Search halted for missing cruise traveler in Gulf of Mexico

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended its search for a cruise ship passenger who jumped from her balcony into the sea and is missing in the Gulf of Mexico. An airplane had been conducting search patterns, but Coast Guard officials said Thursday night that the search had been called off. The Coast Guard received a called Wednesday afternoon that a 32-year-old woman had fallen overboard from the Carnival Valor cruise ship about 150 miles from Southwest Pass, Louisiana. A spokesman for Carnival Cruise Line said the woman had jumped from her balcony. The ship arrived at its home port of New Orleans on Thursday morning after a cruise to Mexico.