"They Came in Two Small Boxes, Like Shoeboxes": Titan Victim's Wife Breaks Silence on Receiving Her Family's Remains

Christine Dawood said she received her son and husband's remains in small boxes months after they were killed in the implosion of the Titan submersible.

"Well, when I say bodies, I mean the slush that was left. They came in two small boxes, like shoeboxes," she told The Guardian, in an interview published on Saturday, April 25.

Christine lost her husband, Shahzada Dawood, 48, and her son, Suleman, 19, when the Titan submersible imploded during a June 2023 dive.

Furthermore, in the same interview, Dawood revealed the remains did not arrive for nine months.

"We didn't get the bodies for nine months," she said.

Dawood explained that no intact bodies were recovered — only what she described as "slush" retrieved from the seabed and DNA tested by the U.S. Coast Guard.

"There wasn’t much they could find. They have a big pile they can’t separate, all mixed DNA, and they asked if I wanted some of that, too. But I said no, just what you know is Suleman and Shahzada," she added.

Dawood said she has "learned to give the grief attention" following extensive therapy after the deaths of her son and husband.

"So I go into Suleman’s room. Sometimes I find the cat sleeping on his pillow and I sit on the bed and let the grief come. And after a while I can put the grief away until the next time it gets too much. I’ve worked a lot on my grief for Suleman, but I’m only now starting to grieve for my husband. Publicly they are always put together, but they are two different relationships. Two very different pains," she explained.

She described the simple question of whether she has children as among the most difficult she faces.

"It's the normal questions that people ask that are still the most difficult. Like, 'Do you have children?' That is the most dreaded question. I knew it would come, but it constantly takes me off guard. What do I say? I have two children but … if I say that, then they ask, ‘What does your older one do?’ So now I avoid saying children. I just say I have a daughter. I’m not lying, but it’s what I choose to say," she explained.

Dawood said she prefers to keep her 20-year-old daughter out of the spotlight, explaining, "I don't want her to be known as that girl who lost her father and brother on the Titan."

"She’s just starting her life and I prefer to leave her out. But she understands I do want to talk now," Dawood explained.

Dawood described advice she received from a Canadian Coast Guard officer during the ordeal.

"It was one of the Canadian Coast Guards. A very experienced woman with blond hair – I forget her name – gave me the best advice I’ve ever gotten: ‘Hindsight won’t help you, so don’t fall into that trap. Just because you know it now … you didn’t know it before," she recalled, stating that "Suleman wanted to go and I was happy to give up the seat. I was happy for him to make memories with his father. I can’t change that."

Dawood's husband and son were among the five people killed when the Titan imploded in June 2023 — the others included OceanGate founder Stockton Rush.