Another video has emerged showing the moments leading up to the death of 18-month-old Chloe Wiegand, who fell from a Royal Caribbean ship in America.
The footage shows Chloe’s grandfather, Salvatore Anello, facing up to three years in a Puerto Rican prison for negligent homicide, moments before she fell.
While it is not high quality, it appears to show a figure leaning from the window of Freedom of the Seas. Royal Caribbean maintains in court documents Mr Anello knew the window was closed and was “reckless and irresponsible”.
Mr Anello was travelling with his family on a cruise aboard Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas in San Juan, Puerto Rico on July 7 when the incident occurred.
He claims he sat his granddaughter on the railing of what he thought was an open window while the family were in the outdoor dining area.
Every other window was shut. But the one he sat Chloe in front of was open.
Chloe’s family blame the cruise line and say the window should never have been open. They maintained Mr Anello was playing a game when she slipped from his arms and fell out of the window, tumbling 45 metres onto a concrete pier.
The family also claims that the cruise line is denying them access to footage from 11 out of the 13 cameras, that could clear Mr Anello.
Last week, investigators for the Wiegand family boarded Freedom of the Seas to gather new evidence from the spot where Chloe plunged to her death.
Michael Winkleman, the attorney for the family told DailyMail.com that his team were ‘stunned’ to find 13 different cameras overlooking the area despite Royal Caribbean handing over clips from just two cameras.
The fact-finding mission came after Royal Caribbean notified the Wiegand family that they were about to refurbish the splash pool area where Chloe fell.
The couple sought an emergency order to stop the company destroying ‘critical evidence’ but withdrew it after Royal agreed to an unsupervised site inspection when the ship was docked last week in Barbados.
Mr Winkleman said the findings will be used to counter the January 15 Motion to Dismiss.
“It is clear that Royal Caribbean’s tactic is to blame Chloe’s grandfather rather than to accept that Royal Caribbean did not implement industry standards for toddler safety aboard its ships which ultimately led to Chloe’s tragic death,” he told DailyMail.com in an exclusive statement.
“Royal Caribbean has premised its defence in this case and its blame on Chloe’s grandfather by supplying two deceptive views from its CCTV cameras to the court and the Puerto Rico authorities.
“However, the Plaintiffs were first permitted a vessel inspection of the scene of the incident on January 10 – less than a week after Royal Caribbean first informed the Wiegands that they are making modifications to the ship that will destroy the subject area where the incident occurred.
”That inspection has revealed that Royal Caribbean’s Motion to Dismiss neglects to tell the Court and, presumably, the authorities that there were no less than thirteen CCTV video cameras in the area of the incident.”
Mr Winkleman said Chloe’s parents, police officer Alan and his attorney wife Kimberly will now ask the Southern District of Florida US District Court to compel Royal Caribbean to produce videos from all 13 cameras.
Last week, Royal Caribbean filed new court documents which allege that Mr Anello was ‘unquestionably’ aware that he was dangling the toddler out of an open window before she plunged to her death from the 11th storey.
“After months of bearing false and inaccurate accusations, from the Wiegands’ attorneys through the press, RCL now faces the legally mandated task of responding to a lawsuit the Wiegands’ attorneys did not file in good faith,” the court documents say.
“This is not a case of an unknowing child approaching an open window and falling out because the window was defective or improperly positioned.
“Rather, this is a case about an adult man, Chloe’s step grandfather who, as surveillance footage unquestionably confirms: (1) walked up to a window he was aware was open; (2) leaned his upper body out the window for several seconds; (3) reached down and picked up Chloe; and (4) then held her by and out of the open window for thirty four seconds before he lost his grip and dropped Chloe out of the window.
“His actions, which no reasonable person could have foreseen, were reckless and irresponsible and the sole reason why Chloe is no longer with her parents.”
A spokeswoman for Royal Caribbean told the DailyMail.com: “The death of Chloe Wiegand is undeniably a heartbreaking tragedy that has prompted a criminal prosecution of Chloe’s step-grandfather and a civil lawsuit brought by the Wiegand family attorneys.
“Our position in the matter is outlined in our Motion to Dismiss, which we were legally mandated to do in response to the civil complaint. The motion was filed in Federal Court in South Florida and is available to the public.”
Let’s all remember that a precious and most beautiful little girl lost her life here; can we please stop the blame game until such time as all the videos are release whereas a true picture of the crime scene can be determined.
The grandfather is a druck! Parents should have known better than to entrust him, while they frolicked with the wealthy to make impressions! The liner should not be held accountable for anything! Do they have a sign at the pool, DROP CHILDREN HERE? The parents should are accountable. My opinion.
Hard to believe that the lawyer for the family said that the window was so far away that the grandfather’s head could not reach it. If there was that much distance, wouldn’t she have fallen inside the ship?
It certainly took them awhile to think up the story of “I didn’t know the window was open”. I thought the first thing he said was ” I dropped my baby”. Of course with his daughter being an attorney and her husband a policeman, they told him not to say anything in the beginning.
Even if the window was closed and he let his granddaughter bang on it…..it certainly is wrong, this glass is not the same as the glass at a hockey rink where pucks can’t go through it. And even that is stupid to teach a child to do. What if she banged on the glass and cut her hand off or lost the ability to use her hand…whose fault would that be?
I feel sorry for the family to lose their daughter and I’m sure the grandfather is grieving that it is his fault, but he was reckless.
Every accident that happens, someone is held responsible and they are taken to court for justice. This is no different.
I Do Notttt think the Step GrandFather should of lifted that baby up and leaned over and out that window ATTT ALLLL !!!
When you think about It , Chloe would STILLL be ALIVEEE If her Step GrandFather had NOTTT of did that . He ISSS SOME OF THE BLAME . I’M SUREEE IT WAS AN ACCIDENT , But he will have to be PUNISHED the rest of his life , because he will think about what he did EVERYFAY OF HIS LIFE !!! He does not DESERVE to go to Jail though . My Prayers go out to ALLL THE FAMILY MEMBERS . RIP Beautiful Chloe !!!
Wish I could see video to confirm with my own eyes what happened. It’s hard to make a decision just by hearsay.
Amazing to me, how people can have completely opposite views on the same situation. It is CLEARLY the grandfather’s fault, to see its y other way, is absurd. It is NOT a child’s play area. I’ve been on that ship. There is no way, he thought the window was closed. That’s ridiculous. It is tragic, but not the cruise lines fault. PERIOD.
Sickening that the parents want to sue RC just to divert guilt from a reckless grandfather and their own lack of supervision of their child.
You are responsible for the safety and wellbeing of your child.
Not the cruise line.
Hang your heads in shame.
I think both at fault the cruise line need to have all open windows out of reach and painted in yellow frame
And the grand father should have Ben more careful
I Ben on the royal cruise line twice and these open windows are very scary it’s hard to tell sometimes that there open in less you feel the wind or come close enough
The grand father did not know for sure there we’re open we he leaned on the rail its sticking out about a foot so he could easily thought there is no windows open especially at that height
I pray for the family and the grand father
Royal Caribbean need to make sure all windows are high and out of reach with more signs on the windows or have bars on them or even motion sensor to advise people of ope windows
Sry I should have finished with this comment I see people trying to blame Royal Caribbean but the fact of the matter it wasn’t an employee that picked up the girl and sat her or leaned her out the window it was the grandfather that it happen to, I believe that no employee would have agreed to let that little girl sit on the railing
The grandfather is at fault, we can go back and forth about this very sad situation but I have looked at this video on a big screen monitor and it shows him leaning out the window come back in picked up the girl and put her either on the railing or out the window and lean forward even more, the bottom line to this is that no body on their right mind would hang or sit a little child out of an open window in an apartment building let alone a ship, I’ve been on Royal Caribbean ships where there have been windows open and no would hang there child out the window, that child would have never fallen if the grandfather would have not picked her up the railing is at a standard height to prevent even 5 year old kids from fall, my prayers to the family because nobody wants to blame a family member but this is a case of negligence on behave of the grandfather
I totally agree with Violet G. in this matter and unfortunately this child is dead due to the negligence of the grandfather and not the cruise line. Why he even chose to pick her up and place her in harm’s way 11 stories up is very beyond me. As a parent our children are our responsibility not others. Stop placing the blame elsewhere and take the punishment.
The grandfather is at fault. If he is color blind and can’t determine if a window is open or closed, then he shouldn’t be in care of a 2 year old. He actually lifted her up over the safety railing, and if his defense is to let her bang on a glass window , then that shows how stupid he is, glass breaks Grandpop. I guess he can’t tell the difference from a hockey rink and a cruise ship because he Is color blind. I’ve been on cruise ships like this and it’s absolutely safe if you’re not an idiot. The family wants to get money for their daughters death to make them whole again. Please don’t take windows that open on a cruise ship because this family wants to win a lawsuit.
Greedy parents and lawyers. Even if he lifted the child to bang on the window, it’s only common sense to hold on to her while she bangs which means he let go of her. The railing is at least 18 inches from the actual window so grandpa is negligent and guilty as hell.
I’ve been on that ship twice and the child could not get up to the window unless she was lifted. This is a clear case of greediness by both parents and lawyers.
It has been said that he lifted her up so she could beat in the glass like she did at her brother’s hockey games. That wall is windows from top to bottom. The bottom windows do not open. Only the windows over the wooden rail open. Why did he even lift her up? She could have beat on the windows at the bottom and seen out good enough. I can’t tell 100% whether he leaned out the window, but from the videos released it does appear that way. It was a terrible accident and one he will have to live with for the rest of his life. It does appear to be the grandfather’s fault. I don’t really see how the cruise line is at fault.
Totally agree with your comment Svetlana! I am a Mother of 3, a Grandmother of 5 and I have been a paid Nanny for 10 years. I have never seen a play area like that, all I can see are adults and what looks like a bar with high stools. I also waited for his scream and other people reacting, but nothing! You could not see him clearly or the child at the window at all and he seems to lean right forward. It’s all very strange.
It is obvious who is at fault grandfather dangilng her out off window
Cruised with royal Caribbean last August, pointed out to my husband 2 open windows with railings under that any child could have climbed up to get to the window. Negligence at its best
Cruise was Hong Kong- Japan, very humid passengers were opening windows trying to get a breeze.
Royal Caribbean need to ensure these windows WONT OPEN
My heart goes out to this family. However, they need to accept the fact that this child died because of the actions of her grandfather. There was no need to lift the child up as she could have easily stayed on the ground to look out /bang the lower window. How wise is it to even let your child bang on glass, really? This lawyer makes me sick. He is exploiting a grieving family because he sees big money in his future. The parents and grandfather need to accept how this happened, drop the ridiculous lawsuit, get out of the public eye, and take some time to heal. I think they persist in hopes that Royal Caribbean will settle just to make them go away. However, the money is not going to bring Chloe back or change the culpability of her grandfather.
It’s not Royal Caribbean Cruise fault. I can see vedio grandfather walking with toddler and he walk up to window he knows the window is open and pick his granddaughter up and sit on with window open! It’s very dangerous! Read Royal Caribbean Cruise rules said don’t sit on outside window is open,balcony it’s dangerous.
It’s horrible but not Royal Caribbean fault. I have been on their cruises and it would be pretty hard for a child to fall out a window. The grandfather is at fault and he has to live with that.
Not really cece. It’s not readily visible to those inside, both due to furniture and the superstructure of the ship, as well as the window and the grandfather himself is blocking the direct view of those inside.
Plus that they’re concentrated on their own enjoyment rather than just staring at one specific individual amongst many.
I believe this video also stops right at the incident occurring so you don’t even see him come back in after dropping her, nor the subsequent actions/reactions.
Agreed Violet.
All the family are doing is deflection. The death neither occurred because of something Royal Caribbean did, not something the child did on their own that RCL could control.
It happened due to one thing, the actions of the grandfather. Everything else is deflection – which it’s odd some are buying into. And that they are deflecting only makes things worse. In a supposed tragedy you don’t set about looking to blame and disregard any culplability you may have. By refusing to discuss and acknowledge shows that it is for more nefarious purposes.
whether they have 2 or 13 views of this, it is clear he leans out the window, then picks up the child and leans her out the window and she falls. If you pick a child up and sit/ lean them on a safety handrail then you have gone beyond the safety precautions set in place by a cruise line. These safety measures are put there for the boat to be certified for sea worthiness and passenger safety. When adults step over safety barriers on cruise ships and post photos to get likes the cruise ships ban them for life. This grand father has put the grand daughter OVER the safety barrier; there is no defending that fact. You cant use the excuse by telling people they know nothing about this case to be able to comment on. The film tells the story.
I think it is so weird that no one noticed, at least from what I can see, that she fell out. The grandpa seems to just stand there looking out, not yelling or anything because no one else in the video reacts to what is happening. One story said he held her up there /she fell for 34 seconds so you’d think chaos who have happened Immediately.
The child is dead because the step grandfather was absolutely guilty of hanging the child out of the window & for some unknown reason let go of her. If she was my daughter or granddaughter she would have been with me & I wouldn’t have let her out of my sight.
Agreed Donna. None of us know what happened but it seems very strange that footage from only two of thirteen cameras have been presented by Royal Caribbean. In the footage we do see though that when that poor child actually does fall, the grandfathers body leans much further out the window which makes me think that perhaps he was just leaning to a certain point to be able to see out the window he thought was closed.
Donna, you give Svetlana a hard time for commenting on a case “she knows nothing about” but then go on to share your opinion on a case you know nothing about.
And to say the little girl is dead BECAUSE of the cruise line is categorically untrue.
The little girl is dead because an adult lifted her up and over a safety railing. He completely circumvented the safety measures and put her life at risk. He knew he was on the 11th floor, he knew railings are there to stop people falling out, but he decided he knew better than Royal Caribbean, he thought it was ok for him to break the rules.
There was absolutely NO REASON to lift her over that railing. She could’ve easily banged on the glass whilst standing on the ground.
Millions of people and their children tRavel on cruises every year yet this is the only time this has happened.
It’s absolutely heart breaking and I truly feel for the family. However it is clearly not the fault of the cruise line in this case. If she banged on a lower pane of glass and it fell out leading to her fall, or if she was able to access an open window on her own… but the action that caused this tragedy, plain and simple, was him lifting her over the safety railing. It wasn’t installed there for decoration!
Svetlana how dare you comment on an incident that you know nothing about. Big money Royal Caribbean is clearly tainting the public perception of how this accident occurred and you should be ashamed of yourself as this precious child is dead because of this cruise line.
1. The family said this was in a “child’s play area.” That does not look like a child’s play area. That’s looks like a lounge with a bar.
2. He clearly LEANS OUT, and then LIFTS HER UP AND OUT of the window.
3. If it’s “impossible” for a grown man to lean out of the window, how on earth can a mere child “fall” from it?
It makes no sense.
Or it does. Unfortunately, the mother is not also charged, for using her dead daughter as a cash payout! After seeing this, I think the mother and father are EVEN WORSE than the reckless, thoughtless grandfather.
This is absolutely disgusting. By all means, sue for the release of the other camera footage. It will only support the cruise line and expose these greedy parents for who and what they are!