Mysteries on the High Sea
Jan. 25, 2006 — -- Cruise vacations usually mean relaxation and partying with friends and family on the high seas, but when 26-year-old George Smith, of Greenwich, Conn., disappeared on his honeymoon cruise this summer, many questions were raised about passenger safety and cruise-line accountability.
Smith's disappearance is not an isolated case -- 14 people have gone missing from cruise ships over the past two years.
"Primetime" investigates a string of loved ones left at sea -- a daughter who vanished suspiciously after karaoke with her family; a bachelor gone overboard who spent 17 hours at sea and lived to tell about it; a divorcee whose disappearance was never reported by cruise officials; and an exclusive interview with an attorney for one of the last men to see George Smith alive.
Watch "Primetime" on Thursday at 10 p.m. as Chris Cuomo reports on these mysteries at sea.
Wally and Heidi Knerler expected nothing but fun when they took their daughter, Annette, and granddaughter, Danielle, on a weeklong cruise to Mexico.
Instead, Annette went missing one night, never showing up to meet her family for a game of bingo. Moments later, her family heard Annette being paged -- someone had found her handbag next to the ship's railing.
The Knerlers suspected foul play. But when the ship didn't pull into port, they took matters into their own hands and found evidence that their daughter may have been attacked. A ship security officer, however, stated that she committed suicide. More than a year later, Annette's family is still left with no answers.
Merrian Carver, 40, disappeared on the second day of her Alaskan cruise. A divorced mother of a 13-year-old daughter, her loved ones had no idea she had even gone on the trip.
Three weeks after the ship docked, officials confirmed that Carver did board the cruise; they just weren't sure where or when she got off.
Unsatisfied with Royal Caribbean's efforts, Carver's father embarked on his own investigation. He hired a private investigator, who said he got the runaround from cruise-line officials.
Months later, after Carver's father took legal action, he learned the most stunning part -- a cabin attendant on board the ship said Carver was missing, but his boss told him not to report it. Was there a cover-up? And will the Carvers ever know why their daughter disappeared?
Tim Sears began his five-day cruise with his best friend, Mike, looking forward to sun and partying in the Gulf of Mexico. After spending his first day drinking followed by an evening of dancing, the 31-year-old found himself floating in the middle of a pitch-black sea -- alone.
As Sears swam through the night, the party on board continued, with no one even noticing he was gone. After struggling to stay afloat in the ocean for 17 hours, Sears -- disoriented, dehydrated and ready to give up -- spotted another ship and was rescued, 50 miles from land.
Finally, "Primetime" looks at the case of George Smith, who disappeared July 5 while on his honeymoon cruise. His distraught family says the cruise line initially downplayed suspicious circumstances, failing to tell them about evidence that they feel points to foul play.
In short, Smith's family believes he was murdered. Suspicion has centered around four men who allegedly brought Smith back to his cabin the night he vanished -- among them 20-year-old Rusty Kofman. Kofman's attorney talks exclusively to "Primetime" about his version of what happened that night.
