The Memphis Police Department announced the identification of a deceased young woman, found after she went missing after her birthday celebration on a riverboat cruise on September 9, 2023.
Tamia Taylor, who was celebrating turning 21 with her friends in Memphis, boarded the Island Queen Booze Cruise around 11:30 p.m.
Upon the boat’s arrival back to the dock, Taylor’s friends could not find her anywhere. Taylor’s mother, after unsuccessful attempts to reach her daughter via phone, decided to travel to Memphis herself and registered a missing person report.
Later, the police department, in collaboration with the Crittenden County Sheriff’s Department, identified a body found on the Arkansas side of Mississippi River on September 23 as Taylor’s. Media outlets in the locality, reporting on the Crittenden County coroner’s findings, announced that Taylor had passed away due to drowning.
However, the events that led to Taylor being in the water are still not clear. Before the discovery of her body, Memphis Riverboats released a statement with no suggestions that Taylor could have fallen off their vessel.
In affirmation of their statement, they said, “We can confirm from video footage that she was last seen as the vessel approached the harbor, where we dock.” The investigation into the circumstances of Taylor’s death through drowning is still ongoing.
