Rebecca Coriam was born on March 11, 1987, in Chester, England. The girl, also called Bex, lived there throughout her childhood with her parents, Rachael's sister, and two foster brothers. She graduated from the local Chester Catholic High School and worked at the Chester Zoo, along with several of her relatives. There is also a bench in the zoo commemorating her grandfather Kevin and grandmother Dolores.
Rebecca has lived a busy life. As a teenager, she began studying at a military school. As a volunteer, she also took part in several outdoor events. Then she chose to study sports at the University of Plymouth. With time, she also began her education at Liverpool Hope University. These studies prepared graduates to work with young people. The woman did not stop at the theory - she also had experience in working with young people. For four months she worked as a trainer at a sports camp in Maine (USA) as part of the Camp America program.
In June 2010, Coriam began the next chapter in her life - she went to London for an interview. She applied for a job with Disney Cruise Line, a cruise line company. When she got the job, she went to training. It took place at Disney theme parks in Florida, so Bex again set off on a trip to the other side of the Atlantic.
After four months of cruising the Bahamas, the 23-year-old began a two-month vacation in the UK, spending time with family and friends. When she came back, she worked on the Disney Wonder ship (one of the three that the company had in early 2011). The ship's home base was Los Angeles. Coriam has visited all the places on the Mexican Riviera where "Disney Wonder" has stayed. It also flowed through the Panama Canal. She then returned to Chester for two weeks due to the death of her grandfather. It was the last time Rebecca saw her family (of course no one knew at the time).
After these several days, the woman had to return to her duties on the "Disney Wonder" ship. At that time, she kept in touch with her family via Facebook and Skype. On March 21, 2011 (six weeks after returning to work), the ship left Los Angeles. On that day, Coriam sent her last message to her parents via Facebook. She wrote that she would call the next day. The 24-year-old's mother and father (Rebecca had her birthday ten days earlier) didn't care at first about the lack of contact, thinking their daughter must be overworked and tired. The parents became concerned, however, when twelve hours had passed without any sign of life on their daughter's part.
Coriam didn't know yet that on that day at 09:00 local time, Coriam missed the start of her shift. The ship was then off the coast of Mexico on its way to Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas. The British woman was not in her cabin or anywhere else on the ship. Bex also did not react to the crew's announcements. When the surveillance footage was checked, cameras caught Rebecca at 5:45 AM. Previously, an anonymous source said to have been a crew member claimed the 24-year-old fell overboard around 3:00 AM, nearly three hours earlier, which proved to be ultimately not true. In the recorded video, Coriam was in the crew area talking on the phone. She seemed distraught. A younger co-worker then approached Rebecca and probably asked if she was okay. You can clearly read the lips that the woman replied, "Yes, good." After these words, Rebecca hung up. Then she walked away, tucking her hair back and tucking her hands into the back pockets of her pants. The missing woman's parents admitted that these were distinctive gestures that Coriam often made. No one has seen the woman since then.
The crew searched the entire ship. The ships of the US Coast Guard and the Mexican Navy, however, checked the nearby waters. However, no traces were found. As the vessel she worked on was registered in the Bahamas, a detective from the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) was delegated to investigate. It happened three days after the woman had disappeared. The ship then returned to Los Angeles. Investigators reportedly spent several days on board trying to figure out what happened to Rebecca.
Mike and Annmaria Coriam, the parents of the 24-year-old, flew from England to the port where the ship docked. They met a detective from the Bahamas who confessed to them that he only spent one day onboard investigating, then returned home. The detective also said that he only interviewed a few crew members. However, he did not speak to any of the passengers. The Coriam claimed that Disney employees kept them in a car with darkened windows and escorted them on board through a rarely used side entrance. This happened after all the passengers had already disembarked.
The captain of the ship expressed his condolences to the family. He also put forward his theory that Rebecca was thrown overboard by a wave while she was in the crew pool. The missing woman's parents doubted it because of the high walls surrounding the pool. They were then taken to meet the Disney executives and the woman Rebecca spoke to on the phone. The Coriams, however, learned nothing that would help find their daughter.
The day before the first anniversary of the British woman's disappearance, her father received an email from a woman claiming to have seen Rebecca with a dark-haired man in Venice last August. The woman said she was "85% sure" that she had noticed the missing person. She remembered the whole incident when she came across a website created by the family. The Coriams, however, wondered how Rebecca could have gotten to Italy without a passport, which was among the other items left in the woman's cabin.
In October 2011, journalist Jon Ronson went on a cruise along the same route. During its duration, he decided to discreetly question the employees of "Disney Wonder" about the missing girl. Several of the crew who were on board the day Rebecca disappeared agreed to speak to the man anonymously. They suggested that more is known about her fate than Disney or the Bahamian police have publicly admitted. A few were more careful. "That didn't happen," the bartender told Ronson. "You know that's the answer I have to give," he added. Ronson searched carefully all the places on the ship to which passengers had access. The journalist thought that Rebecca might have slipped and fell overboard while jogging on the jogging track on Deck 4. He concluded that the woman had regularly exercised this way and that the rails were low enough for an accident to occur. . On the other hand, it was a place monitored by cameras.
Ronson shared this theory with one of the crew members who told him otherwise. According to a ship worker, Coriam did fall overboard, but it was supposed to happen on deck 5. "I was on the ship that day," he said, then added, "Everyone knows." The flip-flops found nearby were to be the evidence.
As the journalist looked at the crew pool from the bow of Deck 10, he doubted his initial theory. There was a wall of steel around the railings high enough to completely obstruct the view. One of the crew explained that it is a popular place among the ship's employees who prefer to spend their free time there rather than in their very small cabins. Ronson also noticed security cameras near the pool. But he wasn't sure if they were there when they disappeared, or if they were not placed until after the incident. The man saw no possibility that anyone could jump or fall from there. However, all crew members he spoke to insisted that Coriam fell overboard while in the crew pool. "Disney knows exactly what happened," said one of them. “Everything is monitored here. There are cameras everywhere. Disney has the tape, ”he added. At the end of the voyage, another crew member explained to the investigating journalist that although the walls around the pool were high, the sea was rough that day and Rebecca could have fallen overboard, especially as it was slippery on board.
The same person also mentioned that a friend had once been delegated to bring one of the passengers inside the ship during a storm. The infraction of being on the poolside terrace in these atmospheric conditions was so serious that Disney sent the person home halfway through the trip.
After the reporter returned from the cruise, he was contacted by "Melissa". The woman told Ronson that the day after Rebecca's disappearance, flowers were laid next to the pool, apparently by the company. According to the informant, this symbolic gesture made everything even more strange. With the consent of Coriam, the journalist described his findings in the British newspaper The Guardian.
Since Rebecca was not found on the ship despite careful searches, investigators concluded that the woman had fallen overboard, possibly as a result of a so-called monstrous wave. The Coriams and their lawyer say they never received a copy of the final report promised by the Bahamas police. British officials who received these documents refused repeated requests for copies under the Freedom of Information Act. The reason for the refusal was that the report contained confidential personal data.
One crew member told Ronson that Coriam's last phone call had been recorded. Many friends believed that the interlocutor was her boyfriend. "She was in a relationship and there were problems that troubled her," she told journalist "Melissa". “It was a very intense relationship. Once it was great, then horrible ... I can't think of any other reason why she would be upset and wander alone at 6 am, ”she added. The secret informant, however, claimed that Coriam was speaking on the phone not with her partner, but with a mutual friend.
On the anniversary of the woman's disappearance, her parents told reporters of the Liverpool Echo newspaper that they had heard of a young woman and an elderly man who were to be involved in a love triangle with their daughter. The Corian asked the alleged lovers to report to them, but this did not happen. The missing person's parents also revealed that Disney reportedly sent additional footage to the FBI to analyze and improve their quality, but couldn't say what the footage would contain.
Parents recalled that their daughter was always cheerful and full of optimism. These features were to ensure her work on the ship. When the Corian visited their daughter's apartment after her disappearance, they found the Disneyland Paris tickets she had obtained for them and her sister. Rebecca was probably planning to surprise them, and she wanted to give them this gift the next time she came home. These plans, as well as the constant exchange of messages with her mother on Facebook, contradict the opinion of the closest theories that the missing woman committed suicide.
"Melissa" last saw Coriam around 11:00 PM on the last night before her disappearance. The woman told Ronson that Rebecca could go to the crew pool (one of her favorite spots on the ship) to be alone and rest for a while. While there, she could climb and sit on the wall and then fall off the wall. According to her friend, the missing girl liked the risk.
Melissa did not believe that the flip-flops allegedly found near the pool, which were among the belongings returned to Coriam's parents, were hers. "Mike and Ann showed them to me," she told Ronson. “They were too big. They didn't fit her style. There were pink, flowery, and Hawaiian. I've never seen her wear them. Why didn't Disney come to me or another friend and say, "Can you identify them as Bex?"
Coriam later found the flaps too small. Nor did they find anyone on the ship who saw their daughter wearing them. Parents also found out that the shoes had not been subjected to any forensic examination. In 2016, private detectives working for the missing family said they had finally determined that the flip-flops did not belong to Rebecca. They noticed that not only were they not her style, but also had the name of another crew member and the cabin number. Coriam admitted that this discovery led them to strongly doubt Disney's claims that their daughter was found in the pool. They also stopped believing the theory that Rebecca was swept away from there by a wave or fell overboard.
It was also noted that in the video of the last telephone conversation, Rebecca's clothes appear very large. Her friends and crewmates speculated that they might belong to someone else. According to Labor MP Chris Matheson, who has represented Chester's constituency since the 2015 election, Coriam has been the victim of a crime, possibly murder or sexual harassment. The politician claimed to have a copy of the original police report with "convincing" evidence in this regard.
John Anderson, a private investigator who worked with Coriam and Matheson, determined that the sea was fairly calm that night, which casts doubt on Disney's "rogue wave" claim. The man added that a wave capable of throwing the woman overboard would probably also cause visible damage to the ship.
Baron John Prescott, former Deputy Prime Minister of Tony Blair's government and then plenipotentiary of the House of Lords, also took an interest in the case. The man believed Rebecca had been thrown overboard. He also called for legislation to allow British authorities to investigate the deaths of their own nationals on cruise ships operating in international waters.
In 2017, Bex's colleague on the ship's crew, Tracie Medley, admitted that women were forming a love triangle with Tracie's boyfriend Deven Hyde. The woman added that on the one hand, Coriam liked the situation, and on the other, she did not know where it was all going and had doubts. But Medley did not know what happened to her mistress.
Ronson said Coriam was not receiving any information from Disney or the RBPF about the progress of the investigation at the time of publishing his article. "When we call anyone, they just say an investigation is ongoing," said Mike Coriam. “We tried to send e-mails telling them how we felt, how it was getting harder and harder… But nothing. It just '[Investigation] continues'. " The Bahamas policeman assigned to the case never even called Ronson back.
The Coriam joined the criticism of the investigation by British politicians, Rebecca's friends among the ship's crew, and the families of victims of similar incidents at sea. The latter in particular noticed that 170 passengers and crew had disappeared from cruise ships since 2000. Most of these incidents have not been seriously investigated or made public. All critics have argued that Disney, like other cruise companies, is primarily interested in avoiding the adverse publicity surrounding the Coriam disappearance case. In November 2011, Stephen Mosley, then an MP, wanted to raise interest in the House of Commons. "The investigation into Rebecca's disappearance was terrifying," he told Mike Penning, the minister of shipping. "The Bahamian authorities have made virtually no attempt to investigate Rebecca's disappearance," he continued. "Very few people know that when they board a cruise ship they are so poorly protected."
Many people believe that the Bahamas, often criticized for the low standards of registering ships under their "comfortable flag", did not have the experience and capacity to deal with such a complicated matter. Penning has announced that the Marine Accident Investigation Division will investigate all deaths and disappearances of British citizens from ships anywhere in the world. The United States had made a similar decision earlier. The then US president, Barack Obama, signed a bill authorizing the FBI to investigate the death or disappearance of an American citizen. The UK government was also expected to work through the International Maritime Organization to strengthen cooperation between countries on such investigations. Penning was also critical of Disney. He said the company was "more interested in returning the ship to sea than in investigating the case of a missing member of their crew."
Kendall Carver also spoke on the matter. The American founded the International Cruise Victims lobby group after his daughter disappeared from the Celebrity Mercury in 2004. Carver said: “On cruise ships they have, and I quote, security officers, but they work for cruise lines. They won't do anything if the lines are to be sued. "
Critical Miami lawyer Jim Walker, who runs the Cruise Law News blog, agreed. "The Coriam family doesn't deserve a Mickey Mouse game," commented Ronson's article. Walker later represented Rebecca's parents in a trial against Disney before American courts. In 2015, a settlement was concluded with the company (its amount has not been disclosed). According to her arrangements, the parents were not to raise the matter in public.
Carver and Walker believe Disney has more evidence than it has provided, most notably the video surveillance of the pool area. In their opinion, the company is hiding the truth about what happened out of fear of undesirable publicity. "If there's a video showing your daughter going overboard," Carver told Ronson, "that's the end of the story. There's no way anyone could get off the ship without being caught by cameras. " Melissa told Ronson it was unbelievable there wouldn't be any footage. The swimming pool is located near important offices such as Human Resources and Payroll, where money and confidential documents were kept. The woman believes that Disney is trying to cover up the matter because of protection against allegations of negligence. The pool was located in such a place that someone should have seen a possible accident. "If it was 6 am and they were doing their job and watching the front, someone must have seen her," she told Ronson. "And if they didn't, they hide why they didn't."
A Disney spokesman declined to comment on details as to whether there was a telephone call tape or additional surveillance video. But he added, "We would like to know what happened, as everyone did ... Rebecca's disappearance was difficult and painful for everyone." Unfortunately, the matter remains unsolved to this day.
Most of the most famous disappearances probably concern US residents. However, probably every country has at least one interesting and unsolved disappearance case. It is no different in the case of the smallest country in the world, i.e. the Vatican. I invite you to read this intriguing story.
Emanuela Orlandi was born on January 14, 1968, in the capital of Italy, Rome. The girl was the fourth of five children of Ercole and Maria Orlandi (née Pezzano). She had three sisters: Natalina, Federica, and Maria Cristina, and brother Pietro. The teenager's father worked at the Vatican Bank or another institution (it could not be clearly established). In any case, the family lived in the Vatican. Orlandi attended the second year of high school in Rome. Three times a week she also attended flute lessons at the Tommaso Ludovico Da Victoria school, connected with the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music. The teenager was also a member of the choir of the Church of Sant'Anna dei Palafrenieri in the Vatican. Emanuela usually took the bus to the music school. After a few stops, she got out of the vehicle, and then she had about 200 meters to walk.
On Wednesday, June 22, 1983, the 15-year-old was late for class. She had asked her brother that day to go with her to the class by bus, but he had other obligations. "I have thought about it so many times, telling myself that if I had only accompanied her, it might not have happened," he recalled several decades later.
Later that day, Emanuela called home and spoke to one of her sisters. The 15-year-old said she had received a job offer from an Avon representative. The sister suggested that she discuss the matter with your parents first before making any decisions. Orlandi allegedly met with an Avon representative shortly before the music lesson, according to some reports. At the end of the class, the teenager told her friend about the job offer. The girl escorted Emanuela to the bus stop and continued walking. Orlandi was last seen getting into a large, dark BMW.
On Thursday, June 23, at 3 p.m., Orlandi's parents called the principal of the music school to ask if any of their classmates had any information about their daughter. Police suggested that the girl was just hanging out with friends and that she would be home soon. This, however, did not happen. The fifteen-year-old girl was officially declared missing before the end of that day. Soon after, Il Tempo, Paese Sera, and Il Messaggero began publishing information about the disappearance of Emanuela. The articles also included the phone number of the Orlandi family if anyone had information about their daughter.
On Saturday, June 25, at 6 p.m., a call was received from a young man who claimed he was 16 and his name was Pierluigi. He reported that he and his fiancée had met the missing person in Piazza Navona that afternoon. The teenager mentioned the Orlandi flute, her hair and glasses that the girl didn't like to wear, and other details to match her. According to an alleged witness, Emanuel, she changed her hairstyle and introduced herself as Barbarella. She also said that she just ran away from home and sells Avon products.
On June 28, a man who introduced himself as Mario called the family and announced that he owned a bar near Ponte Vittorio, between the Vatican and a music school. He said a new customer of his bar, Barbara, had confided in him that she had run away from home but was going to return for her sister's wedding. On June 30, 3,000 posters depicting a photograph of a missing teenager were put up in Rome.
On Sunday, July 3, Pope John Paul II during the Angelus prayer appealed to those responsible for the disappearance of Orlandi. It was the first time that the hypothesis of the kidnapping of a girl had been publicly presented. Two days later, the 15-year-old's family received the first of many anonymous calls. The informant claimed that Emanuela was a prisoner of a terrorist group demanding the release of Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turk who carried out an unsuccessful attempt on the Pope in May 1981. No other information was provided. More phone calls were received in the days that followed, including one from a man nicknamed "American" for his distinctive accent. The "American" played a recording of the missing person's voice during the conversation. A few hours later, the same man suggested replacing Orlandi with Agca. An anonymous caller mentioned "Mario" and "Pierluigi" from earlier phone calls, describing them as members of the organization.
On July 6, a man with a young voice and American accent informed ANSA about the demand to replace Orlandi with Agca. He asked for the Pope to be involved in this matter within a maximum of 20 days. He also added that the basket in the square in front of the Parliament would contain evidence that Emanuela was indeed in their hands. They were supposed to be: a photocopy of her music school ID, a receipt and a note handwritten by the kidnapped one. However, the judge who oversaw the case did not believe there was a credible link between the 15-year-old's kidnapping and the bomber.
On July 8, a man with a Middle Eastern accent called one of Orlandi's classmates saying the teenager was in his hands. He gave an ultimatum of 20 days to trade with Agca. The man also asked to speak to the then Secretary of State Agostino Casaroli. In total, the "American" made 16 phone calls from various public telephone boxes.
On the morning of May 14, 2001, the pastor of the Church of Gregory VII in Rome discovered a bag left in the confessional. There was an image of Padre Pio on it. Inside, a jawless human skull of small dimensions was found. However, it has not been confirmed that it belonged to the missing person.
Theories about the disappearance
1) Linking the case with Ali Agca
Mehmet Ali Agca once stated that Orlandi was kidnapped by Bulgarian agents of the Gray Wolves, a Turkish ultra-nationalist neo-fascist youth organization of which he was once a member. The attacker also talked about the missing RAI during an interview for Italian state television. He was then serving a prison sentence. He then said that the girl was alive and not in danger. Interestingly, he added that Emanuela lives in the monastery. However, he denied having detailed information about the girl's fate. He argued that his words were based on deductions. With no evidence to back up these claims, the case was closed in July 1997.
In mid-2000, Judge Ferdinando Imposimato, based on what he had learned about the Gray Wolves, concluded that Orlandi had assimilated into the Muslim community and probably had been living in Paris for a long time. The man remains the only supporter of this idea and the connection of the disappearance with Agca.
In a letter published in 2006, Ali Agca announced that Emanuela Orlandi and Mirella Gregori, another girl who also disappeared in 1983, had been abducted as part of a plan to secure his release from prison. He claimed that the girls were deported to the royal palace in Liechtenstein. Agca was temporarily released from prison in Istanbul after serving 25 years in Italy and Turkey for the murder of Abdi İpekçi, a respected Turkish journalist. The man was quickly re-imprisoned, and his release was called a mistake. Agca was finally released from a Turkish prison in January 2010.
On November 9, 2010, an interview with Agca was broadcast on the Turkish state television TRT. It was the first interview with a man since he was released from prison. In it, Agca stated that the Vatican had organized the coup. He also added that the missing person was imprisoned in the Holy See, and then ended up in a Catholic order in one of the Central European countries. According to the assassin, the Orlandi family can see their daughter whenever they want, but the woman is not allowed to leave the monastery walls.
2) Participation of members of an organized crime group
In 2011, Antonio Mancini, a former member of the Italian gang Banda della Magliana, suggested that the Orlandi kidnapping was organized by the organization he came from. The group carried out several different actions against the Vatican to enforce the repayment of large sums of money they had lent to the Vatican Bank through Roberto Calvi and the Banco Ambrosiano bank, of which it was president. On May 14, 2012, Italian police opened the grave of gangster Enrico De Pedis (1954-1990) to collect DNA samples. In 2005, an anonymous caller called Italian TV and said evidence was found that could help police explain Orlandi's disappearance. In 2008, De Pedis's ex-girlfriend said a man once confessed to her that he had kidnapped Orlandi. However, no evidence was found in the tomb that would link the gangster with the missing one.
3) The theory of the sex scandal in the Vatican
In May 2012, renewed interest in the case led the police to search De Pedis' tomb. The 85-year-old exorcist, Father Gabriele Amorth, then confessed that Emanuela had been kidnapped by a member of the Vatican gendarmerie. She was supposed to take part in erotic events and then be murdered. Amorth added that embassy officials were also involved. However, he did not reveal the diplomats in which particular country was meant.
Unfortunately, it has not been possible to establish what really happened with the missing person to this day. Her father Ercole, who died in 2004, a month after giving the last interview, did not get to know the truth. The other members still hope that one day they will see Emanuela safe and sound.
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