A family is searching for answers after the tragic death of Kimberly Burch, a 51-year-old woman who fell from a cruise ship. The incident occurred on March 2, 2025, during a themed cruise featuring ’80s music, where her fiancé, Taime Downe, the lead singer of the band Faster Pussycat, was performing.
Kimberly’s family in Alabama was left in shock and confusion. They only learned about her death from Downe, who called them after the incident. “We would have never even known it happened if Taime hadn’t called,” said her brother, Kip Burch. The family has expressed feeling completely lost, as they have received little information from authorities and have faced unhelpful responses from Royal Caribbean representatives.
Despite reaching out to the cruise line, the family was met with indifference. “The first woman I spoke with said we would have to talk to her emergency contact, but she wouldn’t tell us who the emergency contact was. She was kind of rude,” Kip recalled. The family is still unclear about the circumstances of Kimberly’s fall. They are uncertain whether it was an accident, suicide, or foul play, a theory that has gained traction online after reports of a heated argument between Kimberly and Downe prior to her fall.
Kimberly had moved to Los Angeles from a small town in Alabama to pursue a modeling career. Her family described her as happy and looking forward to the cruise. They noted that she rarely drank, making it unusual for her to have been drinking on the ship. Her mother, Carnell Burch, mentioned that Kimberly had no known mental health issues and was excited about the vacation.
Kip Burch, a police officer, has tried to use his connections to find out more about his sister’s death. He reached out to law enforcement in Miami, where the cruise ship is based, but was told that a full investigation would not begin until the ship returned to port.
As the family waits for answers, they are also supporting their mother, who is in her late 70s and has been devastated by the loss. “Our mom raised us. She worked all the time. I guess we were poor, but we didn’t know we were poor because our mom never let us go without anything,” Kip reflected. He added that their mother always believed in Kimberly’s dreams, even when others doubted her decision to move to Los Angeles for modeling.
The family hopes to find clarity about what happened to Kimberly and seeks justice for the loss they are grappling with.