Amy Bradley Is Missing: What happened on that cruise ship?
Cruise Ship KillersA cruise holiday is supposed to be fun, a great opportunity to see lots of exotic destinations in a short space of time. However, as the Crime+Investigation series Cruise Ship Killers indicates, it can also end in immense tragedy.
One of the cases featured on the show is that of Amy Lynn Bradley. The 23-year-old graduate was on a cruise ship with her family in March 1998 when she inexplicably disappeared. She remains missing to this day, despite a number of possible sightings over the years.
Now, a new Netflix docuseries, Amy Bradley Is Missing, looks back at the original disappearance and subsequent concerted attempts to trace Amy’s whereabouts. What’s the story so far? We at Crime+Investigation provide a detailed rundown below.
The circumstances around Amy’s disappearance
Amy Lynn Bradley was born on 12th May 1974. This resident of Virginia joined her family — parents Iva and Ron and younger brother Brad — on a Caribbean cruise in March 1998. The Bradleys boarded the ship — Royal Caribbean International’s Rhapsody of the Seas — on 21st March.
Amy and Brad danced in the ship’s nightclub before heading back to their family’s cabin in the early hours of 24th March. Not long before 5:30am, Ron awoke and saw Amy sleeping in a chair on the cabin’s balcony.
After Ron went back to sleep and got up again at 6am, he realised that Amy was missing. After searching fruitlessly for her, he alerted Iva and Brad at 6:30am.
How the search for Amy began
That day, the vessel docked at the Caribbean island of Curaçao. However, the crew only put out a ship-wide announcement about Amy’s disappearance at 7:50am, after most of the passengers had disembarked.
Cruise staff searched the ship several hours later, but failed to find Amy. The Netherlands Antilles Coast Guard spent four days perusing nearby waters, also without results.
Possible sightings of Amy Lynn Bradley
One theory is that Amy could have fallen off the balcony and drowned. However, this raises the question of why her remains were never found washed up on the shore.
Another theory suggests that she was abducted from the ship. Numerous alleged sightings of Amy in the years after her disappearance attest to this hypothesis.
Was Amy spotted in Curaçao in 1998?
In August 1998, Canadian diver David Carmichael was on a Curaçao beach with a friend when they reportedly saw a woman sporting Amy’s distinctive tattoos.
The story goes that, after one of the witnesses spoke English within earshot of the woman, she turned around and approached him. One of the two sinister-looking men accompanying her proceeded to motion her away.
Encounter in a brothel
A US Navy petty officer was reportedly at a Curaçao brothel in January 1999 when he was approached by a Caucasian woman. The officer later revealed publicly that the woman claimed to be Amy Bradley and a captive in need of his help.
It was 2002 before the witness shared this story with the Bradley family. He said this was because he feared his naval career would be at risk if he publicly admitted to visiting a brothel. Though the FBI did follow up on this lead, it turned out that the brothel had burned down since the alleged incident.
Disturbing photos hint at Amy’s possible fate
Amy’s parents appeared on the American talk show Dr Phil in November 2005. In the episode, viewers were shown a photo found online by a member of an organisation searching for victims of sexual slavery.
The photo — discovered on a website offering erotic vacations in the Caribbean — showed a scantily-clad sex worker called ‘Jas’ bearing a strong resemblance to Amy. Another, similar photo of ‘Jas’ from the same (now defunct) site appears in Netflix’s new documentary series Amy Bradley Is Missing.
The search for answers continues
There are many ways to find a missing person, but Amy’s whereabouts remain unknown. She was declared legally dead in March 2010, more than a decade after her disappearance.
Nonetheless, the FBI offers a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to the resolution of the case. US citizens with details can report to their local FBI office, while those outside the United States can contact their nearest American Embassy or Consulate.
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