The Most Bizarre Missing Persons Cases From Cruise Ships

Cruises are a dream vacation for many travelers. More than 34 million people took a cruise in 2024, setting sail on the high seas to travel while enjoying wonderful amenities like big buffets, luxurious spas, and nightclubs where you can mingle with cruisemates. But while many cruises end with sweet souvenirs and new memories to last a lifetime, others have taken a dark turn, with passengers disappearing without explanation.

There are numerous stories of people who went missing at sea and were last seen on a cruise ship in their assumed final moments. Some of these cases, despite huge search efforts and official investigations, left investigators scratching their heads and families searching for the truth. 

What happened to these people who went on a fun trip, only to never be seen again? That heavy question is what connects the cases below, which are a few of the most bizarre missing persons cases from cruise ships.

The mysterious disappearance of Amy Bradley has gripped audiences around the world thanks, in part, to the Netflix docuseries "Amy Bradley Is Missing." The story is chilling, heartbreaking, and truly unsettling.

Bradley was on a luxury cruise in the Caribbean with her family when she disappeared from the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Rhapsody of the Seas on March 24, 1998. The 23-year-old spent the evening of March 23 partying on the ship's nightclub with her brother and danced with a member of the ship's band, Alister Douglas, before returning to her family's cabin around 3:30 a.m. Bradley's father, Ron, saw her asleep on the balcony around 5:30 a.m., but by 6 a.m., Amy was gone.

The Netherlands Antilles Coast Guard and the FBI searched the ship and water for Amy after her family reported her missing, but they didn't find Amy. Several theories about her disappearance have emerged over the years, from her accidentally falling overboard to her being the target of a crime. Some also speculate she was a victim of trafficking after someone came forward and claimed he saw Amy in a Curaçao brothel in January 1999, where she reportedly asked for help. Others claimed to have spotted Amy in Barbados, but these sightings haven't been confirmed to actually be her. Years after her disappearance, a photo appeared on an adult website that looked very much like Bradley, a decade or so older. 

FBI investigators questioned Douglas after Amy's disappearance, but he was ultimately cleared and never charged. No suspects have been officially named in her case, and to this day, no one has heard from Amy. The FBI is offering up to $25,000 for information that could lead to her recovery or identify the person who may have harmed her.

Being gifted a cruise sounds like a dream come true — until it turns into a nightmare. In May 2005, 71-year-old Hue Pham and 67-year-old Hue Tran boarded the Carnival Cruise Lines ship Destiny with their daughter and granddaughter for a Mother's Day gift cruise to the Caribbean. The ship was sailing between Barbados and Aruba when, on May 12, 2005, the couple vanished while on vacation. Their shoes, Tran's purse, and a book Tran was reading were found on one of the ship's decks, but a larger search of the vessel didn't yield any sign of Pham or Tran. The ship retraced its route with the Coast Guard to look for the two at sea, but after 13 hours and no sign of Pham or Tran, the search was called off, and the pair was presumed dead.

What truly happened to the couple remains unknown. Early in the investigation, authorities theorized they may have taken their own lives, but their family disagrees with this wholeheartedly. An FBI investigation also found nothing to suggest the two were victims of foul play. Pham and Tran's family is still trying to find out what happened to them and would like to hear from other people who were on the Destiny from May 8 to 15th, 2005, to see if they witnessed anything that could solve this mystery once and for all.

The mysterious disappearance of Rebecca Coriam is another case that continues to leave more questions than answers. Rebecca Coriam, a 24-year-old from Britain, was working aboard the Disney Wonder ship when she vanished without a trace on March 22, 2011. Crew members looked for Rebecca when she missed work that morning, but they found no sign of her. 

Authorities reviewed security footage that showed Rebecca, who seemed upset in the video, talking on the phone in a crew lounge at 5:45 the morning of March 22. This was the last confirmed sighting of her. A search of the ship and the surrounding waters off Mexico's Pacific coast near Puerto Vallarta was conducted, but neither revealed any sign of Rebecca. Her credit card was used more than a month after she went missing, but it's not clear who used it or what it was used for.

Several theories about what happened to Rebecca have circulated over the years. The ship's captain told her family that he thought she was swept overboard by a large wave near the crew pool, but her family disagrees. Others suggest Rebecca took her own life or was killed, but nothing has been proven. 

Rebecca's family has been vocal about their dissatisfaction with the investigation, headed by the Royal Bahamas Police Force, and Disney's handling of the case. They filed a lawsuit against the entertainment giant, which was settled in 2015. Rebecca's family continues to push for answers about what happened to her aboard the Disney Wonder. 

The disappearance of Blake Kepley is one of the most baffling missing persons cases because it seems like he just vanished into thin air. Blake, 20, was on a family trip aboard the Holland America Line cruise ship Oosterdam when he went missing in the early morning hours of July 22, 2011. The ship was traveling from Sitka to Ketchikan, Alaska, and his family reported him missing when he didn't get off the ship in Ketchikan. A large search by the U.S. Coast Guard covering more than 350 miles of ocean didn't reveal any sign of Kepley. The search was called off on July 23.

So many questions still surround this case. Cruise ship records show that Kepley did not leave the ship, and there's no evidence that he reached shore. A prevailing theory is that he fell overboard, but there's no surveillance footage of this occurring, and the ship's overboard detection systems did not signal anyone falling off the ship. His mother, however, did receive a grainy surveillance photo from investigators of someone walking on the deck the morning Blake vanished, but it's not clear if the person in the photo is actually Blake.

In the years following Blake's disappearance, his family has spoken out about the need for better overboard detection systems on cruise ships. What happened to him remains a mystery, but his family hopes to find out the truth about his fate on that July day.

No one in Annette Mizener's family could have predicted that she'd never return home from their family trip at sea. Annette was on the Carnival Cruise Line's ship Pride off the coast of Mexico with her parents and daughter when she went missing on December 4, 2004.

She was last seen at 9:15 p.m. and was reported missing at 10 p.m. when she didn't meet her parents at bingo. A search was launched on the ship to find her, but Annette wasn't anywhere on Pride. The only sign of her was her purse, discovered near a railing on one of the decks, and loose beads from that purse strayed along the floor. A subsequent water search by the Coast Guard also yielded no sign of the beloved wife and mother.

Several theories emerged about what happened to Annette. One was that she accidentally fell off the deck, with another suggesting she was pushed into the ocean — a theory fueled by her damaged purse and the fact that a nearby security camera had reportedly been covered. The FBI opened an investigation into Annette's disappearance, but nothing conclusive came from it.

Annette was declared legally dead in July 2005, seven months after her disappearance. Her husband sued Carnival Cruise Lines that same year and resolved the case privately. Her family believes foul play may have been involved in her case, but like so many whose loved ones disappeared at sea, they're still waiting to learn what really happened to her.