heat of that Houston summer,
As the Majestic Coral continued its route through the Gulf,
the Jensen's Huntingmoon had become something else, entirely a crime story,
unraveling one secret at a time. By mid July twenty
twenty three, a new name had surfaced in the investigation.
Lauren Simmons, a thirty four year old travel influencer from Dallas,
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Texas with more than two hundred thousand Instagram followers. Lauren
was well known online for posting selfies from beaches, luxury hotels,
and cruise ships. Her bright hair, loub laugh, and constant
live streaming made her hard to miss on the Majestic Coral.
According to witnesses, Lauren first met Ethan Jensen at one
of the ship's cocktail bars, the Sea Breeze Lounge, on
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the second night of the cruise. She told reporters later
that she had just been looking for someone to talk
to and that Ethan seemed charming, like a guy on vacation,
not a husband. That chance meeting quickly escalated. By the
fourth night, multiple passengers reported seeing the two kissing on
the aft deck near the open air pool bar while
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music from the ship's Pirate Night party played in the background.
Lauren later admitted to the encounter, but insisted she didn't
know Ethan was married. He told me his wife was
seasick and staying in the room, she said during a
July interview with a Houston TV station. I swear if
I'd known, I would have walked away. I was just
having fun, that's all. However, when the FBI seized Ethan's fund,
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the story became even more complicated. Digital forensics revealed Ethan
had been messaging at least five different women during the cruise,
passengers and crew members alike. The messages were flirty, sometimes explicit,
and often sent late at night while Megan and Prester
were still on board. One recovered message sent the day
before Megan disappeared, read which I could throw my old
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life overboard and bleep you all day long. Another said
she's asleep you up. The timing of these messages, many
sent while Megan was still alive, painted a dark picture
of Ethan's state of mind in the days leading up
to her disappearance. Lauren became a key person of interest.
Investigators questioned her for more than four hours after the
ship docked in Galveston. I'd wearing sunglasses and a bright
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pink hoodie, appearing more irritated than scared. I didn't kill anyone,
she told agents bluntly, he lied to me, that's all
this is. Security footage later confirmed Laurin's alibi at the time,
Megan and prest vanished some time between ten thirty PM
and midnight, Lauren was seen in the ship's casino, dancing
on a table topless and visibly drunk. Dozens of other
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passengers appeared in the footage, laughing and recording her on
their phones. The timestamp placed her there continuously during the
critical window of time, clearing her of direct involvement. Still,
her role in the story cemented Ethan's growing reputation among
both crew and passengers as the ship's lover boy. Our
tenders recalled seeing him flirting almost constantly, buying drinks for women,
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taking selfies, and disappearing into quiet corners of the ship.
Even after Megan and pressed he vanished, he was seen
chatting with other women, appearing strangely unconcerned. For investigators, Lauren
Simmons wasn't a suspect anymore, but she was a window
into Ethan's secret life, one that mixed charm, deceit, and betrayal.
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Her testimony helped prove what Megan never knew that while
she was smiling for family photos and tucking her son
into bed, her new husband was already building a web
of lies that would soon come crashing down. By late
July twenty twenty three, after weeks of interviews, forensic testing,
and digital analysis. Investigators from the FBI and US Coast
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Guard had begun to piece together what really happened aboard
the Majestic Coraal. The evidence, financial, physical, and digital, all
pointed squarely to one man, Ethan Jensen, Megan's thirty eight
year old husband. Investigators discovered that just weeks before the wedding,
Ethan had secretly taken out a one point five million
dollars life insurance policy in Meghan's name, listing himself as
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the sole beneficiary. The policy paperwork was found in a
folder in his home office in Houston, tucked between car
Loan documents. Megan's friends later said she had never mentioned
the policy and likely didn't even know it existed. At
the same time, Ethan's two car dealerships, Jensen Autodirect and
Gulf City Motors, were on the verge of colass. Financial
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records showed he was hundreds of thousands of dollars in
debt and under IRS investigation for falsifying sales records and
unpaid taxes. Bank statements revealed he had drained several accounts
in the days leading up to the crews, including one
of Megan's joint checking accounts. Witnesses aboard the ship recalled
that the night of June thirteenth, twenty twenty three, something
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seamed off about the Jensen's cabin. A neighboring passenger told
investigators she heard muffled shouting just after ten twenty p m,
followed by a loud thud against the wall. Another guest
staying two doors down, remembered hearing a man's voice saying,
just calm down, you're being dramatic. The sounds stopped soon after.
Based on security footage, card key data, and ship positioning,
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investigators believe Ethan convinced Megan to step out on to
deck eleven for fresh air following their argument. The gulf
that night was windy and cold, the waves high and
dark beneath the ship's lights. Megan, who had discovered his
infidelities earlier that day, likely confronted him about the affairs, and,
according to messages recovered from her phone, threatened to annul
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the marriage. Once they returned home. Agents now believed the
confrontation was the breaking point. Enraged and cornered, Ethan snapped.
The low three foot railing made it easy to push
someone off balance. Investigators concluded that Ethan shoved Megan overboard,
and moments later, in an effort to silence the only witness,
threw five year old press Her in after her. The
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ship's strong current and lack of an overboordler made recovery impossible.
By February twenty twenty four, after months of evidence review
and witness corroboration, the FBI formally concluded that Ethan Jensen
was responsible for the debts of Megan and her son.
When agents arrived at his Houston home on March twelfth,
twenty twenty four, they found him wearing gym clothes watering
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his lawn. When told he was under arrest for double homicide,
he looked stunned but said nothing. Inside his house, agents
found several expensive watches, a nearly empty bank account, and
a half packed suitcase. He was taken into custody without incident.
As news broke. Megan's parents in shreport, Louisiana wept with
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relief and sorrow. She was kind and gentle, and she
didn't deserve this, her mother told reporters. The once charming
husband Megan thought would give her a second chance at happiness, had,
investigators say planned her death for money and ended the
life of her young son to hide it. By October
twenty twenty four, the case against Ethan Jensen had become
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one of the most closely watched true crime stories in
the Gulf Coast. The disappearance of Megan and Prester Jensen,
a young mother and her five year old son, had
haunted the public for over a year. With no bodies,
no eye witnesses, and only fragments of digital evidence. The
question lingered would Ethan ever faced trial for murder. In
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early October inside Federal court in Galveston, the atmosphere was tense.
Prosecutors had spent more than a year building what they
believed was a solid case based on financial motive, digital forensics,
and witness statements from passengers aboard the Majestic Coral. The
lead prosecutor, District Attorney Dana Kirkland, forty five, was known
for her calm but relentless courtroom style. She described Ethan
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as a man who saw his wife not his love,
but as a payout. Kirkland's case rested on several key points.
The one point five million dollars life insurance policy taken
out weeks before the wedding, Ethan's financial collapse and IRS
brought investigation and the digital trail linking him to multiple
women aboard the ship. She argued that the timeline of
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the night, along with Megan's deleted photo and the blood
found on the railing, painted a clear picture of murder.
But in a pre trial hearing held on October tenth,
twenty two, twenty four, Ethan's defense team fought back hard.
His attorney, Richard Hamley fifty two, was a well known
Houston defense lawyer, sharp, experienced, and unflinchingly confident. Surrounded by
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a team of private investigators and forensic consultants, Hamley stood
before the judge and called the government's case a fantasy
built on circumstantial evidence. He argued there was no physical
proof of death, no bodies, no eyewitness, no murder weapon,
and no definitive video of the crime. You can't prove
a man guilty of murder when you can't even prove
(27:32):
a murder happened, Hamley told the court. He also suggested
that Micon might have fallen or even chosen to disappear
with her son. The hearings stretched over several days, filled
with debates about digital evidence, chain of custody and the
reliability of witness memory. Despite months of preparation, prosecutors faced
a grim reality their case hinged on inferences not physical proof.
(27:56):
By October twenty three, twenty twenty four, in a stunning
district Attorney Kirkland announced that the federal murder charges were
being withdrawn. Standing outside the courthouse, she told reporters, without
the recovery of the victim's bodies, and with limited forensic evidence,
we cannot meet the burden of proof required for a conviction.
(28:16):
Ethan Jensen walked out of court that afternoon a freeman.
He smiled briefly but said nothing to the press. For
Macon's family, the decision was devastating. Her mother, Linda Rese,
spoke through tears, saying they're gone. Everyone knows they're gone,
but now we'll never see justice. Legal experts called the
case one of the most frustrating in recent memory, a
(28:38):
murder without bodies and a husband who, though accused, might
never stand trial again. As October turned to November, the
cruise ship tragedy faded from the headlines, leaving behind one
of the cruelest truths in criminal law. Sometimes without bodies,
there can be no justice. By October twenty twenty four,
after the withdrawal of charges against Ethan Jensen, life began
(29:01):
to move in unexpected directions for those involved in the case.
Ethan quietly relocated to Beaumont, Texas, a small city about
ninety miles east of Houston. Friends and family of his
new life say he remarried within months, choosing a woman
from his social circle who kept a low public profile.
He opened a modest used car sales lot on the
outskirts of town and lived a largely private life, rarely
(29:23):
speaking to the media. Despite his new beginnings, Ethan continued
to publicly maintain that Meghan had jumped off the cruise
ship voluntarily, a claim widely dismissed by investigators and the
public alike. Meanwhile, Laurence Simmons, the Dallas travel influencer who
had been tangentially involved in the case, returned to her
online career. By late twenty twenty four, she had resumed
(29:44):
posting travel content, visiting beaches, resorts, and cruises across the Caribbean. However,
she carefully deleted all posts related to the Majestic Coral,
including photos and videos from June twenty twenty three, while
she continued her influence a way she rarely discussed the
crews publicly, only occasionally responding to inquiries about the incident
(30:06):
by saying she wasn't involved and didn't know what happened.
Raja Joemyjib Javier, the Filipino cabin stewart, who had been
the first person investigators interviewed, returned home to Manila after
being cleared of suspicion. Though he resumed work in the
hospitality industry, the stigma of the rumors being the last
person to see Megan alive lingered. Colleagues said he remained
(30:28):
polite but quiet, avoiding crowded tourist areas and refusing interviews.
He's haunted by the gossip, one former coworker said, noting
that the nickname Numa had followed him for months, a
reminder of the false accusations that nearly overshadowed his life.
On the law enforcement side, FBI Special Agent Marcy Holland
continued to work on cold cases for another year, but
(30:50):
eventually retired in twenty twenty five. She later admitted that
the Jensen case never left her dreams, describing it as
one of the most haunting investigatortions of her career. Her partner,
coast Guard investigator Dan Rourk, remained active in maritime safety enforcement,
advocating for better overboard monitoring systems. After the tragedy, Megan's parents,
(31:12):
Linda and Robert Reees, channeled their grief into action. In
October twenty twenty four, they founded the Light Overboard Project,
a non profit organization pushing for improved surveillance cameras and
monitoring systems on cruise ships. Their goal was to prevent
other families from enduring the same uncertainty and heartbreak. The
organization also provides support for families whose loved ones vanish
(31:34):
at sea, offering counseling and legal guidance. Despite the passage
of time, Megan and Prester Jensen's bodies have never been recovered,
leaving a lingering void in the hearts of their family
and friends. Cruise ships continue to operate in the Gulf,
unaware of the tragedy that unfolded aboard the Majestic Coral.
For those who knew Megan and Prestor, the case remains
(31:54):
a somber reminder of how quickly a dream vacation can
turn into a lasting nightmare, and how the shadow of
loss can endure long after the public spot like fades.
A honeymoon meant to celebrate love ended in betrayal, greed
and tragedy. On the open sea, where no one can
hear a scream, the truth can drift away as easily
as a waive. This has been true crime case files
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