The owner of Tiffany's jewelry empire in Turkey has reportedly fallen to her death from a cruise ship.
Per local reports, Dilek Ertek, 71, plunged into the sea off the coast of Tahiti while on holiday. Despite a desperate manhunt, her body was not recovered.
She was traveling with her 74-year-old Swiss boyfriend at the time of the fatal incident.
Ertek opened Istanbul's first Tiffany and Co shop in 1995. Since then, she has been the jewelry brand's supplier in Turkey.
According to the Hurriyet Daily News, Ertek's boyfriend - who has not been named in reports - originally came under suspicion because he did not report his partner missing until 20 hours after she fell overboard.
Surveillance footage shows Ertek toppling into the sea at 3:00AM on October 26 after boarding the Norwegian Spirit cruise ship on October 24. She was not reported missing until late the following day.
When the ship docked in Tahiti three days later, Ertek's boyfriend was named the prime suspect in the case and questioned by police. The crew had reportedly kept him under close observation during their journey to the port at Papeete.
However, he was later released without charge due to a lack of evidence in the case and allowed to return to Switzerland, per a report by Metro.
Meanwhile, Ertek's son Gokce Atuk has claimed that jewelry has gone missing from his mother's safe in her cabin. Several high-value jewels were not among the possessions that the crew delivered to Atuk after his mother's death.
Ertek's family are reportedly taking legal action against the operator of the cruise ship as investigations continue into how the business magnate fell to her death.
The Tiffany boss was just 5'1 - seemingly far too short to accidentally fall over the three-foot-high guard rail around her cabin.
