:00:06. > :00:10.Hello, I'm Tony Livesey, for the first programme of the series we
:00:10. > :00:15.are in Chester where we will find out about the disappearance of a
:00:15. > :00:21.local cruise liner worker. After a girl disappeared from a cruiser,
:00:21. > :00:27.this family is still looking for answers. Over 4000 people were on
:00:27. > :00:35.the ship. She went missing directly under the bridge. Somebody knows
:00:35. > :00:40.something. And, can we still have fun if we lose the booze. We said
:00:40. > :00:47.Becky the challenge of enjoying a dry December. I have something to
:00:47. > :00:57.tell you. For a month, and that month is December, I am not
:00:57. > :01:10.
:01:10. > :01:13.For many of us a cruise is a dream holiday, strolling along a moonlit
:01:13. > :01:16.deck with a cocktail in hand, a chance to forget our worries in
:01:16. > :01:21.comfort and safety. But that image hides a disturbing reality. Since
:01:22. > :01:26.2000, 172 people have gone missing on cruises worldwide. Rebecca
:01:26. > :01:28.Coriam, from Chester, disappeared almost ten months ago. For her
:01:28. > :01:33.parents, finding out what's happened to her has turned into a
:01:33. > :01:36.living nightmare. Jacey Normand reports.
:01:36. > :01:40.It sounds like a dream come true, the chance to work and travel the
:01:40. > :01:50.world on a cruise ship. And that's exactly what Mike and Ann Coriam
:01:50. > :01:52.
:01:52. > :01:58.thought when their daughter got a job on a luxury liner.
:01:58. > :02:01.She was over the moon, really. Yes, it was a dream job for her.
:02:01. > :02:11.She went off to London for the interview and she was really,
:02:11. > :02:13.
:02:13. > :02:16.really excited. She wanted to see the world and travel.
:02:16. > :02:19.But this wasn't just any cruise line; this was with Disney, on a
:02:19. > :02:22.state of the art cruise ship. 24 year old Rebecca couldn't wait to
:02:22. > :02:26.start work as a youth co-ordinator. Loved working with children. She'd
:02:26. > :02:28.ring us once, well, at least once a week, if not twice a week, and
:02:28. > :02:30.she'd send messages, you know, quite a lot.
:02:30. > :02:34.And she was making a lot of friends?
:02:34. > :02:36.Oh yes, loads of friend. I couldn't keep up with them all there was so
:02:36. > :02:40.many. Rebecca loved her job and eagerly
:02:40. > :02:43.awaited her next voyage. On March 20th the 83,000 tonne Disney Wonder
:02:43. > :02:48.set sail from Los Angeles on a seven day cruise to the Mexican
:02:48. > :02:50.Riviera. And she was looking forward to
:02:50. > :02:52.doing things with you in the future?
:02:52. > :02:55.Yeah, well she'd got us complimentary tickets to go to
:02:55. > :03:05.Paris, Disney Land, and she rang me on the Sunday, really excited to
:03:05. > :03:10.say she'd got the tickets. That was the last time Ann was ever
:03:10. > :03:18.to hear her daughter's voice. Just over 24 hours later Rebecca was
:03:18. > :03:21.reported missing from duty. Just going to bed and the phone
:03:21. > :03:28.rang, erm, Mike answered, didn't you?
:03:28. > :03:31.Yeah, yeah, horrible, horrible time. What did they say to you?
:03:31. > :03:34.Erm, they just said, "Sorry to phone you but Rebecca's missing at
:03:34. > :03:38.sea." What's going through your mind at
:03:38. > :03:48.that moment? Just totally stunned.
:03:48. > :03:51.Shocked, weren't we? Yeah.
:03:51. > :04:01.Mike and Ann flew out to Los Angeles to meet the ship as it
:04:01. > :04:10.
:04:10. > :04:13.docked. I feel like she is a lie. don't feel she is gone from us.
:04:13. > :04:19.The Mexican Navy and US coastguard made a coastal sweep of the area
:04:19. > :04:21.but found nothing. The only lead was CCTV showing a phone call
:04:21. > :04:24.Rebecca made the morning she disappeared. Disney say it showed
:04:24. > :04:27.her drunk and distressed, which might suggest she could have been
:04:27. > :04:32.depressed and jumped overboard. But the Coriams didn't get that
:04:32. > :04:36.impression at all. We spoke to Rebecca's friend. She
:04:36. > :04:40.just said that she'd been a little bit upset, not gone into any detail,
:04:40. > :04:42.erm, and had told her she'd calmed down and then gone off to bed, that
:04:42. > :04:45.she was working at nine the next morning.
:04:45. > :04:55.But whatever she was upset about was not something that causes you
:04:55. > :04:55.
:04:55. > :04:58.any alarm now? Well, we don't know.
:04:58. > :05:06.We don't know what, but we know our daughter, she wouldn't jump off a
:05:06. > :05:09.ship. We know deep in our hearts. We all know that. All her friends
:05:09. > :05:13.know that. So, if she wasn't depressed and
:05:13. > :05:15.didn't jump, what did happen to Rebecca? The Bahamian Police won't
:05:15. > :05:19.release the CCTV footage, but Disney says after the phone call
:05:19. > :05:25.she made Rebecca went to deck five, and she'd have been captured on
:05:25. > :05:28.camera if she'd returned. But she wasn't seen on film again, and when
:05:28. > :05:38.deck five was searched, one of her flip-flops was found, which begs
:05:38. > :05:39.
:05:39. > :05:44.the question: could she have fallen overboard accidentally? I did a
:05:44. > :05:49.total of six years on cruise ships. Mostly around the Caribbean, but I
:05:49. > :05:51.did do two world cruises. Geoff Furlong is a retired
:05:51. > :05:53.policeman and works for the International Cruise Victims
:05:53. > :05:56.Association. It's extremely difficult to just go
:05:56. > :05:59.overboard on a ship. I mean, particularly in relation to Disney,
:05:59. > :06:03.because the Disney ship, from its creation, was built with children
:06:03. > :06:08.in mind, so to that end it would be nigh impossible just to fall over.
:06:08. > :06:10.However, doesn't mean that you can't climb over and fall over. I
:06:10. > :06:19.mean, accidents will happen wherever you maybe, but just to
:06:19. > :06:25.fall over is really not a reality. For her own piece of mind, Ann went
:06:25. > :06:29.up to deck five to investigate. I had to get underneath a veil, a
:06:29. > :06:33.four feet high veil, and then the metal part of the ship was, it was
:06:33. > :06:43.about six foot high, erm, and you couldn't climb on it, it just felt
:06:43. > :06:44.
:06:44. > :06:47.impossible that a wave could have taken her over.
:06:47. > :06:50.By now the Coriams were starting to despair. There was no evidence of
:06:50. > :06:54.foul play but people on cruise ships don't just vanish into thin
:06:54. > :07:03.air. All Mike and Ann could do was put their faith in the police
:07:03. > :07:07.investigation. A 13 storey ship would be nigh
:07:07. > :07:10.impossible to search in detail. You could search the obvious places,
:07:10. > :07:13.open spaces, public spaces, cabins and all the rest of it, but it's a
:07:13. > :07:16.myriad of hiding places, so if something untoward were to happen
:07:16. > :07:25.to somebody there would be countless places on board a cruise
:07:25. > :07:28.ship that one could dispose of something.
:07:28. > :07:37.So, even for a highly trained forensic team searching a ship is a
:07:37. > :07:41.daunting task. Unbelievably, the Bahamian Police sent just one man.
:07:41. > :07:44.So, I said to him, "You've only spent a day and a half, maybe a bit
:07:44. > :07:49.less, on the ship, have you interviewed any passengers?", and
:07:49. > :07:52.he said, "No." I couldn't believe it then. There were 2,500
:07:52. > :07:58.passengers on that ship and just under a thousand crew, so, I
:07:58. > :08:03.thought, what sort of investigation's that? He was on his
:08:03. > :08:07.own, no forensic team with him, or anything like that at all.
:08:07. > :08:10.Everything we were allowed just to bring home. We were told just to
:08:10. > :08:14.pack everything up. We questioned lots. We questioned why are we
:08:14. > :08:17.allowed to bring her computer home, has that been checked? Everything
:08:17. > :08:20.we were allowed to bring home, which we were expecting for it to
:08:20. > :08:28.be kept you know as part of the investigation, but that didn't
:08:29. > :08:35.happen. The police officer told the Coriams
:08:35. > :08:38.they'd receive a full report in three weeks.
:08:38. > :08:44.We tried phoning and emailing and still, almost ten months later, we
:08:44. > :08:48.still haven't heard anything. We've tried phoning and emailing
:08:48. > :08:53.the Bahamian Police as well and no one's got back to us either, but
:08:53. > :08:56.they have finally posted an appeal for Rebecca on their website.
:08:56. > :09:00.Whether it's under pressure from us or just a coincidence, we can't say,
:09:00. > :09:02.it's just a pity they only got round to doing it nine months after
:09:02. > :09:05.she went missing. We also asked Disney if they think
:09:05. > :09:14.a thorough investigation has been carried out and if they have any
:09:14. > :09:21.other CCTV from the day Rebecca went missing. They didn't respond
:09:21. > :09:23.to any of our questions directly but in a statement they said:
:09:23. > :09:33.Rebecca's disappearance has been heartbreaking for everyone here at
:09:33. > :09:42.
:09:42. > :09:44.Disney Cruise Line and our hearts Now, at this point, you might be
:09:44. > :09:47.wondering why the Coriams don't just contact the British or the
:09:47. > :09:50.American Police, after all Rebecca's from Chester and Disney's
:09:50. > :09:53.an American company. Well, it all hinges on the peculiar workings of
:09:53. > :09:55.International Maritime Law. Because the ship is registered in
:09:55. > :09:58.the Bahamas, then if the alleged accident, incident, or crime
:09:58. > :10:01.occurred in international waters, then the United Kingdom police
:10:01. > :10:04.would have no authority on the ship, nor any other police force, other
:10:04. > :10:14.than where the ship is registered, in this particular instance the
:10:14. > :10:15.
:10:15. > :10:21.Bahamas. Do you feel a bit powerless in the
:10:21. > :10:25.whole thing? Well, yes, when we first got the
:10:25. > :10:34.news, once we'd found out what was going on and we realised we were
:10:34. > :10:37.not entitled to any help, no legal help, no police help as such. You
:10:37. > :10:43.don't think when you go on that ship, you don't think where's the
:10:43. > :10:46.ship flagged at, where's it registered? And if you do find that
:10:46. > :10:50.out, it's probably one of the small countries which they haven't got
:10:50. > :10:53.the resources. I mean, they do what under their regulations they do,
:10:53. > :11:01.but they haven't got the resources on a global level, which it would
:11:01. > :11:05.be for them, to do a proper investigation.
:11:05. > :11:07.The Coriams have set up a website for Rebecca and are campaigning for
:11:08. > :11:17.better policing of international waters. Until then their search for
:11:18. > :11:18.
:11:18. > :11:23.their daughter and the truth about her disappearance continues.
:11:23. > :11:28.have tried to the best we can. There were 4000 people on their
:11:28. > :11:35.ship, where she went missing was directly under the bridge. Somebody
:11:35. > :11:45.knows something. We will keep going on. We will find out what happened
:11:45. > :11:52.
:11:52. > :11:58.to her in the end. Many of us enjoyed times in pubs and bars and
:11:58. > :12:00.know we probably overdid it a bit. But how much is too much? A
:12:00. > :12:04.government report released today says we know little about what the
:12:04. > :12:09.alcohol limit really are and we need a change to the drinking
:12:09. > :12:19.culture. With this in mind we set Becki the challenge of going right
:12:19. > :12:28.
:12:28. > :12:32.through the party season without a My girlfriends are coming round for
:12:32. > :12:42.a drink, which is fairly usual, but what they don't know is that I'm
:12:42. > :12:48.
:12:48. > :12:58.giving up drink. I think I drink half a bottle a night. Not every
:12:58. > :12:59.
:12:59. > :13:03.night, cos I've tried to have a couple of nights off. But half a
:13:03. > :13:13.bottle is too much - and don't ask me about when I go out on a
:13:13. > :13:18.Saturday night, cos I'm not telling you! I have more than I'm supposed
:13:18. > :13:26.to have, and I'm being honest. And I think there's a lot of people who
:13:26. > :13:36.can fool themselves and think it's just one glass. It can be that much
:13:36. > :13:47.
:13:47. > :13:54.or it can be that much, and it's literally half a bottle. I have
:13:54. > :14:03.something to tell you. For the month of December, I will not be
:14:03. > :14:12.drinking. I am giving up alcohol. Why? I think it would be a good
:14:12. > :14:18.thing to do. I was quite surprised but she is very determined, so I
:14:18. > :14:28.was surprised. I was surprised she was doing it in December, because
:14:28. > :14:32.
:14:32. > :14:35.that was the one to avoid, I think we all drink a little bit too much.
:14:35. > :14:38.It was what I expected, they were shocked that I was doing it in
:14:38. > :14:44.December, some of them were quite crestfallen because they're
:14:44. > :14:48.drinking partner will not be drinking with them.
:14:49. > :14:56.My name is Dr Evans. I will be scanning your liver. Have you had a
:14:56. > :15:00.scan like this before? Only when I was pregnant.
:15:00. > :15:05.Time to find out how much damage all that boozing has done. I go for
:15:05. > :15:10.a scan at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital. If it was not
:15:10. > :15:12.normal, what could you see? We are looking for a normal texture. It is
:15:12. > :15:15.not too bright. Professor Ian Gilmore is Britain's leading expert
:15:15. > :15:25.on liver disease and has been advising the government's select
:15:25. > :15:25.
:15:25. > :15:34.committee ahead of today's report on alcohol abuse. Tell me what you
:15:34. > :15:39.have found. Firstly, I need to know what you're drinking. Too much.
:15:39. > :15:46.you understand I unit? I think they are very confusing, but what I
:15:46. > :15:56.think is a unit might well be two. A unit is a small glass of wine,
:15:56. > :15:56.
:15:56. > :16:05.100 millilitres. How many glasses do you have a night? Probably three,
:16:05. > :16:15.half a bottle, sometimes more. If I go to a party, if I admired from a
:16:15. > :16:16.
:16:16. > :16:26.long time, yes. How many units do you think are in a bottle? 6. Seven.
:16:26. > :16:31.
:16:31. > :16:40.Eight. 10. On an average night, you have five units. 14 units a week
:16:40. > :16:46.for a woman means a bottle and a half of wine at per week. Correct.
:16:46. > :16:50.You look disappointed. I am quite astounded. Professor, I have been
:16:50. > :16:57.honest with you, you have looked at my liver, you have looked at my
:16:57. > :17:01.blood, what do you think? results are encouraging, a new
:17:01. > :17:06.liver looks healthy, it does not look fatty, which is an early sign,
:17:06. > :17:11.it had a smooth out line, so you do not have cirrhosis, the one thing
:17:11. > :17:16.we did pick upon is the red cells are a little bit larger than normal.
:17:16. > :17:21.One of the common causes of that is the red cells being exposed to at
:17:21. > :17:27.significant amounts of alcohol regularly. That is not a disease in
:17:27. > :17:30.itself, but it is an indicator that your body is being exposed to
:17:30. > :17:35.alcohol on a regular basis, so it is going to be really interesting
:17:35. > :17:45.to see whether after four weeks off the drink, those red cells come
:17:45. > :17:45.
:17:45. > :17:55.down to a normal level. Enjoy your Christmas. Thank you. It will be
:17:55. > :18:01.
:18:01. > :18:04.different. All the Inside Out presenters across the country are
:18:04. > :18:14.taking part in the Dry December experiment. At the end of November,
:18:14. > :18:16.
:18:16. > :18:23.we all meet up for our final drink. How much do you drink? Honestly,
:18:23. > :18:30.you say that, but what a ridiculous amount. I will drink three bottles
:18:30. > :18:33.of wine. To really encourage us to stick to the challenge, a forensic
:18:33. > :18:40.photographer has come along to show us the effect alcohol can have on
:18:41. > :18:50.our appearance. I am going to show you in 10 years' time, if you carry
:18:51. > :18:56.
:18:57. > :19:04.on drinking, what you will look There is quite a bit of weight gain,
:19:04. > :19:09.your cheeks will be read or, as you can see. I am the famous person in
:19:09. > :19:19.the world, and that would make me give it up forever. That is
:19:19. > :19:21.
:19:21. > :19:31.horrible. It accelerates the ageing process. Ageing signs will commend
:19:31. > :19:33.
:19:33. > :19:43.faster. That is terrible. It is hideous. I will wake up tonight in
:19:43. > :19:46.
:19:46. > :19:51.a cold sweat having nightmares thinking that is me. I met some new
:19:51. > :19:55.friends tonight. Would we have got on as well if we had not had a
:19:55. > :20:05.drink to lose in the situation? I am not sure. We are all nervous
:20:05. > :20:12.
:20:12. > :20:17.about the challenge. I will still do it. Midnight! 10 days in, no
:20:17. > :20:19.drink has passed my lips. And here is my new drinks cabinet - soda
:20:19. > :20:29.water, tonic water, sarsaparilla and for a special treat there's
:20:29. > :20:34.
:20:34. > :20:44.Vimto. So this is my fantastic array of possible drinks for my
:20:44. > :20:46.
:20:46. > :20:49.Saturday night whilst watching X Factor. It's been fine - there's
:20:49. > :20:53.been the odd moment when I've felt under pressure and thought, "I'm
:20:53. > :20:56.going to have a drink" and then thought, "Oh, no, I can't have a
:20:56. > :20:58.drink." There has been the odd advert on TV showing alcohol, and
:20:58. > :21:04.I'm thinking, "ooh, that looks gorgeous," but those moments soon
:21:04. > :21:07.pass. But because I'm quite focused and I know I'm not allowed, then I
:21:07. > :21:11.won't have a drink, and I'm sleeping better, and I feel less
:21:11. > :21:18.tired during the day, and I don't have a slump in the afternoon like
:21:18. > :21:25.I might have had before, and my skin's better. I know my skin's
:21:25. > :21:28.better but I think I'm a little bit antisocial. Well, I've given up
:21:29. > :21:38.drink for two weeks and I've been avoiding going out, so I've come to
:21:38. > :21:41.Liverpool to get my very first experience of a dry bar. The
:21:41. > :21:44.Brink's only been open a few months and was set up by the charity
:21:44. > :21:50.Action On Addiction to provide a safe place for recovering
:21:50. > :21:52.alcoholics and non-drinkers to socialise away from alcohol. This
:21:52. > :22:02.group of former addicts from Chester are here on their Christmas
:22:02. > :22:06.night out. You don't feel like you're being patronised, it's just
:22:06. > :22:12.like going out but there's no alcohol. I'm proud to say this is
:22:12. > :22:21.my first Christmas sober. It's a lifestyle thing for me, I've lost
:22:21. > :22:28.about 4 stone in weight just from not drinking. That is a plus for
:22:28. > :22:32.you. It is great. I am happy now. It's staffed by former addicts too,
:22:32. > :22:36.people like Phil, who's been sober for three years now. Can you have a
:22:36. > :22:40.good time without drink? Very much so. I'm finding I'm coming out of
:22:40. > :22:43.my shell more and more at the moment. Whereas before, I needed a
:22:43. > :22:48.drink or drug to get up and dance, particularly in clubs, I don't find
:22:48. > :22:58.I need that anymore. I can get up and not worry what anyone's
:22:58. > :23:00.
:23:00. > :23:08.thinking. I don't need the Dutch courage anymore. I'm just happy to
:23:08. > :23:11.enjoy myself now and enjoy life. Four days to go till Christmas, the
:23:11. > :23:15.Christmas parties are out in force and this is my Christmas party with
:23:15. > :23:25.two of my girlfriends - and for the first time ever, I'm not drinking,
:23:25. > :23:29.
:23:29. > :23:33.so we'll see how it goes and also how long the night lasts!
:23:33. > :23:41.walked in and I wondered what had happened to her eyes, they looked
:23:41. > :23:49.really bright., her skin looked so good. * She felt better and she
:23:49. > :23:54.said she did. It was a huge difference and she is no less fun.
:23:54. > :23:59.I have been inspired, actually. I thought if she can do it, I can do
:23:59. > :24:06.it, what she has done has got me thinking, cause I have never not
:24:06. > :24:14.had a drink for days on end, and I thought if she can do it, I will
:24:14. > :24:17.try it, so January 1st they will not have a drink for a month. I'm
:24:17. > :24:27.going to see if there are many benefits, if my eyes are as bright
:24:27. > :24:28.
:24:28. > :24:31.as hers, so I will give it a go. Well, it was the end of a lovely
:24:31. > :24:39.Christmas night with my girlfriends, and actually I enjoyed it just as
:24:39. > :24:46.much as I usually do, and more than I thought I would. Christmas Day,
:24:46. > :24:56.we have been drinking since my day, but I am consuming my version, non-
:24:56. > :24:57.
:24:57. > :24:59.alcoholic. Christmas day was especially difficult, and I didn't
:24:59. > :25:02.really anticipate that, cos Christmas day's not a massive
:25:02. > :25:04.drinking day, but all my family were drinking steadily, and I was
:25:04. > :25:08.drinking steadily, but I was drinking tonic water, and I
:25:08. > :25:11.would've liked a drink, if I'm honest with you, so that was tough.
:25:11. > :25:19.But, you know, I have felt really good. Smug in the morning when I
:25:19. > :25:22.wake up cos I've managed it, mornings are great. My sleep - and
:25:22. > :25:25.I didn't believe this - has definitely got better, and the
:25:25. > :25:35.point is I can do without alcohol, and I'm going to continue in
:25:35. > :25:45.
:25:45. > :25:48.January, and it'll be a piece of It is the end of December, I am
:25:48. > :25:56.back at the Royal in Liverpool and I will find out if this has made
:25:56. > :25:59.any difference to my body. A month on, how was it for you? It was
:25:59. > :26:02.extraordinary. It has completely changed my life and it has
:26:03. > :26:07.completely changed the way I am going to drink alcohol in the
:26:07. > :26:12.future. I am going to abstain during the week, when I am on my
:26:12. > :26:18.own, I will drink at the weekends, but I was drinking too much, and
:26:18. > :26:24.this has been a wake-up call at a good age. As you know from the
:26:24. > :26:28.results, before you stop drinking there were no serious changes, but
:26:28. > :26:33.there was one indicator, you red cells were a little larger, and the
:26:33. > :26:37.have come in -- they have come down in size. That is encouraging. The
:26:37. > :26:41.most encouraging thing is how much better you felt as a person, and
:26:42. > :26:46.the insight you have now got into how you got on to a treadmill,
:26:46. > :26:50.getting home every evening, feeling he had earned a drink, getting the
:26:50. > :26:55.cork out of the bottle, not always getting it back in again, that is
:26:55. > :27:00.really interesting. Have our attitudes to alcohol changed over
:27:00. > :27:06.the last 20 years? It has. I have noticed the way women quite in
:27:06. > :27:12.groups, often from work, 10 to 20 of them, with the explicit content
:27:12. > :27:15.of getting drunk. Is that dangerous? Getting drunk
:27:16. > :27:22.occasionally in itself the dangers are short-term dangers, the
:27:22. > :27:29.accidents, the violence, the unwanted pregnancies, but it is the
:27:29. > :27:39.regular daily drinking that puts the at risk of Beaulieu -- puts you
:27:39. > :27:42.
:27:42. > :27:47.at risk of liver disease. I have been saving this for tonight, a
:27:47. > :27:56.bottle washed pink champagne, a New year's Eve. My name is written all
:27:56. > :28:00.over it. I can almost taste it. I really feel I have done myself a
:28:00. > :28:05.favour by having a month of alcohol, and although I will still enjoy a
:28:05. > :28:15.drink in future, it will be in moderation. I could take that or
:28:15. > :28:20.
:28:20. > :28:26.leave that, but I might as well There is more on that story on our
:28:26. > :28:30.website. That is all for this week. If you missed any of the programme