Search suspended for missing cruise ship entertainer Arron Hough

The US Coast Guard has suspended its search for the 20-year-old British cruise ship entertainer who went missing after apparently going overboard on a Royal Caribbean ship on Christmas Day.

Authorities halted their 83-hour-long, 3,700-square-mile search for Arron Hough — who was part of the entertainment team aboard the Harmony of the Seas — Thursday afternoon, the Guardian reported.

“We’ve been in contact with members of Mr. Hough’s family throughout our search efforts and know this is a very difficult and painful time for them,” Christopher Douglas, Coast Guard Sector San Juan chief of response, told the outlet. “Suspending a search is one of the most difficult decisions we have to make as first responders, and it is never made lightly.”

The ship was 267 miles northwest of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, at the time Hough was discovered missing, according to initial reports. It had set off from its home port of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and was headed to Philipsburg, St. Maarten.

Surveillance camera footage revealed that “he was observed entering an area on deck five at around 4 a.m. and was not seen again,” a Royal Caribbean spokesman said in a statement.

“Our care team is providing support to the family and friends of our colleague, and our thoughts and prayers are with them during this difficult time,” the statement said.

Hough, a recent graduate of the Urdang Academy, a dance and musical theater college in London, was part of the cast of “Grease the Musical” on the ship, the talent agency Russell Smith Associates tweeted back in July.

In October, Hough posted a series of photos to Facebook from his first week performing on the ship.

“So so proud I could burst my beautiful amazing boy I Love You,” his mom, Tracey Steel, commented.

Only four days before his disappearance, Hough posted a chilling message to Twitter.

“Beneath the water is beauty,” he wrote. “Always look beneath the surface before you decide on things.”