The sudden and mysterious death of a young crew member aboard Disney cruise ship has left her family and friends searching for answers. Gessica Disertore, a 27-year-old pastry chef from Italy, was on her first contract when tragedy struck on September 27, 2023. Her roommate found her lifeless body hanging in their cabin—a scene ruled a suicide by U.S. authorities. However, numerous inconsistencies raise serious doubts about the circumstances of her death.
Gessica was known for her joy, ambition, and determination. Her family remembers her excitement about her new job on cruise ship and future plans, including opening a pastry shop and reuniting with loved ones. They find it hard to believe she would take her own life.
Her family was denied the chance to see Gessica's body initially and were later shown a photograph instead. When they finally saw her, her body had been embalmed without consent, potentially contaminating vital evidence. Crucial details, including security footage and interviews with those who last saw her, remain elusive. The authorities’ reluctance to share key information has only deepened the family’s grief and mistrust.
The Italian investigation revealed troubling inconsistencies. The belt supposedly used in the hanging was found neatly folded on a table. The cabin, unusually tidy for Gessica, seemed staged. Her body bore bruises, a split lip, and marks suggesting a struggle, raising suspicions of foul play.
Gessica's Family Speaks Out
This shocking tragedy and the inconsistencies to the death surrounding this case were revealed recently by the Italian media without revealing the name of the Disney cruise ship.
Fanpage.it made an interview Gessica’s parents who told their story.
Here's the Interview on Rai 1 with Gessica's father Michele, and her mother Patrizia.
Bellow is the interview published on Fanpage.it. On this site you can read several articles regarding this tragedy and the current investigation.
On September 27, 2023, Gessica's father, Michele, was contacted by a member of the ship's staff who told him that his daughter had been found lifeless in her cabin. Michele thought it was a joke and hung up. He was then contacted again and, with the help of Gessica's brother, who translated from English for the parents what he was told, the family discovered that the girl had been found hanged with a belt around her neck,” he continued.
From this moment on, the story sinks into a series of investigative contradictions and omissions on the part of those who may have seen Gessica alive for the last time the night before.
The family members are told to go to Puerto Rico to identify the body or to delegate someone for the operation. Obviously, the family refuses this option. The family wanted, for one last time, to see their daughter and sister.
A few days later, the family arrives in San Juan and head to the Forensic Medicine Center, where they are not shown their daughter's body but only a photograph. In the image they see swelling, bruises and blood on Gessica's face .
The father explicitly asks that Gessica's body not disturbed because he wanted to see his daughter as in the photo. But the next day the family finds her carefully arranged, dressed and "embalmed". "Furthermore, no material was provided and, at the same time, the evidence was partly contaminated because, not only did they perform a first autopsy without consent, but they also embalmed the body", specifies Candiano.
The body was re-examined in Italy about a month later, in October 2023, (the autopsy ordered by the Prosecutor's Office was performed.
The conclusions highlight how the cause of death is "a primitive , mechanical and violent asphyxia to be attributed to a probable suicidal or accidental event . The toxicological examination is negative in all aspects". And it is precisely in the autopsy conclusions that reference is also made to a possible contamination of the results due to the treatment used on the body during and after the first autopsy performed in Puerto Rico.
As confirmed by the family, the photographs of the cabin in which Gessica was found are not faithful to the reconstruction made by the investigators. According to what was said by the US authorities, the 27-year-old would have taken her life by tightening a leather belt around her neck after having tied it to the wardrobe.
The belt, however, was photographed folded on the table in the room that the girl shared with her roommate. On the garment, which from the shots seen by the family members appears to be new, there are no visible signs of wear or traction. Even the chair that the 27-year-old would have used to let herself go was photographed duly put away and the glasses that the young woman was wearing were immortalized folded and neatly placed on the bedside table. A habit that the 27-year-old, found in her underwear, had never had.
Also important is the testimony of Gessica's family. Her brother, Luigi Disertore, told Fanpage.it that the night before she died, Gessica went out for a visit in San Juan with her colleagues.
"We were in contact all the time," her mother said. "The night before she died, her brother had heard her, she was out with his friends. Then the next day they called us and said they had found her body . But it's not possible, my daughter had such a desire to live. Even her colleagues, continue to send us messages and tell us that she was happy and got along with everyone."
"I want to know the truth, I demand the truth . We had made many plans, she wanted to open a small pastry shop here, at home, she made many sacrifices and wanted to come back to us, " explains her mother.
Italian media, including Rai 1 and Fanpage.it, have covered the case extensively.
A Facebook page, “BRING CLARITY AND JUSTICE FOR GESSICA,” has been created to share updates and raise awareness.
To honor Gessica’s memory, her family urges the public to amplify their call for justice. Only through persistence and public awareness the truth can be uncovered and those responsible, if any, held accountable.
