VA - Amy Bradley - missing from cruise ship, Curacao - 1998

[BeginnerSleuther]

I would actually report this to the FBI directly. When he didn't get anywhere with you, this person may have been able to lure someone else to who knows what.

 

[John/Jane Doe]

Amy Lynn Bradley – The Charley Project

 

[dotr]

Amy Lynn Bradley – The Charley Project

TY, from link..

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Bradley, circa 1997 - 1998; Sketch of woman resembling Bradley; Sketch of woman's companion; Unidentified men sought by police

• Missing Since03/24/1998
• Missing FromCuracao, Netherlands Antilles
• ClassificationEndangered Missing
• SexFemale
• RaceWhite
• Date of Birth05/12/1974 (49)
• Age23 years old
• Height and Weight5'7, 115 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry DescriptionA short-sleeved white scoop-neck body-style t-shirt, maroon shorts or jeans, a silver navel loop ring with an imbedded blue bead, a man's silver watch with a blue face, a silver college class ring with a black onyx stone on her right hand and a thin silver band with cut-out turtle figurines on her left wrist.
• Distinguishing CharacteristicsCaucasian female. Brown hair, green eyes. Bradley may dye her hair blonde. Her ears are pierced multiple times and her navel is pierced. She has the following tattoos: a baby Tasmanian devil on the back of her left shoulder, a green and blue gecko lizard around her navel, a Japanese symbol on her right ankle and a primitive Japanese sun tattooed on her lower back. Bradley is a cigarette smoker.''

''There were possible sightings of Bradley on Curacao in August 1998 and January 1999. The witnesses in the 1998 sighting accurately described her tattoos and the witness in the 1999 sighting said she identified herself by name and asked for help. Bradley's parents therefore believe the sightings are authentic.

In March of 2005, a woman resembling Bradley was seen in Barbados. Sketches of the unidentified woman and her male companion are posted with this case summary. The Barbados woman has not been conclusively identified as Bradley.

Authorities believe two men may have information about Bradley's disappearance; sketches of both subjects are posted with this case summary. One of the men is described as Caucasian, in his late thirties or early forties, between 5'11 and 6'0 tall, with a receding hairline, red hair and a red beard. The other man was in his early thirties, approximately 5'11 tall with dark, curly shoulder-length hair. Neither person has been identified.

Bradley was a resident of Chesterfield County, Virginia at the time of her 1998 disappearance. She attended college in Longwood, Virginia on a basketball scholarship.

Bradley smoked Marlboro cigarettes at the time she was last seen. She enjoys drinking Coca-Cola and Miller Lite beer and eats hard candy. Foul play is suspected in her disappearance, but there is no evidence to support the theory.''

 

[Mica]

IMO, the Barbados sighting seems very credible based on the witness’ description of the sighting. Begins at about 1:10 on time stamp.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Iva told NBC News: "When we discovered Amy missing, we begged the ship's personnel to not put the gangway down, to not allow anybody to leave the ship. And we told them that, if Amy had left the room for any more than 15 minutes, she would have left us a note. And they put the gangway down anyway. People left the ship in Curacao."

An announcement was finally made at 7.50 am, by which point the majority of passengers had disembarked, and although crew conducted a search of the common areas, the passenger and staffrooms went unsearched. During an interview with Dr Phil, Iva recalled how "there was a tremendous amount of attention toward Amy from the crew members"

Mystery of woman who disappeared from cruise ship - but didn’t fall overboard

On March 24, 1998, Amy Lynn Bradley vanished seemingly without a trace while enjoying a Caribbean cruise with her family. Her whereabouts remain a mystery to this day

www.mirror.co.uk

 

[imstilla.grandma]

*Published: November 16, 1998:

Royal Caribbean's spokeswoman, Lynn Martenstein, would say only that the company had cooperated with investigators and did not believe foul play was involved. But an internal Royal Caribbean report provided to The New York Times by the Bradleys said that Mr. Bradley did not notify Mr. Costello of the disappearance until 7:35 A.M., by which time the ship had docked and passengers were going off for a day of shore excursions. It also said a cabin-by-cabin search was conducted almost immediately.

Shortly before the Rhapsody departed that evening, the Bradleys left the ship in hopes of finding Amy in Curacao. They said they had grown frustrated with the ship's officers and a company lawyer. It took two days before F.B.I. agents boarded the ship.

A search of the harbor at Curacao and the surrounding water that first day and the next did not turn up a body, leaving the Bradleys convinced Amy had been abducted by a crew member.

Weeks later, the Bradleys hired private detectives to board the ship undercover. No evidence of their daughter was found. They also consulted psychics, posted a $260,000 reward and created a World Wide Web site (www.tggweb.com/amybradley/).

For Missing Woman's Family, No Answers

Few dream cruises have turned into the nightmare experienced by Iva and Ron Bradley of Richmond, Va., on a cruise last March through the southern Caribbean with their son, Brad, and daughter, Amy. Midway through the cruise, 23-year-old Amy, a recent college graduate about to start her first...

web.archive.org

Amy Lynn Bradley *​

Reward U.S. $260,000.00

Last Known Location:
Tuesday March 24, 1998 on board the cruise vessel Rhapsody of the Seas while en route from Oranjestad, Aruba to Willemstad, Curacao, Netherlands Antilles. Amy disappeared during the docking process in Curacao. Suspected Location: Unknown.

Amy may have been abducted and is possibly being held in South America or the Caribbean. A reward of over US $250,000 is being offered for Amy's safe return and a reward of US $50,000 for any information that leads to the apprehension and arrest of those responsible for Amy's disappearance.

Aruba Missing Persons information - VisitAruba.com

This page provides information regarding missing persons from Aruba or about people who went missing while on vacation in Aruba or the Caribbean. Should you have any

www.visitaruba.com

 

[neesaki]

*Published: November 16, 1998:

Royal Caribbean's spokeswoman, Lynn Martenstein, would say only that the company had cooperated with investigators and did not believe foul play was involved. But an internal Royal Caribbean report provided to The New York Times by the Bradleys said that Mr. Bradley did not notify Mr. Costello of the disappearance until 7:35 A.M., by which time the ship had docked and passengers were going off for a day of shore excursions. It also said a cabin-by-cabin search was conducted almost immediately.

Shortly before the Rhapsody departed that evening, the Bradleys left the ship in hopes of finding Amy in Curacao. They said they had grown frustrated with the ship's officers and a company lawyer. It took two days before F.B.I. agents boarded the ship.

A search of the harbor at Curacao and the surrounding water that first day and the next did not turn up a body, leaving the Bradleys convinced Amy had been abducted by a crew member.

Weeks later, the Bradleys hired private detectives to board the ship undercover. No evidence of their daughter was found. They also consulted psychics, posted a $260,000 reward and created a World Wide Web site (www.tggweb.com/amybradley/).

For Missing Woman's Family, No Answers

Few dream cruises have turned into the nightmare experienced by Iva and Ron Bradley of Richmond, Va., on a cruise last March through the southern Caribbean with their son, Brad, and daughter, Amy. Midway through the cruise, 23-year-old Amy, a recent college graduate about to start her first...

web.archive.org

View attachment 450487

Amy Lynn Bradley *​

Reward U.S. $260,000.00

Last Known Location:
Tuesday March 24, 1998 on board the cruise vessel Rhapsody of the Seas while en route from Oranjestad, Aruba to Willemstad, Curacao, Netherlands Antilles. Amy disappeared during the docking process in Curacao. Suspected Location: Unknown.

Amy may have been abducted and is possibly being held in South America or the Caribbean. A reward of over US $250,000 is being offered for Amy's safe return and a reward of US $50,000 for any information that leads to the apprehension and arrest of those responsible for Amy's disappearance.

Aruba Missing Persons information - VisitAruba.com

This page provides information regarding missing persons from Aruba or about people who went missing while on vacation in Aruba or the Caribbean. Should you have any

www.visitaruba.com

IMO, there needs to be some type of laws specifically for cruise ships, re anyone who goes missing. International laws, that they are REQUIRED to close down exit points , and are required to conduct a thorough search.
They have been catered to and allowed to get away with their greedy self serving approach re missing persons for far too long.
I personally wouldn’t take one of their cruises if you paid me. JMO

 

[Sonny Crockett]

Again, I don't see why anyone is thinking there is some big "conspiracy" here re: this case. IMHO the most plausible theory is that ALB fell off the boat and drowned - and that her body was never found. This is obviously extremely tragic, but I don't believe that anyone else was involved here. People fall off of cruise ships on a semi-regular basis - and this type of thing has even happened recently.

I have seen some pics. of the woman that people think is ALB, and I don't see the resemblance. It's heinous that her family was taken in by these scammers/charlatans who ripped them off & also got their hopes up (that ALB was still alive) for no reason.

 

[avobo00]

Again, I don't see why anyone is thinking there is some big "conspiracy" here re: this case. IMHO the most plausible theory is that ALB fell off the boat and drowned - and that her body was never found. This is obviously extremely tragic, but I don't believe that anyone else was involved here. People fall off of cruise ships on a semi-regular basis - and this type of thing has even happened recently.

I have seen some pics. of the woman that people think is ALB, and I don't see the resemblance. It's heinous that her family was taken in by these scammers/charlatans who ripped them off & also got their hopes up (that ALB was still alive) for no reason.

Sadly the majority online believe she fell overboard after getting sick/falling asleep.

I think you need to go back to thread 1 and read the VI accounts. There’s just too much “funny” incidences that happened since the moment she boarded the ship for this case to be concluded as that of falling overboard.

There is a website - find Amy Bradley - and has a ton of info on the fishy/uncomfortable behavior Amy faced in the days / hours before she disappeared.

Look:

• Barbados sighting
• Two Curaco sightings
• San Francisco sighting
• All Amy’s polaroid pictures missing from the ship
• Alistar telling Brad that he was sorry to hear of his missing sister before the passengers were alerted
• A waiter wanted to take Amy out for dinner in Aruba
• Amy mentioning many times to her mother that the staff “gave her the creeps”

 

[Kittybunny]

I'm usually an Occam's Razor kind of gal, and am usually highly skeptical of any "human trafficking" narratives that typically arise in almost every missing woman's case, but in this case, I do feel that there is something more here than a straight forward overboard incident.

Personally, I find the photos of "Jas" compelling when comparing side to side to Amy. Amy has some unusual features, for example, smaller eyes, narrow lips, that, when combined together, give her a slightly unusual look, she's not one of those faces that can be easily mistaken for other more generic looking women.

I don't know exactly how she got off the boat, but I do believe that she probably was taken off before the docking, perhaps, drugged, or perhaps, even voluntarily, with the promise that she would be returned, and they were just gonna go have some fun.

After so many years, though, I really doubt we will ever know the truth. My heart aches for her family and never having answers that they need and deserve.

 

[neesaki]

Sadly the majority online believe she fell overboard after getting sick/falling asleep.

I think you need to go back to thread 1 and read the VI accounts. There’s just too much “funny” incidences that happened since the moment she boarded the ship for this case to be concluded as that of falling overboard.

There is a website - find Amy Bradley - and has a ton of info on the fishy/uncomfortable behavior Amy faced in the days / hours before she disappeared.

Look:

• Barbados sighting
• Two Curaco sightings
• San Francisco sighting
• All Amy’s polaroid pictures missing from the ship
• Alistar telling Brad that he was sorry to hear of his missing sister before the passengers were alerted
• A waiter wanted to take Amy out for dinner in Aruba
• Amy mentioning many times to her mother that the staff “gave her the creeps”

I agree. Too many questionable and hinky things, and even the FBI obviously doesn’t believe she fell overboard. I also think the photo of Jaz was probably her.
Unfortunately, for the “she fell overboard “ believers, they seem fairly stuck in their belief. Oh well…..

 

[nannymo]

Amy's case is one of the reason's I have no desire to cruise. IF and WHEN something goes wrong there is nowhere to turn.

I too think she was abducted and the sightings are real.

 

[Mica]

I agree. Too many questionable and hinky things, and even the FBI obviously doesn’t believe she fell overboard. I also think the photo of Jaz was probably her.
Unfortunately, for the “she fell overboard “ believers, they seem fairly stuck in their belief. Oh well…..

The FBI recently revisited this case on the 20 year anniversary of Amy’s disappearance. Special Agent Erin Sheridan was assigned and put together age progression photos of Amy. IMO, they would not spend valuable time, money, and manpower on a person they thought died from falling overboard.

 

[nannymo]

If I remember correctly the ship was about to dock when she was last seen which makes me think if she had fallen overboard she was very close to shore.

 

[TizerisT]

I do believe that she probably was taken off before the docking

How could she be taken off before docking?

 

[neesaki]

How could she be taken off before docking?

Use your imagination.

 

[scruffydog]

If I remember correctly the ship was about to dock when she was last seen which makes me think if she had fallen overboard she was very close to shore.

You don't "fall overboard" from a cruise ship. There are railings, etc that prevent this. You can jump or be thrown overboard. I propose she was removed in a concealed way-ie via a storage trunk, laundry bin, restaurant equipment... or "band" equipment..after all, the canoodling with the member of the band was noted.

 

[Kittybunny]

How could she be taken off before docking?

Fair question! Upon rereading what I wrote, I realized that that is not what I meant, but it was too late to edit. You are right, of course, that she could not be taken off before the ship actually docked. What I meant was that she could have been taken off the ship in the period of time between when the ship was actually docked but before passengers were allowed to disembark. When I had been on cruises in the past, there is always a little bit of time where some of the crew is able to get off first, and prepare things dockside for various excursions or other events.

 

[HongKongPhooey]

You don't "fall overboard" from a cruise ship. There are railings, etc that prevent this. You can jump or be thrown overboard. I propose she was removed in a concealed way-ie via a storage trunk, laundry bin, restaurant equipment... or "band" equipment..after all, the canoodling with the member of the band was noted.

I agree.

Having read these threads the last couple of days and information on the missing website, I believe Amy was drugged in the coffee by ”Yellow” (a witness saw them together that morning, with him carrying a drink) and removed in the service elevator which was in that same room. Hidden until she was removed in a laundry trolley or something similar.

I think the original plan was to abduct her from the nightclub, but she declined the invitation because she found the waiter “creepy”. So either Yellow had said to her the night before that he could fix her a farewell coffee before disembarking, or the actual abduction was opportunistic when she showed up. She’d been seen dancing with him, so perhaps she didn’t find him creepy.

There are two things which give me pause though. The bare feet I find odd, inappropriate really, but she was young and maybe at that hour she didnt want to disturb her family,

The other thing is that aside from early sightings where Amy had seemingly tried to make contact, she hasn’t in all these intervening years been able to reach anyone. It could be that she was forced into a lifestyle which she feels she cant come back from, or sadly she is no longer alive which I think is more probable unfortunately.

Whatever happened, Amy’s thread took me down some very dark and disturbing rabbit holes! Her poor family must have suffered greatly.

 

[nannymo]

HongKongPhooey I think you are spot on! I too do not think Amy is still alive. She obviously was being "handled" and I think she could have found a way to take her own life since she felt no one could help her.