Disappearance of Rebecca Coriam

Rebecca Coriam, a 24-year-old British national from Chester, England, disappeared on 22 March 2011 while working as a youth staff member aboard the Disney Wonder, a cruise ship operated by Disney Cruise Line. She was last recorded on CCTV at approximately 5:45 am that morning, appearing distressed during a phone call in a crew area of the ship. She failed to report for her shift at 9:00 am and was not found anywhere aboard the vessel, which was sailing off the coast of Mexico en route to Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas. Her disappearance was the first of its kind in Disney Cruise Line's history.

The U.S. Coast Guard and the Mexican Navy conducted searches of the international waters through which the ship had passed but did not locate her. Because the Disney Wonder is registered in the Bahamas, a detective from the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) was assigned to investigate. Coriam's parents, who met the ship when it returned to Los Angeles, said the detective told them he had spent only one day investigating on board and had interviewed few crew members and no passengers. The ship's captain suggested Coriam may have been swept overboard by a wave near the crew pool, a theory her parents disputed given the height of the surrounding walls.

In October 2011, journalist Jon Ronson traveled aboard the Wonder and interviewed several crew members anonymously for an article published in The Guardian. Crew accounts to Ronson varied, with some suggesting Coriam went overboard from the crew pool and others expressing skepticism given the pool's high walls and security cameras. A pair of flip-flops returned to Coriam's parents as belongings found near the pool were later disputed by private investigators hired by the family in 2016, who said the footwear bore another crew member's name and cabin number and did not match Coriam's usual style.

Coriam's parents have said they never received a copy of the final investigative report from Bahamian police despite assurances. British authorities who obtained the report have declined Freedom of Information requests to release it, citing personal data restrictions. Former City of Chester MP Chris Matheson and former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott both publicly expressed the view that Coriam may have been the victim of a crime, though no charges have been filed and no perpetrator has been identified.

In November 2011, then-MP Stephen Mosley raised the case in the House of Commons, criticizing the Bahamian investigation as inadequate. The UK's Minister for Shipping, Mike Penning, subsequently announced that the Marine Accident Investigation Branch would investigate deaths or disappearances of British citizens from vessels worldwide. In 2015, the Coriam family filed a civil suit against Disney in U.S. courts represented by attorney Jim Walker; the case settled in 2015 for an undisclosed sum, with an agreement that details would not be discussed publicly. As of the available reporting, Coriam's whereabouts remain unknown and the case remains unresolved.