{"id":19874,"date":"2023-12-15T10:34:50","date_gmt":"2023-12-15T15:34:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=19874"},"modified":"2023-12-15T10:34:50","modified_gmt":"2023-12-15T15:34:50","slug":"a-trip-of-a-lifetime-ends-in-tragedy-after-woman-killed-in-shark-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2023\/12\/a-trip-of-a-lifetime-ends-in-tragedy-after-woman-killed-in-shark-attack","title":{"rendered":"A Trip of a Lifetime Ends in Tragedy After Woman Killed in Shark Attack"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Adobe Stock| Inset: Lauren Van Wart \/ LinkedIn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Neighbors in the Massachusetts town of Lowell were shocked to learn that Lauren Erickson Van Wart, 44, had been killed in the Bahamas while on a trip with her husband. \u201cHow can you process something like this? It was a tragedy,\u201d said<\/a> neighbor Beth Stack-Emerson. \u201cTrip of a lifetime, it\u2019s heartbreaking, it really is. Shocking,\u201d she lamented. \u201cThese poor people, they probably looked forward to this vacation for months.\u201d Stack-Emerson described Van Wart as \u201cvery nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Van Wart and her husband (identified as a \u201cmale relative\u201d in some reporting) were staying at the luxury Sandals hotel, where the average cost per room is $600 per night. While paddleboarding, Van Wart was attacked by an unidentified shark, which dragged her under the water. A Facebook<\/a> post by Debra DeWeese stated that beachgoers could hear screams, despite Van Wart being far from the beach. She shared onlookers stated the shark was \u201clarger than the rescue boat.\u201d A lifeguard on duty rescued Van Wart and her husband from the water, and brought them back to shore, where Van Wart was given CPR. Her husband was uninjured. Despite best efforts to save her life, Van Wart had \u201cserious injuries to the right side of her body.\u201d She was pronounced dead at the scene.<\/p>\n

Van Wart worked as a math editor for Curriculum Associates. The company\u2019s CEO, Rob Waldron, released a statement in response to Van Wart\u2019s death. \u201cLauren was a beloved member of our math editorial team, and she infused her deep dedication to students and educators into every material she touched,\u201d he said<\/a>. \u201cHer commitment to excellence and outstanding work was driven by a higher purpose, focused on improving learning outcomes for all. Our Curriculum Associates community is mourning this tragedy and extends our deepest love and support to Lauren’s wonderful husband and all of her family.\u201d Sandals also responded to the attack, saying, \u201cWe are deeply saddened by the tragic passing of a guest while on a paddle boarding activity nearly a mile from the shore. We wish to express our heartfelt condolences to the guest’s family and loved ones. We remain in close contact with them and are providing all support possible during this difficult time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The attack is the second deadly attack to occur in the area in two weeks. A 47-year-old German woman went missing before Van Wart\u2019s death. She is believed to have been attacked as well, but her body has not been uncovered yet. Last year, a passenger on a US cruise ship was also killed. An autopsy on Van Wart is still pending, which may offer some insight on the type of shark that killed her. \u201cWe have to see the autopsy reports and we\u2019ll have to see the tooth marks,\u201d said Gavin Naylor, the director of the Florida Program for Shark Research. \u201cSometimes, some forensic evidence is very compelling. Some is more ambiguous.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neighbors in the Massachusetts town of Lowell were shocked to learn that Lauren Erickson Van Wart, 44, had been killed in the Bahamas while on a trip with her husband. \u201cHow can you process something like this? It was a tragedy,\u201d said neighbor Beth Stack-Emerson. \u201cTrip of a lifetime, it\u2019s heartbreaking, it really is. Shocking,\u201d…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":19901,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nA Trip of a Lifetime Ends in Tragedy After Woman Killed in Shark Attack<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Neighbors in Massachusetts were shocked to learn that Lauren Erickson Van Wart had been killed in the Bahamas while on a trip with her husband.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2023\/12\/a-trip-of-a-lifetime-ends-in-tragedy-after-woman-killed-in-shark-attack\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Trip of a Lifetime Ends in Tragedy After Woman Killed in Shark Attack\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Neighbors in Massachusetts were shocked to learn that Lauren Erickson Van Wart had been killed in the Bahamas while on a trip with her husband.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2023\/12\/a-trip-of-a-lifetime-ends-in-tragedy-after-woman-killed-in-shark-attack\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Beliefnet News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-12-15T15:34:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2023\/12\/lauren-van-wart-shark-attack_credit-Inset-Lauren-Van-Wart-linkedin-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cecilia Buchanan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Trip of a Lifetime Ends in Tragedy After Woman Killed in Shark Attack","description":"Neighbors in Massachusetts were shocked to learn that Lauren Erickson Van Wart had been killed in the Bahamas while on a trip with her husband.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2023\/12\/a-trip-of-a-lifetime-ends-in-tragedy-after-woman-killed-in-shark-attack","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Trip of a Lifetime Ends in Tragedy After Woman Killed in Shark Attack","og_description":"Neighbors in Massachusetts were shocked to learn that Lauren Erickson Van Wart had been killed in the Bahamas while on a trip with her husband.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2023\/12\/a-trip-of-a-lifetime-ends-in-tragedy-after-woman-killed-in-shark-attack","og_site_name":"Beliefnet News","article_published_time":"2023-12-15T15:34:50+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":576,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2023\/12\/lauren-van-wart-shark-attack_credit-Inset-Lauren-Van-Wart-linkedin-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Cecilia Buchanan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2023\/12\/a-trip-of-a-lifetime-ends-in-tragedy-after-woman-killed-in-shark-attack","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2023\/12\/a-trip-of-a-lifetime-ends-in-tragedy-after-woman-killed-in-shark-attack","name":"A Trip of a Lifetime Ends in Tragedy After Woman Killed in Shark Attack","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2023\/12\/a-trip-of-a-lifetime-ends-in-tragedy-after-woman-killed-in-shark-attack#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2023\/12\/a-trip-of-a-lifetime-ends-in-tragedy-after-woman-killed-in-shark-attack#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2023\/12\/lauren-van-wart-shark-attack_credit-Inset-Lauren-Van-Wart-linkedin-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2023-12-15T15:34:50+00:00","dateModified":"2023-12-15T15:34:50+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/77cb6eeb5c74ee0eb8c77ea1ebc43c6a"},"description":"Neighbors in Massachusetts were shocked to learn that Lauren Erickson Van Wart had been killed in the Bahamas while on a trip with her husband.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2023\/12\/a-trip-of-a-lifetime-ends-in-tragedy-after-woman-killed-in-shark-attack#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2023\/12\/a-trip-of-a-lifetime-ends-in-tragedy-after-woman-killed-in-shark-attack"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2023\/12\/a-trip-of-a-lifetime-ends-in-tragedy-after-woman-killed-in-shark-attack#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2023\/12\/lauren-van-wart-shark-attack_credit-Inset-Lauren-Van-Wart-linkedin-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2023\/12\/lauren-van-wart-shark-attack_credit-Inset-Lauren-Van-Wart-linkedin-scaled.jpg","width":768,"height":576,"caption":"Adobe Stock| Inset: Lauren Van Wart \/ LinkedIn"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2023\/12\/a-trip-of-a-lifetime-ends-in-tragedy-after-woman-killed-in-shark-attack#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Trip of a Lifetime Ends in Tragedy After Woman Killed in Shark Attack"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/","name":"Beliefnet News","description":"Top Religious News From Around the World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/77cb6eeb5c74ee0eb8c77ea1ebc43c6a","name":"Leigh Pizzutilla","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/824\/82495162063119d033794eb2206a0067x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/824\/82495162063119d033794eb2206a0067x96.jpg","caption":"Leigh Pizzutilla"},"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/author\/lpizzutilla"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/664"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19874"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19874\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19907,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19874\/revisions\/19907"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}