VA - Amy Bradley, 23, Petersburg, 24 March 1998 - #1

[~n/t~]

Illegal activities are sometimes extremely lucrative.

Can you help us understand what your theory is? You mentioned you don't believe it's prostitution. Do you think she was taken for drug smuggling?

*advertiser censored* is legal isn't it? Unless the person is not of legal age. Amy was 23. Of course it would make it illegal if she's a victim of a kidnapping.

I guess I'm trying to understand what illegal activities you are referring to.

TIA

 

[~n/t~]

Could she have been taken to lure other victims? Female victims tend to trust other females?

Thinking out loud...

 

[brit1981]

I still do think Amy could well have fallen. her father saw her go in, the door records support this, but he never saw her leave again and there was only a twenty minute window. Also she took her cigerettes and not her shoes. I think it is likely she was tired, perhaps a bit tipsy (but she did not have to be), was standing leaning against the railing smoking and somehow fell. it does happen. perhaps she dropped her cigerrette packet and instinctively went to grab it and ended up falling. Good swimmer or not, the fall could well have knocked her out. Perhaps the sound of her falling is what woke her father up. I know there have been sightings, but these could just be mistakes, I mean there are lots of sightings in missing person's cases.
However, saying that, there is always a chance Amy could be alive and it just takes one eagle eyed person to save her, so i think we shoudl all remember how she looks and be aware of our surroundings.

 

[JaimeSommers]

IJMO, but this photo does not look like Amy to me. Just looks different than the others. Also, I thought that Amy did not go to Carlos and Charlies, in fact had refused. Am I wrong?

This was already addressed by FindAmy and I thanked her. My original post, FindAmy's response, and my thank you seem to have been deleted (perhaps by mods, which I had asked them to do if my post was against ToS).

It wasn't Amy, but the photo has made its rounds on Internet forums. I appreciated FA's clarification.

 

[FindAmy]

Can you help us understand what your theory is? You mentioned you don't believe it's prostitution. Do you think she was taken for drug smuggling?

*advertiser censored* is legal isn't it? Unless the person is not of legal age. Amy was 23. Of course it would make it illegal if she's a victim of a kidnapping.

I guess I'm trying to understand what illegal activities you are referring to.

TIA

I am not able to give my personal theory of what happened to Amy, because I am concerned that it would be dangerous for Amy.

There are many reasons why a woman could be kidnapped. Prostitution is at the top of the list, but I personally don't believe that Amy was kidnapped for prostitution. Women could be taken as a drug mule, as a specialty mule, as a breeder, as a domestic servant, or for servitude in a special task. People are kidnapped for body parts and *advertiser censored*. A family was arrested in New York for keeping a house servant who was a victim of human trafficking. Not long ago, a factory owner in Curacao was charged with human trafficking involving his factory workers. There are many reasons why a person could be enslaved. Prostitution is just one reason. Aruba and Curacao are countries of serious concern for human trafficking violations.

 

[FindAmy]

I am having difficulty getting this diagram to show up, full size. It is the floor plan for a Royal Caribbean family suite.

 

[FindAmy]

Good points. Any parent will tell you that once you become a parent you never sleep the same again. I sleep very lightly at home and definitely don't sleep well on vacation.

I also wonder if the family had any general rules, I realize Amy was an adult but did they have a rule, leave a note if you leave the suite??? What about the work associates they were traveling with? Didn't one receive a copy of Amy dancing with "Yellow" and claim to pass it on to the family when he did not? Since it appears that if she was abducted that the act was well organized and planned, could a co-worker of her fathers been responsible?

The other Insurance Agents were looked at very closely. There was never anything that indicated any of them could be involved.

Yes, a tape was given to someone posing as a family friend. The tape never reached the Bradleys and the person was not a family friend.

Royal Caribbean did some very sneaky things. They didn't help the Bradleys and there were some very significant integrity issues on the part of Royal Caribbean. I have to assume that the corporation was extremely concerned about their liability, as they should be. I will never set foot on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship.

 

[FindAmy]

Is it possible that the cruise line has an "Amy" look-a-like running around to give the impression that Amy is alive? Perhaps to cover their tails due to the way they handled her disappearance. They could then argue that she left willingly and they are not responsible for her circumstances after she left the ship. Their claim obviously being that she left willingly.

IMO, it's so sad, a ship would have been so easy to lock-down had a good protocol been in place.

I'm not aware of anything involving someone who looked like Amy.

 

[SoSueMe]

Let's please move on from the "Amy fell over the balcony" line of thought.

Amy was seen by others on the ship after her father saw her on the balcony.

One would really have to work at going over one of those balconys. If you don't believe me, take Amy's height, find her center of gravity and then take the height of the balcony and calculate it.

Amy was seen on the ship after her father last saw her. As seen by the diagram, the balcony had two points of entry. One that led to one of the bedrooms and the other that led to the sitting room. It only makes sense that Amy would have exited the balcony through the sitting room so as not to disturb her parents.

Please, let's move on.

 

[~n/t~]

I am not able to give my personal theory of what happened to Amy, because I am concerned that it would be dangerous for Amy.

There are many reasons why a woman could be kidnapped. Prostitution is at the top of the list, but I personally don't believe that Amy was kidnapped for prostitution. Women could be taken as a drug mule, as a specialty mule, as a breeder, as a domestic servant, or for servitude in a special task. People are kidnapped for body parts and *advertiser censored*. A family was arrested in New York for keeping a house servant who was a victim of human trafficking. Not long ago, a factory owner in Curacao was charged with human trafficking involving his factory workers. There are many reasons why a person could be enslaved. Prostitution is just one reason. Aruba and Curacao are countries of serious concern for human trafficking violations.

In the two cases you mention, were the victims American? Amy is/was a beautiful young woman. What motive would the perp (s) have to abduct an American young woman off a ship to be used as a drug mule or to work in a factory? I know you don't believe it was prostitution or sex slavery but to me, that would be the only scenario that would make any sense.

This is wiki and I apologize if the information is not 100% accurate but it gives us a quick overview of human trafficking and what countries are mostly effected. If I have time this evening, I will look at more accurate statistics. It appears third world countries are most effected.

I think it's not impossible to believe a perp grabbed Amy on the ship for sexual purposes and threw her overboard after he had done the deed. IMO, it makes the most logical sense.

I understand and respect the family's hope she is still alive and the sightings do give credence that she may be still be alive but is it realistic to think all these sightings including the one in San Francisco are 100% accurate?

In Madeleine McCann's case, there have been perhaps hundreds of sightings of her all over the world including the US. None panned out. People with very good intentions see someone resembling the victim and call in the lead but many times that's all it is. A look alike. A false lead.

Anyway, just my 2 cents worth.

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_trafficking"]Human trafficking - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

If there is a Canadian connection as alluded to in an earlier post, if you can provide us with more information that would be greatly appreciated. IIRC, it was the Venezuela "fake" escort service (??). Perhaps we can do some sleuthing on this side of the border.

 

[FindAmy]

In the two cases you mention, were the victims American? Amy is/was a beautiful young woman. What motive would the perp (s) have to abduct an American young woman off a ship to be used as a drug mule or to work in a factory? I know you don't believe it was prostitution or sex slavery but to me, that would be the only scenario that would make any sense.

This is wiki and I apologize if the information is not 100% accurate but it gives us a quick overview of human trafficking and what countries are mostly effected. If I have time this evening, I will look at more accurate statistics. It appears third world countries are most effected.

I think it's not impossible to believe a perp grabbed Amy on the ship for sexual purposes and threw her overboard after he had done the deed. IMO, it makes the most logical sense.

I understand and respect the family's hope she is still alive and the sightings do give credence that she may be still be alive but is it realistic to think all these sightings including the one in San Francisco are 100% accurate?

In Madeleine McCann's case, there have been perhaps hundreds of sightings of her all over the world including the US. None panned out. People with very good intentions see someone resembling the victim and call in the lead but many times that's all it is. A look alike. A false lead.

Anyway, just my 2 cents worth.

Human trafficking - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If there is a Canadian connection as alluded to in an earlier post, if you can provide us with more information that would be greatly appreciated. IIRC, it was the Venezuela "fake" escort service (??). Perhaps we can do some sleuthing on this side of the border.

I do understand your questions. I wish I could tell you more, but I can't. I don't want to place Amy in danger or disrupt the integrity of the investigation. All of the sightings I have told you about have been confirmed with the exception of the Curacao club in November of 2005. In that case, we couldn't get the witness to come forward, although we have other information that supports the sighting. The FBI and local police (where applicable) have interviewed these witnesses. They have passed polygraphs and they have spent hours with sketch artists and in interview rooms. There are also things in witness interviews that aren't released to the public. There are things that witnesses describe and questions they answer that are very important. This is true in any law enforcement investigation. These witness sightings have been verified. In these sightings there have been multiple witnesses, with the exception of the Otrobanda hotel.

The Bradleys have received many tips and witness reports over the years. All of these have been forwarded to the FBI. Although some of these sightings probably were accurate, sometimes the witness wasn't able to give enough information to make it a solid sighting. In those cases, we can't depend on the information. The Bradleys absolutely can't spend their energy and efforts chasing wild geese.

There is a Canadian connection. The escort resort where Amy's photograph appeared was the Hibiscus Hotel in Playa el Agua, Margarita Island, Venezuela. The company was Affordable Adult Vacations. The owner was a man named Georgios Alexandros Zaglanitis. He is a Canadian citizen and a former professor of Hotel Management at a college in British Columbia. The manager of the resort was Paul Baxter from Leeds, England. They had Playboy and a British film company come into the resort for a documentary about the escort experience. Our FBI also showed up to investigate Amy's photograph. Chavez threw them out of Venezuela. The company is out of business.

I would love to see a photograph of Zaglanitis.

 

[Wondergirl]

I am having difficulty getting this diagram to show up, full size. It is the floor plan for a Royal Caribbean family suite.


View attachment 25927

 

[FindAmy]

Thank you, Wondergirl. That image has been making me nuts.

 

[FindAmy]

This photograph was taken from the video produced for that escort resort. The links that I have no longer work. I'm sure the video is still available somewhere on youtube. Paul Baxter and his Venezuelan wife, Ana, were featured in the video. The video explained the entire escort resort experience and how these escorts are girlfriends for a week. The resort was frequented by American and Canadian men. This is Paul Baxter.

 

[FightTheOstrich]

i know people still want to exlplore the falling overboard theory. but we should stick to the facts that we do have. yes it does seem like a possibility but not likely as she was seen after the balcony on the ship

the fbi has had credible sightings over the years. the fbi would not say that unless they are 100% sure.

i dont think the cruse ship would go the lenghts to pretend someone else is amy they would have to really find a strong look alike plus that person would have to get the same tattoos as one of the sightings the guy described the tattoos to a T. they would have to be the right colors as well. and no 2 tattos are going to be alike even if they are the same design

While I believe the idea of an Amy look a like is out there, Royal Carribean would have a motive from a public relations and financial stand point. Afterall, the Bradley's did sue them twice. It is easier for me to see this from a risk/reward standpoint than consider the idea that she was kidnapped to be a drug mule or domestic servant. Especially, in this location, there's hardly a shortage of other options. You could easily take someone off the street for that and no one would look. Why kidnap an American off a cruise ship to perform some of these tasks mentioned? And then have to pay a security team to look after her? If she was working as a drug mule, I would think that that we wouldn't see these images of Amy with wild hair. Why would they want her to draw attention going thru customs?

 

[FindAmy]

There are a number of reasons why we believe that Amy wasn't an escort at this resort.



The FBI found no evidence that she had been there.

It would be highly unlikely that they would allow Amy to be alone with the English speaking Johns. The escorts are alone with their Johns 24/7. She is too high profile and she has tried to identify herself.

Most of the Johns at this resort were Canadian and American. She would have been recognized.

There was no evidence that she had ever been chosen as an escort.

As a resort escort, Amy would have been required to be registered with the Venezuelan government and the health department. She would have been required to have physical examinations at specific intervals.

As an escort, Amy would risk serious illness. This would disrupt any other uses for Amy.

The backgrounds in the photographs of Amy did not match the backgrounds of the rest of the escorts at the resort. The photographs were definitely not taken by the same photographer. Amy's pose was completely amateur. She looked like a deer in the headlights. Escort ads are designed to encourage Johns to select an escort. The photographs are usually seductive. Amy was rigid and the poses were not at all seductive. Amy's makeup was way too heavy and her hair was wild. The photographs were not at all flattering. They were not done by a professional as the other escort photos appear to be.

 

[MysteryMaven]

Wow, some of this information is really freaking me out. So many people seem to be involved in all of this. Just the fact that people were seen taking photos of Amy's family after she disappeared is one of the scariest things about this! I can't believe the police couldn't catch up to them. There seems to have been so many times where Amy could have been helped. It's so sad. She seemed like such a wonderful person, well loved by her family. Maybe LE just hasn't done enough to find her? I suppose she could be anywhere if she was seen in California. It's the proverbial needle in the haystack.
Find Amy makes a good point about the escort photos. They were not similar to the other photos on the site, etc. Why were they put there then? Just can't wrap my mind around it. If I was the Bradley's I would be tempted to take up permanent residence in the Caribbean to search for Amy daily. But that could backfire I'm sure, and Amy would be taken somewhere else.

 

[FindAmy]

On the left, is a cropped version of one of the escort photos.

 

[FindAmy]

People have spent years searching for that wrought iron headboard.

 

[FindAmy]

Wow, some of this information is really freaking me out. So many people seem to be involved in all of this. Just the fact that people were seen taking photos of Amy's family after she disappeared is one of the scariest things about this! I can't believe the police couldn't catch up to them. There seems to have been so many times where Amy could have been helped. It's so sad. She seemed like such a wonderful person, well loved by her family. Maybe LE just hasn't done enough to find her? I suppose she could be anywhere if she was seen in California. It's the proverbial needle in the haystack.
Find Amy makes a good point about the escort photos. They were not similar to the other photos on the site, etc. Why were they put there then? Just can't wrap my mind around it. If I was the Bradley's I would be tempted to take up permanent residence in the Caribbean to search for Amy daily. But that could backfire I'm sure, and Amy would be taken somewhere else.

I don't know how the Chesterfield, Viriginia police determined that the car was a rental. I don't know how law enforcement concluded that the photographers were connected to the captors. They felt that the photographs would be used to intimidate and threaten Amy. Supposedly, this is common in abductions for victim compliance.

At one point, I had wondered if the photographer was from one of the tabloids like the National Enquirer. I had wondered if they were trying to create a sensational cover story of some kind. Law enforcement says that they ruled that out. How, I don't know because the FBI doesn't share information.

This group could have many contacts in the US and they could even be in the US.