Update from Chris:
Having been on the show we feel absolutely hopefull that we will get a result soon. The show reaches between 30 and 50% of the Greek population, and from the response we got it's evident that there were still a good number of people in Crete that weren't aware of Steve's case, and a number of other things came to light such as the fact that you don't need a passport to get off the island - a driving license will suffice -even though we believed that this was not the case.
As for the show, well it went on for 3 1/2 hours. Of this the first half hour was made up of updates from previous cases and then another appeal was made for a guy, a truck driver, that went missing in Heraklion. His wagon was found emptied and he had disappeared. That took up another half an hour. Me and my mate Stig (who'd flown over with me to help and support) wished them all the best beforehand with the help of Xaris (our case reporter, translater and absolute angel on the show).
At 12pm Greek time, we went on and Miss Nikoluli, the presenter, spent a good few minutes talking about Steve's case in detail, painting the picture of Steve as being a lovely guy who has everything to live for and also the details of his disappearence.
This was also supported by an appeal for every person watching the show to help, that the programme and Greeks want to help anyone from any nationality that goes missing. To me this was fantastic as English tourists don't always do their best to ingratiate themselves with the local population. I feel that they really gave a human side to steve during this bit and that's why we had such a positive response.
It was after this that I was asked if I had something to say. I'd been practising two sentences in Greek for the previous couple of days asking for their help to bring our brother home but unfortunately I bottled it biggrin.gif Of course I can remember it all clearly now. I made a short appeal in english which was translated so hopefully our point got through anyway.
After that it was onto the calls with Steve's case and the other one alternating for the rest of the 2 hours.
I must also mention at this point what an excellent job their graphics team made during the show. Whenever they switched between the two cases and had a call they showed video footage of Steve helping Ellie, our youngest niece, learn to swim, walking in Tarragona with my mum as well as pictures of the latest poster, a picture of the family at my bro Tony's wedding and also a couple of older photos which show Steve with his hair flat (which it would now be after this time). This appeared time and time again so that people would know almost exactly what he looks like and also how much of a family lad he is.
As far as the rest of the show went Xaris was asked questions as people called in, and she responded on our behalf. We all can't thank her enough for her help - she was everything and much more that we could have asked for.
So the calls came in and this is what I currently understand from them. It's testament to the Greek character that they responded so quickly and with such care for somebody that could just well be a 'typical english lad abroad' and all of the possible reasons that may entail. Xaris is emailing me on Monday with full details but this is what was said. However bear in mind that a lot of Enlgish look alike to the locals and there are a lot of people who go island hopping etc.
1) A driver called in saying that he picked somebody up yesterday morning just outside Malia who seemed lost and when he stopped near Salidas ( a couple of KM away or so) for cigarettes the guy got out. The driver claims that this guy looked like Steve.
2) On around 3rd Sept an englishman came into a shop in Hesonissous (about 5km away from Malia). He had a cut on his head, didn't know where his hotel was and he was asking for help. The woman thinks this may have been Steve and she suggested he went to the tourist police. The tourist police then called in and say that no report was logged that day.
3) Around the 8th Sept a woman in the hills near Malia heard a noise in her backyard. She looked outside and there was a man wearing a pink shirt with a collar (Ste was wearing a pink t-shirt when he vanished), jeans (Ste was wearing combats) and with no shoes on, just black socks, out back. She asked him what he was doing (in Greek I think), what hotel he was staying in. The guy said nothing and walked off. He looked confused and lost she said.
4) A caller from the mainland in Argos (?) called in saying that a young english lad, about 19 (Ste's 20) came into his work on saturday asking if there was anything going jobwise in the orange groves. The english lad claims that he had no money and nowhere to stay. He was asked to return the next day or so to see if there would be anything. Interestingly, the fella said that this lad had a mark on his right cheek. After checking pictures Steve does indeed have a mole on his upper right cheek. This fella that called in, and one of his co-workers, seemed very sure that this lad could have been Steve. The programme are following this lead up. Beforehand I thought this scenario unlikely but given that you don't need to have a passport to get off the island...
5) A caller at a security company called in saying he knew about an english lad that was lost. He is speaking to his colleagues to see of he can get more details.
6) A caller asked about the possibility that his friends had stripped steve and thrown him into the see (they refered to this as an english 'custom'). This was largely discounted due to the fact that Ste was on his own and a good couple of km from the beach when he was last seen.
7) Somebody from Heraklion (in Crete) called in saying there was an english lad working in a cafe there who looked like Ste. THis was checked and discounted.
8 A hospital worker called in saying that an English lad had been in for a blood test. This was checked and discounted as being Ste.
9) A major Cretian radio station picked up on the story and started running appeals that night (as far as we were aware there were no radio stations that run news on Crete).
There were a few other minor things as well but the show has opened up a lot of possibilities for us and, as I said, really raised awareness over there which we need to capitalise on now.
In the meantime we have to wait and see but it's comforting to us all that we have such great professionals as Xaris and Miss Nicoluli (the presenter) working on our behalf.
It's been a real lift.
Added to that our MEP called whilst I was away so I need to speak to them in more details about things now I'm back.
