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on things you don't submarines. A

2:03

word of warning before

2:06

we begin. This episode

2:08

of The Missing

2:10

features references

2:13

to drugs as well

2:15

as drug addiction. If

2:18

you or anyone you

2:20

know is currently

2:23

battling drug addiction,

2:26

you can find

2:28

some helpful resources in

2:30

our show notes. A

2:32

series of events that

2:35

tend to unfold in

2:37

a particular predictable order,

2:39

no matter where in the

2:41

world you might be. Authorities

2:43

are contacted. Family and

2:46

friends are spoken to.

2:48

Steps are retraced. Posters

2:50

are distributed. And in

2:52

higher profile cases at

2:54

least, the media shines a

2:56

light on proceedings. But what

2:59

happens when someone goes missing?

3:01

and it's unclear who is

3:04

responsible for their recovery.

3:06

When no one wants to step

3:08

up and take on the

3:10

difficult task of leading a

3:13

missing person investigation, what do

3:15

you do when no one is

3:17

accountable? That is the nightmare scenario

3:20

that Teresa Carter was

3:22

faced with, when her

3:24

son Paul went missing

3:26

from a ferry which

3:29

was travelling from Portsmouth

3:31

to France. in April

3:33

2007. Between the UK

3:35

police, the French authorities

3:38

and the ferry operators,

3:40

she couldn't find anyone

3:42

willing to take charge of

3:44

her son's case. More than

3:47

17 years later, Teresa

3:49

is still looking for

3:51

answers. I'm Pandora Sykes

3:54

and you're listening to

3:56

the missing. A What's

3:59

the story? original podcast

4:02

series brought to

4:04

you with the

4:07

help of the

4:09

charities missing people

4:11

and locate international.

4:14

They believe that

4:16

all of the

4:19

cases in this

4:21

series could still

4:23

be solved. This

4:25

is the missing Paul

4:28

Carter. Paul's mother Teresa

4:30

knew that life wouldn't be easy for

4:33

her child. From the word go

4:35

he was a very sick child

4:37

to be fair and he was

4:39

hard work and it was always

4:41

poorly in and out of hospital

4:43

with all different sorts of things

4:46

until eventually he reached the age sort

4:48

of five and things seemed to get

4:50

a lot better for him. And

4:52

suddenly the responsibility

4:54

of raising and providing and

4:57

providing for Paul. was left

4:59

resting entirely on Teresa's

5:02

shoulders. After six weeks, Paul's

5:04

dad left us. So I brought

5:06

Lindsay and Paul up on my

5:08

own for ten years. You know,

5:10

you have bills to pay, you

5:12

have a mortgage to keep the

5:14

roof over the heads. So I

5:16

was working two jobs at the

5:18

time. I was a dental nurse which

5:21

I used to do three evenings

5:23

a week at their surgery and

5:25

I used to work in a

5:27

florish shop with one of my

5:30

friends so it was just some

5:32

do anything really to you know

5:34

we were brought up with a very

5:36

strong work ethic and we just

5:38

had to go and earn a

5:41

pay. Thankfully Teresa's family

5:43

were able to lend

5:45

a helping hand throughout

5:47

this challenging time. It takes a

5:49

village after all. I've got a very close

5:51

network family, so yeah, I couldn't

5:53

have probably done it without them. My

5:56

dad used to sort of step in

5:58

and pick the children. up from

6:00

school. I used to hang on

6:02

to them until I could get

6:04

back. You know at that time

6:06

I lived about sort of 20

6:08

miles away from my parents and

6:10

sometimes when they were ill it

6:13

was just me and the kids.

6:15

Despite his health issues Paul

6:17

was a very affectionate child,

6:19

always ready to offer up a

6:22

hug to any willing recipient.

6:24

Very loving. Paul grew up

6:26

adoring his sister, really... really

6:28

loved his family. For Teresa,

6:31

cultivating a strong

6:33

bond between her kids and

6:35

her wider family was her

6:37

number one priority. We're a

6:40

very close Irish family,

6:42

so loved, you know visiting my

6:44

mom and dad and also taking

6:46

the trips over to Ireland which

6:49

he loved as much as I

6:51

do. My mom is from Dublin.

6:53

or was from Dublin, I had.

6:55

And my dad was a Wexford

6:57

yellowbilly, he was from Rossley. Waterford

7:00

is a place that Paul and Lindsay

7:02

used to go to their cousins and

7:05

stay for, you know, the summer holidays.

7:07

So he spent a lot of time

7:09

over there as a young child, which

7:11

he loved. In Ireland's sunny south-east, Paul

7:13

and his older sister had the kind

7:16

of summers Ena Blyton wrote about,

7:18

getting up to all sorts of good-natured,

7:21

good-natured pranks. They

7:23

tell me stories now, or Lindsay certainly

7:25

does tell me stories of, you know,

7:27

how they all used to get up

7:29

and go into the woods and make

7:31

a campfire and I don't know what

7:33

else they used to do, but they're

7:35

their fond memories now that we

7:37

didn't know anything about that. But

7:39

that's what kids do, I suppose.

7:42

But far from the rolling hills of

7:44

Waterford, back in the much more regimented

7:46

setting of his classroom

7:48

in Erdington, Paul struggled.

7:51

He simply couldn't concentrate.

7:53

His attention was always elsewhere, and

7:55

his continual lack of comprehension

7:57

during his lessons left him

7:59

endlessly. frustrated. In hindsight,

8:02

Teresa believes he had undiagnosed

8:04

learning difficulties. I'd possibly think

8:06

that maybe he had a

8:08

few mental issues, mental issues

8:10

such as I think he

8:12

was a little bit autistic

8:14

in his way and it's

8:16

only become more lighter now

8:18

that my grandson has autism

8:20

that you see. some sort

8:22

of pattern. He just got

8:24

through his school day, but

8:26

he certainly didn't win any

8:29

academic prizes. Despite or perhaps

8:31

because of the issues he

8:33

was grappling with at school,

8:35

Paul found other avenues of

8:37

self-expression. He used to like

8:39

art, never a painter, but

8:41

sort of sketching, and at

8:43

the time it was all

8:45

the graffiti writing that they...

8:47

that was just coming to

8:49

light and I think he

8:51

used to do that in

8:53

a pad. I don't know

8:55

if he did it outside,

8:57

he never owned up to

8:59

it if he did, but

9:02

he used to have a

9:04

pad with all his drawings

9:06

and sketches and graffiti type

9:08

writing as far as I'm

9:10

aware he didn't do it

9:12

outside or never owned up

9:14

to it. No, he sure,

9:16

he's in a bankruptcy anyway,

9:18

no. Paul wasn't very comfortable

9:20

socially, he was much more

9:22

relaxed, surrounded by family. Paul

9:24

had a few friends, very

9:26

close to Lindsay, but I

9:28

think it was just normal

9:30

brother-sister, you know, she would

9:32

rant off at him, but

9:34

he would never go back

9:37

at her. He was a

9:39

really nice kid, to be

9:41

fair. We used to go

9:43

out to a local social

9:45

club where my mum and

9:47

dad used to go, and

9:49

he'd rather come out with

9:51

us than go. He never

9:53

really went nightclubing, or, you

9:55

know, I would be the

9:57

like so to speak. So

10:02

when Lindsay got pregnant and left home

10:04

at 17, Paul took

10:06

her departure hard. His

10:08

metaphorical security blanket was now

10:10

gone. But on the

10:12

other hand, he relished his

10:14

new role as an uncle. When

10:17

she had the little one, when

10:19

she had Paige, Paul absolutely adored

10:21

her and you would see him carrying

10:23

her around, playing with

10:25

her. He just loved, he loved the

10:27

bones of her, really did. But

10:30

I think he missed, he missed

10:32

Lindsay. He missed their time together.

10:34

And I, you know, listening to

10:36

Lindsay now, she talks about how

10:38

she missed Paul's. He used to

10:40

make her laugh all the time. And

10:43

she misses that more than

10:45

anything really. After

10:47

leaving school, Paul, like

10:50

many young people his age, wasn't quite

10:52

sure what his next move should

10:54

be. As time went on,

10:57

and no plans seemed to be forthcoming, Theresa

10:59

worried that her son was rudderless.

11:02

It was never really anything he wanted

11:04

to do. It didn't seem

11:06

to have any ambition to do

11:08

much at all, really. You know, he

11:10

loved his music. That was that

11:12

was a that was a good thing.

11:15

And he used to think he'd like

11:17

to be a DJ. And I think that was

11:19

probably the only thing I could say he did.

11:21

He loved his music. He did love music. Family

11:23

members pitched in to help when and

11:26

where they could. An effort to set Paul

11:28

on a path that might stick. Anything

11:30

that might inspire him to find his purpose.

11:33

My dad used to keep him busy.

11:35

You know, he had jobs to

11:38

do. My dad used to have

11:40

a classic car, which he used

11:42

to rebuild. And so Paul spent

11:44

quite a lot of time with dad.

11:46

And dad used to make him

11:48

do jobs to earn his

11:50

pocket money. Paul

11:52

eventually caught a break and found

11:55

himself some work. But it wasn't

11:57

always plain sailing. He had

11:59

a couple of jobs. but never really

12:01

held it down because by the

12:03

time he was sort of 17

12:05

he got in with the crowd

12:08

and the next thing I know

12:10

Paul's taking drugs. It

12:12

was just an absolute

12:14

nightmare for us all really

12:16

to accept me more than

12:18

most. For some time Paul had

12:21

been living something of a

12:23

double life which came as

12:25

a complete shock to his mother.

12:29

He was sort of saying he was

12:31

going to work. He was working

12:33

for just a local builder

12:36

and just laboring. Whilst it

12:38

made sense in hindsight and

12:40

helped explain much of Paul's

12:43

odd behaviour in recent months,

12:45

Teresa will never forget the

12:47

day the truth came out. My

12:50

dad knew, to be honestly knew

12:52

everybody, and I had a phone call

12:54

asking where Paul was. And he'd

12:57

been going out as if he

12:59

was going to work, but he

13:01

wasn't actually going there at

13:03

all. Then once we'd actually

13:05

started questioning about

13:08

it, that's when he admitted it

13:10

to my dad, that he was

13:12

taking drugs and he didn't know

13:14

how to get out of it.

13:16

Paul had gotten in over his

13:18

head and found himself

13:21

surrounded by people more

13:23

than willing. to take advantage

13:25

of his better nature

13:27

and his naivety. Paul was

13:29

never a leader, he was a follower

13:31

and I think they used that as

13:34

well, you know, because we'd found

13:36

out he was selling his own

13:39

stuff, never anything, he never

13:41

stole from us, but he'd

13:43

sell his own equipment and

13:45

it would be just on

13:47

the off chance that I'd go

13:49

into his room and notice

13:51

something that was missing. And

13:54

that's when it sort of all

13:56

tumbled down up my

13:58

whole sort of... Paul fell

14:01

deeper and deeper into

14:03

addiction and he slowly

14:05

but surely transformed into

14:07

a different person in

14:09

front of Teresa's eyes.

14:11

He just sort of,

14:13

he went into himself

14:15

more than usual. He

14:17

couldn't deal with it

14:19

either, if that makes

14:21

sense. Paul wasn't in

14:23

denial about his problems.

14:25

he understood that what

14:27

he was doing was

14:29

hurting both him and

14:31

the people who loved

14:33

him. He was so

14:35

so remorseful every time

14:37

we spoke about it

14:39

and he just said

14:41

I'm so sorry I've

14:43

let you down so

14:45

we just have to

14:47

pull together really and

14:49

try and resolve or

14:51

help him through it.

14:53

Anyone whose family has

14:55

been affected by addiction.

14:57

knows that witnessing someone go through

14:59

withdrawal is a harrowing experience. It's

15:02

a scenario Teresa is all too

15:04

familiar with. You know, there was

15:06

nights I had to sit up

15:08

with him, and he'd be trying

15:10

to sort of go cold turkey,

15:12

so to speak, as I know

15:15

the termination is now. It was

15:17

absolutely terrible. It's hard enough to

15:19

see your child in pain. with

15:21

anything, you know, from a full

15:23

to scrape their knee to what

15:26

he went through with the operations

15:28

that he had as a child

15:30

and seeing him go all through

15:32

that. And then just sort of

15:34

seeing him crippled over with pain

15:36

and pleading, the pleading to let

15:39

him out. It was just horrendous.

15:41

It was just a really, really

15:43

terrible time. You want to help

15:45

him, but you don't know how

15:47

to help him. So it was

15:50

just a matter of, you know,

15:52

you could run a bath for

15:54

him and they'd say or give

15:56

him. with Epsom salts, you know,

15:58

like that's going to make any

16:00

difference. But we did and I

16:03

need to sit in the bath

16:05

and I'd sit outside the door

16:07

and then I'd sit in the

16:09

bedroom with him and he'd be

16:11

crying and he'd be pleading and

16:13

that was the hard thing that

16:16

pleaded. And in the same sentence

16:18

he'd be saying, sorry mom, I'm

16:20

really sorry mom, but I need

16:22

to go out, I need to go. And then

16:24

as you say, you know, you've got to

16:27

sleep and I'd wake up and he be

16:29

gone. It starts again then, you have

16:31

to go and find him, because

16:33

he used to go missing for days.

16:35

Paul was desperate to take the

16:37

pain away. And whenever this happened,

16:39

Teresa would get in her

16:41

car and drive around Urdington, looking

16:44

for her son. It was

16:46

horrendous. I mean, I was never on

16:48

my own. It was usually the three

16:50

of us, Derek, my dad and myself.

16:52

When you find, you know, you

16:54

ask people, where's Paul, if you're

16:56

seeing Paul, yeah, he's at this

16:59

address and you go to the

17:01

address and it's like a dive and,

17:03

you know, one occasion, my dad

17:05

used to have a Bolvo estate

17:07

car and Derek used to drive

17:09

and they'd ever allowed me to

17:12

go knocking on the doors, but, you

17:14

know, dad would go because dad

17:16

was quite a hard person, really

17:18

tough nut. And he'd go and he'd

17:20

say, I want Paul out now. And

17:22

he'd been beaten up because

17:25

he couldn't pay the money back

17:27

that he owed them and

17:29

they'd be holding him at

17:31

ransom really almost for it. On

17:34

more than one occasion, Teresa

17:36

put herself in danger to

17:38

get Paul home. And the one

17:40

time, we just had to reverse

17:42

right up to the front door, throw

17:44

Paul in the car and drive off

17:47

like we were, you know, like we

17:49

were thieves in the night, so to

17:51

speak. It was just terrible,

17:53

terrible times and a

17:56

terrible place for anybody

17:58

to be in really. But

18:00

he was my son and my dad

18:02

adored him, you know, he just just

18:04

said I can't give up on him

18:06

Tracer, you know. And we didn't give

18:08

up on him, we just kept going. Eventually

18:12

Paul was prescribed a medication

18:14

known as subatex to help

18:16

ease his cravings slowly but

18:18

surely. And he began to

18:20

turn a corner. He

18:25

was on that a couple

18:27

of weeks and he was a

18:29

changed person. He was Paul

18:31

back because they're not the same

18:33

person, you know, when they're

18:36

taking those drugs. But then when

18:38

he was on this, on

18:40

subatex, he was back to the

18:42

old Paul again and back

18:44

to, you know, socialising with us.

18:46

Back to having fun again.

18:49

He was smiling, he was happy

18:51

and just glad to be

18:53

back. I think he was, yeah,

18:55

because we did lose, you

18:57

know, I felt we lost him.

19:00

Theresa decided a change of

19:02

scene would do Paul the world

19:04

of good. She wanted to

19:06

put some miles between her son

19:08

and the negative influences in

19:11

his life. While sending him somewhere,

19:13

she knew he'd be comfortable,

19:15

somewhere that could have a positive

19:17

influence on Paul. So we

19:19

shipped him off really, I suppose,

19:21

to Ireland and he did

19:24

really well. He was there for

19:26

about 12 months and he

19:28

got a job and working in

19:30

a local garage and he

19:32

was really, really good. And then

19:35

after about 12 months, he

19:37

wanted to come back home. So

19:39

he did, he came back

19:41

home and everything was okay. It

19:43

was after returning to the

19:46

UK that Paul first became acquainted

19:48

with a man named Mark.

19:50

Introduced by a family member, Mark

19:52

became both friend and occasional

19:54

work colleague. For two years on

19:57

and off, there was a

19:59

friend. I don't know if

20:01

he was a friend, but he

20:03

was a neighbor of my dad's

20:05

who owned a sheet in France.

20:07

So a couple of times a

20:09

year Paul, he was working and

20:11

it used to take holiday time

20:13

off and go to France with

20:15

a couple of other lads who

20:17

used to do laboring for them.

20:19

So he used to get a

20:21

holiday as well as earning, you know,

20:23

in these holidays and enjoyed going.

20:25

It was a group of lads

20:28

and they'd have fun while they

20:30

were over there and you know

20:32

go for a few points and

20:34

all sorts and it and he

20:36

was really really quite happy with

20:38

that and there didn't seem to

20:40

be any of any problems at

20:42

all. Teresa was just happy that

20:44

Paul had acquired some semi-regular

20:46

work and that he was

20:49

around new people whose lives

20:51

didn't revolve around heroin. even

20:53

if not everything about this

20:56

arrangement was entirely above board.

20:58

If there was obviously three people

21:00

there he could bring three of

21:03

the amount of cigarettes and he

21:05

used to sell them over it

21:07

back in Birmingham so he used

21:09

to use their allowance to bring

21:11

the amount of that stuff back

21:13

and then he would sell it on

21:15

but he wouldn't give the lads much if

21:17

you know what I mean he was he

21:19

didn't let them away with

21:22

anything. Paul didn't seem to worry

21:24

about that. He used to be

21:26

happy if he'd just got some

21:29

cigarettes. This carried on for

21:31

a couple of years, until

21:33

one day in April 2007. He

21:35

was still living with us, and

21:38

we took him down to my dad's

21:40

who lived opposite this person

21:42

that he was going with.

21:44

So I dropped him off before

21:46

I went to work. I've done

21:49

the usual things getting in his

21:51

pop and his crisp, that's where

21:53

he likes to drink the Coca-Cola

21:56

and his crisps and for the

21:58

journey onto the ferry. Seemingly

22:00

out of the blue, Paul began

22:02

having reservations about returning to France.

22:04

He said to me, Mom, I

22:06

don't want to go. And I

22:09

said, why? What's the matter? And

22:11

he said, I just don't want

22:13

to go, Mom. And I said,

22:15

OK. And then discussion with my

22:17

dad, and it was decided that

22:19

because Mark had paid for their

22:21

tickets, I said, look, son, just

22:23

you can't let them out down

22:25

or you can't let your dad

22:27

down. So just go and if

22:29

you want to come back the

22:31

next day just ringmate and I'll

22:33

get you a ticket back but

22:35

just go anyway and just I'll

22:37

get you back if if things

22:39

are not working out. Teresa has

22:41

since replayed that conversation countless times

22:44

in her head gone over it

22:46

word by word searching for an

22:48

explanation as to what happened next.

22:50

In retrospect because that's the only

22:52

way I can look at it

22:54

now. He was different when I

22:56

look at him like when I

22:58

think about it now. He was

23:00

just distanted. He just like mom,

23:02

I just don't want to go.

23:04

There was there was some reason

23:06

and it's like a big piece

23:08

of a jigsaw missing but I

23:10

just sort of said well what

23:12

what is it? I wanted an

23:14

answer from him an affinity of

23:16

answer but he just didn't or

23:19

he couldn't give it to me.

23:21

He just kept saying I just

23:23

don't want to go mom but

23:25

persuaded him. and I said I

23:27

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23:29

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25:09

details. Paul Mark and the

25:11

rest of the labourers got into

25:13

a car and made the four-hour

25:15

drive from Birmingham to Portsmouth,

25:17

where they boarded a ferry bound for

25:19

the port of San Mallo. in Brittany

25:22

in the northwest of

25:24

France. If I remember

25:26

it correctly, it was

25:28

sailing at about 11

25:30

o'clock on the night and

25:32

they were due to dock at

25:34

6am the following morning.

25:37

The following day, April

25:39

the 22nd, Teresa's father's

25:42

phone rang. It was Mark.

25:44

I think it was about

25:46

1130 in the morning and

25:48

he phoned. telephone my

25:50

dad and subsequently my

25:53

dad then phoned me

25:55

and I was in Birmingham

25:58

City Centre shop. on

26:00

that day I think. And Dad

26:02

just sort of said he needed

26:04

to come home. I

26:07

thought there was something wrong with mom

26:09

or dad and well mom or and

26:12

he just said look I'm not

26:14

talking about it on the phone

26:16

I need you to come home

26:18

now. It was about 12 30

26:20

when I actually got back to

26:23

my parents house and my dad

26:25

had told me that Paul wasn't

26:27

there they couldn't find him. Theresa

26:29

could scarcely believe what she was

26:31

hearing panic blind panic began to

26:33

set in. I

26:36

couldn't tell you what went through

26:38

my head at that time total confusion.

26:41

Theresa listened as her father recounted

26:43

Mark's version of events. He

26:45

said what had happened was he

26:48

never paid for a cabin for them that

26:50

they just used to you know dust

26:52

down on the floor or

26:54

wherever. And Paul was last

26:56

seen at midnight when he

26:58

was having a couple of drinks

27:00

with another guy that

27:02

was there talking to a

27:04

couple of bar mates. This is

27:06

what we've got back since the

27:09

one guy that Paul was drinking

27:11

with that only had three points

27:13

of lager and then he went

27:15

off with this bar mate and

27:17

Paul stayed in the bar and

27:19

then he said to this girl

27:21

about midnight I'm going I'm going to

27:23

go in for a cigarette and I'm going to

27:25

get my head down and that that

27:27

was it pretty much. Mark

27:29

not booking cabins for his

27:31

labourers wasn't unusual. No they

27:34

used to he never had cabins for

27:36

them and this is how Paul

27:38

was. Mark had taken

27:40

his dad who was quite

27:42

elderly with them that time

27:44

and Paul actually went around and

27:46

found his dad a cabin

27:48

an empty cabin. He said I

27:50

can't let your dad sleep on the

27:52

floor that's not right but and he

27:55

purposely went around and found an empty

27:57

cabin and he got the older

27:59

man to to go in and

28:01

have a proper rest, which his

28:03

own son didn't even do. That

28:05

shines a light on how Paul,

28:08

respectful of people and thoughtful, that's

28:10

how he was. But when the

28:12

ferry docked at San Mallo, at

28:14

6am the following morning, Paul was

28:16

nowhere to be seen. So you're

28:19

running through all these scenarios in

28:21

your head of what could have

28:23

happened. because we couldn't get any

28:25

answers that initially off anybody. Our

28:27

first thoughts were, he's probably gone

28:30

off with a girl somewhere and

28:32

we'll know a bit later. All

28:34

the obvious checks were made. Was

28:36

it certain he'd got on board?

28:39

Was there a chance he'd stayed

28:41

on board to come straight back?

28:43

Had there been an accident? With

28:45

every scenario, the friends' fears and

28:47

tension grew. And then... The family

28:50

learned that the ferry was now

28:52

on its way back to the

28:54

UK, where a more detailed search

28:56

could take place. My dad and

28:59

my husband, Derek, they were talking

29:01

to Brittany ferries and they said

29:03

that they'd had to turn around

29:05

and go back, so that we

29:07

would have to wait till they

29:10

docked back in the UK before

29:12

they could tell us if they

29:14

checked, so that they could check

29:16

everywhere, every room or... every cabin

29:19

to see whether he was in

29:21

a cupboard somewhere, you know. That

29:23

was a long long time. We

29:25

had to count thinking, he must

29:27

be on that boat somewhere. He's

29:30

sleeping in a cupboard somewhere or

29:32

he's with a girl or he's

29:34

got off with a girl or

29:36

whatever the case might be. As

29:39

soon as this boat docks now,

29:41

we'll have an answer to say

29:43

that Paul's, you know, he's actually

29:45

back in the UK and we'll

29:47

have to go and pick him

29:50

up from Portsmouth. So it was

29:52

kept on a bit of a

29:54

lighter note at that stage. Teresa

29:56

waited by the phone all day,

29:58

pacing the... landing, her eyes fixed

30:01

on the receiver, hoping she'd pick

30:03

it up and hear Paul's voice

30:05

down the line. Later on that

30:07

night that we got the phone call

30:09

to say that he wasn't on the

30:11

boat, that was when sort of our

30:13

search started. But before Teresa

30:16

and Derek could begin their

30:18

search in earnest, they were paid

30:20

an abrupt and unexpected visit by

30:23

the UK police. I was woken

30:25

up with the... banging of the

30:27

police on the door and I

30:29

thought oh my god they found

30:32

him he's not with us anymore

30:34

and it was they we've got

30:36

to come and check the house

30:38

in case you've got him it's

30:41

like what what do you mean

30:43

well it could be anywhere so

30:45

you've got 11 o'clock at

30:48

night police searching your lofts

30:50

and your garden and sheds

30:52

and It was horrendous, there

30:55

was just police everywhere.

30:57

And it was like that they'd,

31:00

they'd hadn't ticked that box, you

31:02

know, that's what it felt like.

31:04

Oh, they hadn't ticked that box

31:06

two days ago. So we'd better

31:09

go back now and, and we'd

31:11

better search the house. So in a

31:13

way, you know, it's got, you know,

31:15

it had to happen, but it was

31:17

just the so insensitive way

31:19

it happened. quickly turned

31:21

into a bureaucratic nightmare due

31:24

to the sheer amount of

31:26

red tape, Teresa was forced

31:28

to contend with. There was

31:30

initially three police involved in

31:32

this and that was the

31:35

West Midlands police for us

31:37

here. They didn't really want

31:39

to take responsibility because they

31:41

said it was in the

31:43

international waters. Then there was

31:46

the Havisham police that were

31:48

based in Portsmouth. again said,

31:50

well, you know, did he get on

31:52

the ship? Yes, he did. Was he

31:55

seen? Yes, he was. Then it's not

31:57

our problem. You need to be talking

31:59

to the French police. And

32:01

the French police

32:03

were just useless, absolutely

32:05

useless. They wouldn't even

32:07

talk to us initially. It seemed

32:10

appalling to the family that they

32:12

were being batted away in that

32:14

hour of need. By the very

32:16

people they assumed would come to

32:18

their aid, they

32:22

hoped they'd have better luck with the

32:24

Coast Guard. They said to

32:26

us, you know, he could

32:28

have been gone overboard. They

32:30

told Dad that they'd sent

32:33

a search party of

32:35

helicopters out and the lifeboats,

32:37

etc. And they

32:39

said they didn't find anything,

32:41

obviously. And his

32:44

theory was that they knew

32:46

the last time Paul was

32:48

seen was midnight. And they

32:50

knew that they docked at

32:52

6am the following morning. So

32:55

in between those hours, it

32:57

was very, very calm seas. They

33:01

made a statement that they thought

33:03

because of where they know where

33:05

the tides are coming in, etc.

33:07

That it was such a calm

33:09

night that they would have found

33:11

Paul or something belonging to him. That

33:14

was what their statement was. So

33:16

they didn't believe he'd actually

33:18

gone overboard. But

33:20

they couldn't give you 100 % on that,

33:22

of course. Brittany Ferries

33:24

didn't take any responsibility

33:26

for it either, which

33:28

was really surprising to

33:31

me. You know,

33:33

a person goes missing off your bone.

33:35

And I didn't even get a

33:37

courtesy phone call. The Coast

33:39

Guard said initially, at least, that

33:41

the odds of Paul going

33:44

overboard without anyone realising were low.

33:47

Such incidences in general are

33:49

incredibly rare. So

33:51

Paul's family began to wonder

33:53

if he'd simply disembarked at

33:55

San Malo without any of his

33:57

colleagues or the ferry staff. knowledge.

34:00

So there was conflicting advice

34:02

all the time. They were

34:04

saying that because Paul's bag

34:06

and his passport was still

34:08

in the car, they said

34:11

Paul couldn't have walked, come

34:13

off as a walking passenger

34:15

because he hadn't got his

34:17

passport. It felt like as

34:19

soon as there was hope

34:22

it was dashed. Days soon

34:24

turned into weeks and still

34:26

there was no new information.

34:28

Nothing definitive. Nothing

34:30

actionable. Eventually, fed up

34:32

with the lack of progress

34:35

from the authorities on

34:37

both sides of the English

34:39

Channel, Teresa and her

34:41

husband Derek decided to recreate

34:43

Paul's journey themselves. So

34:49

we had to prove that

34:51

theory was wrong and we did

34:53

just that. We

34:55

found out there was no cameras,

34:57

no CCTV on the boats at

34:59

all, only on the licence plates

35:01

and that was a bit hit

35:04

and miss. So for all intents

35:06

and purposes they could have locked

35:08

him in a car and you

35:10

know drove driven off in a

35:12

boot. It was

35:14

a couple of months afterwards. We

35:17

went over and you

35:19

know nobody asked for passports.

35:21

Teresa thought that perhaps

35:23

she might have better luck

35:25

with the French authorities

35:27

in person. She

35:29

did all she could to appeal

35:31

to their human nature. Some

35:34

of them must be parents too,

35:36

she thought. They could surely

35:38

empathise with her plight. Sadly,

35:41

Teresa was quickly

35:43

disabused of that notion.

35:46

The French police

35:48

were really, really not

35:50

helpful at all.

35:52

They wouldn't allow me

35:54

to put any

35:57

posters up around St

35:59

Marlowe. That just

36:01

wasn't allowed. So I

36:03

had to take

36:05

my iPad with me.

36:08

the picture of Paul and have the

36:10

details translated so that we could just

36:12

walk around which we did for two

36:14

days going into every pub and every

36:16

place that we went into asking if

36:19

they'd seen him or you know do

36:21

they know of him. Paul was 22,

36:23

an adult. You come up against confidentiality

36:25

problems then so hospitals wouldn't... So, you

36:27

know, we can't tell you if he's

36:30

there or he's not police

36:32

stations, not interested. We went

36:34

to the international police station and

36:36

they wouldn't even check on their

36:38

computer to see whether, I was

36:41

like, well, if he hasn't got

36:43

a passport, he could have been

36:45

picked up, he could be in

36:47

the nick somewhere, can you just

36:49

look for me? And they said,

36:51

well, we can't get anybody to

36:53

translate to you in broken English

36:55

until tomorrow at X amount of

36:57

time. They just wasn't helpful at

37:00

all. So it was really really

37:02

difficult. As time went

37:04

by, Teresa began to

37:06

wonder if, given Paul's

37:08

past, perhaps he'd managed

37:11

to get himself caught up

37:13

in some illicit activity.

37:15

Maybe he owed someone money.

37:18

Someone who wasn't willing

37:20

to wait for payment.

37:22

And my theory is that I

37:25

think maybe... He'd got into

37:27

maybe bringing drugs over

37:29

and Paul was afraid of that

37:31

because he wasn't a brave

37:33

person. Paul wasn't, he wasn't brave

37:35

at all. And if that was the

37:38

case, then she needed to have

37:40

a conversation with Mark. The

37:42

person who took Paul over, I

37:44

couldn't get to speak to him

37:46

for three years after Paul went

37:49

missing. And then it was

37:51

only just by my best

37:53

friend bumping bumping into him.

37:55

that she said we need to speak

37:58

to you about what happened. that

38:02

he arranged a meeting with me.

38:05

Theresa remembers that meeting all

38:07

too well. It was

38:09

a bizarre encounter. He

38:11

was prancing like a lion

38:13

around the room all

38:15

the time. He didn't sit

38:17

down with me and say, look

38:20

Theresa, this is what happened. You know,

38:22

we did our best or we

38:24

didn't do our best or he

38:26

just sort of said, well, this is

38:28

what's happened. Theresa couldn't get

38:30

a read on him. Mark was

38:32

aloof and distant, keeping his

38:34

cards close to his chest. If

38:38

he had any sympathy at all, he

38:40

wasn't showing it. With nothing

38:42

conclusive gained from that conversation,

38:44

Theresa found herself back where

38:46

she started, none the

38:48

wiser as to her son's movements

38:50

after he first set foot on

38:52

that ferry. It

38:54

was a complete and utter

38:56

mystery, one that no one

38:58

was in any rush to solve, apart

39:01

from her. There was nothing,

39:03

no follow -ups done at all,

39:05

as if, you know, he'd

39:08

gone missing. That was it. He

39:10

was just missing adults. He was

39:12

just on a jolly somewhere. Eventually,

39:14

after months of being stonewalled

39:17

by the authorities, Theresa caught

39:19

a break. There

39:22

was a person that came,

39:24

approached, that she was actually on

39:26

the ferry and she had

39:28

said to the police, this

39:30

was the only thing that we got back, was

39:33

that she'd seen somebody

39:35

walk off the boat

39:37

that looked like

39:40

Paul and she

39:42

said, I was convinced

39:44

it was Paul because he

39:46

has a tattoo on

39:48

his arm and she recalls seeing

39:50

that but she said he looked

39:52

lost, like he didn't know

39:55

where he was going and he

39:57

was just walking out with a carrier

39:59

bag and she She didn't live in

40:01

St Marlow, she lived some

40:03

miles away from it but she

40:05

came back and told them

40:07

her beliefs were she'd seen Paul

40:09

off the ferry. They didn't

40:11

follow it up, that was just,

40:13

you know, that was it,

40:15

dead end. Theresa

40:17

felt utterly helpless at this

40:19

point. No one was taking

40:21

her seriously and she felt

40:23

like she was slowly and

40:25

surely exhausting her options. There

40:27

was only one place left

40:29

to turn. I went to

40:31

the media and I asked

40:33

them for help if they

40:35

could get Paul's story and

40:37

profile out there and

40:40

it was all arranged but

40:42

it was about a week after

40:44

he'd gone missing and we'd

40:46

got them all the media were

40:48

coming to my home address

40:50

and we'd got radio stations and

40:52

television and then that was

40:54

the day that Little Maddie went

40:56

missing. British

41:00

national Madeline McCann was

41:02

just three years old when

41:04

she vanished from Portugal

41:07

in May 2007. Her

41:09

disappearance is one of the

41:11

most heavily covered and scrutinized missing

41:13

person cases of the 21st

41:15

century and it caught fire in

41:18

a way that meant it

41:20

eclipsed all other cases in a

41:22

similar vein. Paul's

41:24

story was just dropped

41:26

and I was just left

41:28

and I understood that

41:31

you know she was a

41:33

little child and it

41:35

didn't make it any easier

41:37

and then I tried

41:39

again pleading for help and

41:41

I had to wait

41:43

you know they were saying

41:45

well it doesn't sell

41:47

stories they did little peace

41:49

but then I had

41:52

to wait till Paul had

41:54

been missing for a

41:56

hundred days before they could

41:58

get a headline you

42:00

know missing adult doesn't sell

42:02

papers and then we

42:04

had a hurricane. in Birmingham, strangely enough,

42:06

that just sort of came through. Them headlines was

42:08

more important than Paul's story. Teresa

42:11

was at her wits end.

42:13

She didn't know what else

42:15

she could possibly do. That

42:17

was pretty much my life

42:19

then for six months. I

42:22

was frightened to go out

42:24

in case I missed him.

42:26

He could phone me. and

42:29

I might miss the

42:31

call, but then anytime

42:33

anybody knocked on the

42:35

door, my heart was

42:37

in my mouth thinking,

42:40

this is where they're

42:42

going to tell me

42:44

he's not here anymore.

42:47

And since that day,

42:49

I don't know why I'll

42:52

do it, but it's just,

42:54

I need to. if she was

42:56

to have any chance of moving past

42:58

her grief. I couldn't stay in

43:00

the house anymore because obviously it was

43:02

his room, it was his things, it

43:05

was Paul was there in a big

43:07

way and so you sell up and

43:09

you move and then you feel guilty

43:11

about moving in case he comes

43:13

back to the original address. So

43:15

you go back there and you tell

43:17

the neighbours look if this is what

43:19

happens, if Paul comes back, please let

43:21

me know. you know the local pub but

43:23

if you see Paul please let me know

43:26

you know that all that sort of thing

43:28

you constantly so I can't

43:30

change my house anymore so I'll change

43:32

my car and and it was also

43:35

always trying to replace something that's

43:37

never going to be replaced

43:39

if you can understand that. More

43:41

than anything Teresa wants definitive

43:44

answers about what happened

43:46

on that ferry. It's limbo

43:48

it's just that horrible. You

43:50

know, you're constantly living with

43:53

the fear that they're going to

43:55

find him not alive. And so

43:57

you think, oh gosh, how would I do

43:59

that? with that and I won't

44:01

ever stop searching for him

44:03

and we've had a couple of possible

44:06

sightings now and you

44:08

know they haven't come to anything but

44:10

what do you do as you can't

44:12

I can't give up on him you

44:14

know I went on to be

44:17

a midwife and you know

44:19

I truly believe mothers know

44:21

when there's a problem you know

44:23

I genuinely believe that Paul

44:25

is alive I think I would

44:27

know if he wasn't I would hope

44:29

I would feel it even that

44:31

you question people

44:33

think you're crazy sometimes

44:35

but he's alive

44:38

until they prove me otherwise in

44:43

many cases it takes just

44:45

one piece of information to

44:47

lead police and family to

44:50

the answers they crave were

44:52

you on the ferry from

44:54

Portsmouth to Sanmallow on the

44:56

night of April the 21st

44:58

2007 perhaps you were in

45:00

Sanmallow on the 22nd and

45:02

saw Paul get off the

45:04

ferry or somewhere in the

45:07

local area if so we

45:09

need to hear

45:11

from you even if you've

45:13

never heard of Paul

45:15

Carter before listening to this

45:17

episode you could still

45:19

help visit our website themissingpodcast

45:21

.org and take a look

45:23

at Paul's photo does

45:25

his picture ring any bells

45:27

visit our website

45:29

themissingpodcast .org where you'll

45:32

find more information on

45:34

every other case we

45:36

featured in the series on

45:39

our site you can join

45:41

the conversation and help with the

45:43

investigation there's a dedicated

45:46

forum moderated carefully by Locate

45:48

where you can get updates

45:50

on the case share

45:52

your theories and discuss

45:54

the facts with real

45:56

investigators from Locate International is

46:00

also made with the help

46:02

of missing people, a charity

46:04

who offers support to the

46:07

families of the missing. Their

46:09

helpline is open to offer

46:12

support and advice if you've

46:14

been affected by anything in

46:16

this episode. We can't say

46:19

this enough. It takes just

46:21

one person with the right

46:23

information to solve any of

46:26

the cases in this series.

46:28

Teresa hopes. that the

46:30

information will soon arrive to

46:32

solve this one. The Missing is

46:35

a What's the Story original

46:37

podcast. It's hosted by

46:39

me, Handorra Sykes. This episode

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was produced, written and

46:44

edited by Jacko Kennedy.

46:46

Executive Producers for

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What's the Story are Darryl

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