Amy Bradley, 23, Disappeared from cruise ship en route to Curaçao, 24 March 1998 #4

[Hatfield]

One thing that always didn’t add up for me with this case was go quickly she was assumed to have been missing. This wasn’t a child. It was was a 23yo woman. Why the panic so early?

Leads me to believe a big piece of information has been withheld since day 1.

Thats a very good point. Of course with the time differences that was mentioned maybe it was 1 1/2 to 2 hours she could have been missing.

And in the early morning maybe family always had plans to touch base with each other before debarking off the ship. The family may have realized something was wrong right away as people started to debark the ship and she was nowhere to be found.

It is a good point though that the family seemed to know or suspect something happened right away. Maybe there is more they know that was never shared.

 

[Hiandmighty]

One thing that always didn’t add up for me with this case was go quickly she was assumed to have been missing. This wasn’t a child. It was was a 23yo woman. Why the panic so early?

Leads me to believe a big piece of information has been withheld since day 1.

This has always bothered me. Also, ron was puking, brad was curled in the fetal position and Iva had stroke symptoms...

Case in point: two years ago we took a cruise and the kids had the room across the hall. I awoke at 3 am to spot check they were there. The 16 year old boy wasn't.

Well, I immediately got angry. I walked every deck on that ship. When I finally got up to the pool area I said real loud, "BOY, if you can hear me, you are in so much trouble and you had better high tail it back to your cabin before I get there."

I finished my rounds and went back to the cabin, where I caught him sneaking in... caught him red handed with his key card. Lol.

He had met a girl and they were on the 11th or 12th deck at the putting green "watching the stars" and "talking".

 

[CoolJ]

<modsnip>

<modsnip> She was missing from a &#8220;ship or vessel&#8221; for more than 6 months. She can be legally declared &#8220;presumed dead&#8221;

 

[shadowdancer]

Honestly I think its most likely that Amy was raped by one or more staff members and then thrown overboard from some part of the ship that only staff have access too.

I think that Amy's parents were already concerned about some of the staff member's behaviour towards Amy before she disappeared, hence the immediate panic when they couldn't find her.

 

[Hiandmighty]

Thats a very good point. Of course with the time differences that was mentioned maybe it was 1 1/2 to 2 hours she could have been missing.

And in the early morning maybe family always had plans to touch base with each other before debarking off the ship. The family may have realized something was wrong right away as people started to debark the ship and she was nowhere to be found.

It is a good point though that the family seemed to know or suspect something happened right away. Maybe there is more they know that was never shared.

That is not how the family tells the story though. They panicked immediately.

 

[Hiandmighty]

If she had been depressed and anxious (her cruise photos to me show a sad visage) and went missing, that could cause panic right away. That would point to suicide IMO

 

[Hiandmighty]

Honestly I think its most likely that Amy was raped by one or more staff members and then thrown overboard from some part of the ship that only staff have access too.

I think that Amy's parents were already concerned about some of the staff member's behaviour towards Amy before she disappeared, hence the immediate panic when they couldn't find her.

But they weren't offended enough *at the time* to do or say anything to anyone.

It is super easy to change tables or even dining rooms on a cruise ship.

 

[CoolJ]

That is not how the family tells the story though. The panicked immediately.

Yea, if that is true and it seems like it is, we are not privileged to the entire story. Big piece of info has been left out of what has been made public. Probably the most important piece....

Why were they so concerned so quickly?

 

[Hiandmighty]

Yea, if that is true and it seems like it is, we are not privileged to the entire story. Big piece of info has been left out of what has been made public. Probably the most important piece....

Why were they so concerned so quickly?

As the mother of a child with severe anxiety, I can see a situation where if that son went missing I might be worried early on that he jumped.

(He has been level for over a year now! But there was certainly a time where my first thought would have been suicide if he went missing off a ship)

 

[Hiandmighty]

Another thing that has always bothered me is the overly saccharine descriptions of Amy by her family: great job, perfect life, wonderful car, precious puppy etc, Iva felt proud at the attention on Amy, etc., not drunk or on drugs while at the disco etc

It just stayed with me as an over the top presentation of a certain narrative that she was perfect and so was her life. Overcompensation?

She was in transition. College was over and so was her college career as a basketball player, new job, new apartment, new dog, boyfriend headed to marriage... not everyone transitions well.

 

[CoolJ]

As the mother of a child with severe anxiety, I can see a situation where if that son went missing I might be worried early on that he jumped.

(He has been level for over a year now! But there was certainly a time where my first thought would have been suicide if he went missing off a ship)

Yes that could be a reason for premature panic, but in this case the family has always been adamant that she did not go overboard. I don&#8217;t think they would believe that if their first impulse and reason for panic was that she could have jumped.

 

[liltexans]

If she had been depressed and anxious (her cruise photos to me show a sad visage) and went missing, that could cause panic right away. That would point to suicide IMO

I believe on &#8220;Disappeared&#8221; they said Amy was deathly afraid of the open ocean and her family had to convince her to go on the cruise. I need to watch the episode again and dig up the old &#8220;Vanished&#8221; episode that I haven&#8217;t seen in years.

 

[Hiandmighty]

I believe on &#8220;Disappeared&#8221; they said Amy was deathly afraid of the open ocean and her family had to convince her to go on the cruise. I need to watch the episode again and dig up the old &#8220;Vanished&#8221; episode that I haven&#8217;t seen in years.

Supposedly she wasn&#8217;t afraid of the water but of the ship and had been seasick so wasn&#8217;t having a great first cruise experience IIRC

 

[Hiandmighty]

Yes that could be a reason for premature panic, but in this case the family has always been adamant that she did not go overboard. I don&#8217;t think they would believe that if their first impulse and reason for panic was that she could have jumped.

I admit I come back around to the suicide theory every now and again and when I go there I think her family wishes she was alive.

 

[CoolJ]

I admit I come back around to the suicide theory every now and again and when I go there I think her family wishes she was alive.

Well I am sure they do wish she was alive. But let&#8217;s go back to the immediate reaction. The mother requested that the ship not dock and nobody leave or enter the ship. I think they were worried about something other than suicide. And I think they had a specific reason to believe that. A reason that we are not privy to.

 

[Hiandmighty]

Yea, if that is true and it seems like it is, we are not privileged to the entire story. Big piece of info has been left out of what has been made public. Probably the most important piece....


Why were they so concerned so quickly?

I wanted to add that I think we are missing something big here. I think you are 100% right on that.

 

[Hiandmighty]

Well I am sure they do wish she was alive. But let&#8217;s go back to the immediate reaction. The mother requested that the ship not dock and nobody leave or enter the ship. I think they were worried about something other than suicide. And I think they had a specific reason to believe that. A reason that we are not privy to.

What would be the choices? We can throw out theories... we have never done this.

 

[nannymo]

In thread #2 post 97 the VI stated:
“The Bradley’s absolutely believe that their daughter is alive. They would not declare Any dead.” Posted on 9-3-2012

Then we all found out that Amy Lynn Bradley was declared dead on 5-14-99.
View attachment 133150

Bradley vs. Bradley in Virginia, declare Amy Bradley dead https://ibb.co/fUZAbQ https://ibb.co/hZosqk

If I remember correctly, didn't this have something to do with the lawsuit against the cruise line?

 

[HoneyWest]

If I remember correctly, didn't this have something to do with the lawsuit against the cruise line?

Yes, they sued Royal Caribbean for wrongful death.

 

[Hiandmighty]

If I remember correctly, didn't this have something to do with the lawsuit against the cruise line?

According to the statute, the family has to have no evidence the person is alive before they can proceed to death on the high seas.

So did the family commit fraud against the court a second time? Or did they reasonably believe death on the high seas was the ending?

It is a mystery and we will most likely never know.