Haiti LISA BISHOP: Disappeared on ship travelling from Miami to Haiti - 17 Dec 1989 - Age 23

ElvIjHF.png


Lisa Bishop was last seen leaving Miami, Florida on December 17, 1988 on a cargo ship named ''The Freedon'' that was destined for Haiti. She was accompanied by its captain Florian Meyer-Bourch along with seven Haitian crew members. Lisa has never been heard from again.

The Freedon was supposed to travel 600 miles past the coast of Cuba to the Haitian port of Gonaives. There were no storms or distress calls during the trip and the Freedon and the crew never arrived at its destination. In April of 1989, an underwater salvager reported seeing the ship in Georgetown Harbor on Grand Cayman Island, over 500 miles from Haiti and two weeks after it was reported missing. Florian Meyer-Bourch was allegedly sighted in the Grand Cayman Islands around the time of Nyberg’s sighting.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
1583557415068.png

Florian Meyer Bourch

Details:
Florian Bourch is a German national and captain of the eighty-two foot freighter called the Freedon. It vanished in December 1988 on a trip from Miami to Haiti with young journalist student Lisa Bishop on board. Lisa was planning to write a story about the economic contrasts between the United States and Haiti. Lisa met Florian at a club, the Metroplex in Atlanta, Georgia, that was owned by her boyfriend Paul Cornwell. Florian told Lisa about the trip, asked if she wanted to go and she accepted.

The ship set sail from Miami bound for Haiti at around 2:30PM on December 17, 1988, but never arrived in Haiti. When the Bishops did not receive a Christmas card from Lisa, they became concerned. Family members of Lisa and other crew members contacted the United States Coast Guard. A search was performed but no trace was found.

In April 1989, two weeks after it was reported missing in a Miami newspaper, an underwater salvager named Bob Nyberg recognized he had seen the ship in Georgetown Harbor on Grand Cayman Island--over 500 miles from Haiti. It is unknown where the ship went afterward, but it gave the Bishops hope that Lisa was still alive. In May of 1989, Paul Cornwell and Bob Nyberg went to Grand Cayman. They found that around the time of Bob's sighting, Bourch was seen alive in the company of an unidentified man. When Paul returned to Miami, a woman told him that the man seen with Florian could have been named Phillippe from Haiti, who had chartered the Freedon. No trace of Lisa was ever found. Before Bob and Paul could investigate further, Florian was gone again. There has been heavy speculation that Bourch and possibly Phillippe could be involved in smuggling; Florian Bourch is still wanted for questioning in Lisa's whereabouts. His whereabouts are unknown.

Extra Notes: This case was first aired on October 17, 1990.
Results: Wanted
 

Lisa bishop1
Lisa Bishop

Real Name:
Lisa Lynn Bishop, seven others whose names are unrevealed
Nicknames: No Known Nicknames
Location: Miami, Florida
Date: December 1988

Bio
Occupation: Journalism student
Date of Birth: 1965
Height: 5' 4"
Weight: 105
Marital Status: Dating
Characteristics: Blond hair, green eyes


Details: The Freedon was an eighty-two-foot tramp freighter that carried its twenty-eight-year-old captain, Florian Meyer-Bourch, twenty-three-year-old journalism student Lisa Bishop, and a crew of seven Haitians. Lisa was planning on writing a story about the World Bank and the economic contrasts between the United States and Haiti.
Lisa met Meyer-Bourch at the Metroplex club in Atlanta, Georgia, which was owned by her boyfriend of three years, Paul Cornwell. Lisa worked there as the manager of the bar. Meyer-Bourch told Lisa about the trip around the Caribbean to Haiti and asked her if she wanted to go; she accepted. Paul was upset when she told him about their trip; however, she claimed that there was nothing romantic between her and Meyer-Bourch.

The ship set sail from Miami at around 2:30 pm on December 17, 1988, but it never arrived in Gonaives, Haiti. When Lisa did not call Paul or her parents on Christmas Day, they became concerned. They, along with the family members of the other crew members, contacted the United States Coast Guard. The Coast Guard searched for the freighter for several days, but no trace of it was found.However, in April of 1989, an underwater salvager named Bob Nyberg read an article about the Freedon and realized that he had seen the ship in Georgetown Harbor on Grand Cayman Island, over 500 miles from Haiti and two weeks after it was reported missing. It is unknown where the ship went after Bob's sighting, but it gave the Bishops hope that Lisa was still alive.

In May of 1989, Paul Cornwell and Bob Nyberg went to Grand Cayman and found that Florian Meyer-Bourch was reported to be seen alive around the time of Nyberg's sighting, and was in the company of an unidentified man. When Paul returned to Miami, he went to visit a woman who had been storing Meyer-Bourch's personal belongings. The woman suggested that the man seen with Meyer-Bourch could be a man named Phillippe from Haiti, who had chartered the Freedon. The woman said that Phillippe may have been involved in smuggling operations.

Before Bob and Paul could investigate further, Meyer-Bourch was gone again. There has been heavy speculation that Meyer-Bourch and possibly Phillippe could be involved in smuggling; Meyer-Bourch is still wanted for questioning in Lisa's whereabouts. The Bishops still hope that they will one day find their daughter and find out what happened to her. The whereabouts of Lisa Bishop, Florian Meyer-Bourch, and the other crew members remain unknown.

Suspects: Florian Meyer Bourch is considered a possible suspect in Lisa's disappearance, along with the disappearances of the other crew members. Phillippe may also be involved in the disappearances.
Extra Notes: This case first aired on the October 17, 1990 episode.

Results: Unsolved. There have been several reported sightings of the Freedon over the years; however, none of these sightings have ever been confirmed. Family members of the Haitian crew members have stated that they have not heard from the crew since 1988. Florian Meyer-Bourch's parents have also stated that they have not heard from him since the 1988 disappearance of the Freedon. Although this suggests that the Freedon may have actually sank, but no trace of it has ever been found.
 
uMU8abal.png

The Planned route of The Freedon

CMv6qJFl.png

In April of 1989, an underwater salvager named Bob Nyberg reported seeing the ship in Georgetown Harbor on Grand Cayman Island, over 500 miles from Haiti where the ship was supposed to be headed.

Quote from Bob Nyberg:
“I remembered that while I was working in Grand Cayman in January of that year, there’d been a boat that came in. We were working underwater, directly in the harbor area where the ships pulled up and tied up. When I heard the ship coming in, we came up, and as I was coming out of the water, we looked back and noticed that the name was Freedon. F-R-E-E-D-O-N. And I made a statement to my friend, that those guys need their freedom, they can’t even spell the word. They were there for some time that afternoon. The next morning the boat was gone.”
 
Very interesting comment


Rosalie Townsend
October 17th, 2016 at 11:11

A lady I met in Bangkok, 3/1991, deceased in 2008, was also involved when the Freedon was docked in Perth. She jumped ship as it pulled out, this was approx. Feb. 1991. I met her in Bangkok and she went on to Singapore. Ship was carrying weapons and coast guard held ship from leaving Perth for several days. She later told me that the ship was found in the pacific just west of San Francisco, Phillipe jumped ship but coast guard got him and case was to go to trial in San Francisco. Phillipe had charmed her and was at one time staying in her home for a short time in Taos, N.M. By this time I’m sure everything about the case is documented and updated. Last I heard from Helen was around 2005. I’m surprised the family of missing girl doesn’t have all this information. I reported all to Unsolved Mysteries shortly after arriving back in Ca. late March 1991.
 
From Reddit:

NEW INFORMATION:

I have been in contact with Lisa Bishop's boyfriend, Paul Cornwell. He very helpfully cleared some points of interest up for me:
  • Florian Meyer-Bourch's real name was Florian Meyer-Borchert. He was originally from Hamburg. Paul was able to establish contact with his parents subsequent to his disappearance. Neither they nor any of Florian's acquaintances have heard from him since 1988. This lends further credence to the theory that the ship sank.
  • The woman with whom Florian stored his possessions was merely an acquaintance. Or, perhaps, an occasional fling. The question of Phillipe's involvement with smuggling was mostly conjecture and supposition on her behalf. But there were sources in Haiti who also hinted at the link.
  • Fascinatingly, the most recent sighting of the FREEDON came in as recently as 3/4 years ago, from a member of the Navy.
  • The Haitian woman in whose name the boat was registered was living in Miami, and is now deceased. Paul also spoke to the families of the Haitian crew members. They, too, have never been accounted for.
  • Paul also searched in vain for a white boat said to be used by the mysterious Phillipe to travel between the islands.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
2,999
Messages
239,167
Members
958
Latest member
Frederick1337
Back
Top Bottom