"He loved the cruise life," Jennilyn Michelle Blosser told WTKR of her fiancé, Ronnie Lee Peale Jr. "Being able to drink, gamble, and socialize put him in his happy place."

Blosser said that 35-year-old Peale Jr. was the "life of the party," and told CNN that the pair went on the voyage to celebrate her birthday.

Peale Jr., a Virginia resident, fell into the water early Monday after he leaned over a balcony railing on the Carnival Magic ship about 186 miles east of Jacksonville, Florida, officials said.

The cruise ship's operator, Carnival Cruise Line, told Insider in a statement that a review of closed-circuit security footage "confirms that he leaned over the railing of his stateroom balcony and dropped into the water at approximately 4:10 am early Monday morning."

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He was reported missing late Monday afternoon, the cruise line said.

The United States Coast Guard said crews had already spent 19 hours searching for Peale Jr. across 4,044 square miles.

Crews were continuing their search for Peale Jr. on Wednesday morning, the Coast Guard said.

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