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Houston woman lost in Alaskan waters after going overboard from cruise ship

Selena Pau Pres, 40, fell overboard from the Celebrity Solstice cruise ship on Tuesday in Lynn Canal, approximately 20 miles west of Juneau.

JUNEAU, Alaska — The search for a woman from Houston has been suspended in Alaskan waters four days after she went overboard from a cruise ship, authorities said.

Selena Pau Pres, 40, fell from the Celebrity Solstice on Tuesday in Lynn Canal, approximately 20 miles northwest of Juneau, according to the U.S.Coast Guard.

"Despite our best efforts to locate the individual, it is with heavy hearts that we make the decision to suspend the search," said Coast Guard Lt.j.g. Trevor Layman, a Sector Juneau Command Center duty officer, said in a statement. "The decision to suspend active searching is based on a number of factors including weather, sea state, water temperature and other variables." 

Pres fell overboard around 3 a.m. Tuesday as the ship was near Eldred Rock, the ship's captain told authorities.

Crews covered 68 square nautical miles and more than nine hours of searching before stopping their efforts, officials said.

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The Alaska State Troopers' Alaska Bureau of Investigation is conducting a death investigation related to the incident.

The air temperature in Juneau was 51 degrees on Tuesday afternoon, and the National Weather Service said the water temperature was 41 degrees, the Associated Press reported.

KHOU has reached out to Celebrity Cruises, the ship's operator, for comment.

The area where Pres fell is known as the Inside Passage, a historic north and south route that cruise ships and Alaska state ferries follow through the waters of southeast Alaska and British Columbia.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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