One year after woman’s disappearance from cruise ship, family still has no answers

On the day Fariba Amani left for a Caribbean cruise, she told her sister Saloumeh she’d see her soon.

“I love you, sister joon,” she texted, calling Saloumeh an endearment in Farsi. “Take care. See you when I get back.”

But Amani, 47, never returned home. And today – almost a year after her mysterious disappearance aboard the MS Bahamas Celebration – her heartbroken family is nowhere near finding answers.

“It’s been really hard,” said Saloumeh, 28, who lives in Maple Ridge.

“It was a shock, and there is still no conclusion. There’s no closure, only questions and mystery.”

Amani was reported missing Feb. 29 by her boyfriend Ramiz Golshani, 46, after the ship docked in Florida after a four-night stay in the Bahamas.

Golshani had told FBI he last saw Amani near a gift store around 1 a.m. He said he went to the casino, then to bed.

He notified crew the next morning when he saw she did not return to their cabin.

The U.S. Coast Guard conducted a search of the waters, but found no trace of the Port Moody esthetician.

Since then, the Amani family, who also filed a missing persons report with local police, has heard little about any progress in the case.

Saloumeh said she had been assured by authorities the investigation is still open and active. A few months ago, some of Amani’s belongings left behind on the ship were returned to the family.

FBI spokesman Jim Marshall told The Province there are no updates in the investigation.

In the days after Amani was reported missing, her family had suggested Golshani might know more than he was letting on, but Saloumeh stressed they are not pointing blame at Golshani, whom Amani had been dating for eight months but had never introduced to her family.

“We are just looking for the truth, for some answers,” she said.

Saloumeh said Golshani had never gotten in touch with them.

The Province called Golshani’s mobile phone but was told by a man claiming to be Golshani’s brother-in-law that he was away on a trip and unreachable.

Saloumeh suspects foul play. She said her sister had no reason to leave her family, including her two adult children. She is not a big drinker, making it unlikely she accidentally fall overboard.

“It does not sound like a plausible story to me,” she said. “I think something is definitely wrong.”

Her disappearance weighs on the family and everyone who loves her.

“It’s become a burden emotionally, and financially, a nightmare, because you can’t do anything on her behalf,” said Saloumeh.

“Everything is just on hold pretty much.”

She asked anyone who came into contact with Amani aboard the ship or on the trip to contact authorities.