Family of missing man retains lawyer

CANFIELD -- The family of a township man who perished when he fell off a cruise ship 10 days ago has retained a lawyer for a possible lawsuit against the Royal Caribbean cruise line, a family spokeswoman confirmed.
Ronald and Susan DiPiero, parents of 21-year-old Daniel DiPiero, are back from St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, said Tracy Naples Gassen, a cousin of Ronald DiPiero. They had gone there to board the ship Mariner of the Seas after news of their son's disappearance. They were shown a surveillance tape they said shows their son sick at the rail on the ship's fourth deck and then falling over it.
Gassen said Tuesday there is no suit filed, but the family has been talking to Atty. Brett Rivkind of Miami, a maritime lawyer.
Daniel DiPiero had boarded the ship in Port Canaveral, Fla., with friends May 14 for a 10-day-cruise.
He and friends were drinking Sunday afternoon and evening, the cruise line has said. He fell asleep on the deck in a chair around midnight. The cruise line said he fell over the rail at 2:16 a.m.
Gassen said the family is devastated. "You don't expect to say goodbye to your 21-year-old son," she said. "It changes all the time. There's a zillion things you feel. But it doesn't get any better."
Gassen said family members are planning a celebration of DiPiero's life, which will likely take place this weekend. She said details are not final.