VA - Amy Bradley - missing from cruise ship, Curacao - 1998 #3

[Jezel]

I'm not sure if you've been on the FBI website, but only a tiny fraction of the missing persons cases in the country are covered. It is simply not true that they have to look into every one of them, and in fact, they are not involved in the vast, vast majority.

I am not sure how you would know that FBI employees think many cases are just a joke unless you work there.

If you work there, could you explain to us whether the FBI would waste resources on Amy if they knew she had just fallen?

I understand it's painful to imagine that Amy was trafficked, but that's absolutely what all of the available evidence points toward. I'm just not sure how anyone can deny that.

 

[lebvidox]

I'm not sure if you've been on the FBI website, but only a tiny fraction of the missing persons cases in the country are covered. It is simply not true that they have to look into every one of them, and in fact, they are not involved in the vast, vast majority.

I am not sure how you would know that FBI employees think many cases are just a joke unless you work there.

If you work there, could you explain to us whether the FBI would waste resources on Amy if they knew she had just fallen?

I understand it's painful to imagine that Amy was trafficked, but that's absolutely what all of the available evidence points toward. I'm just not sure how anyone can deny that.

That does not contradict anything of what I said. I was saying that Amy was reported missing in 'international waters', so that would be under the job description of the Federal Bureal of Investigation.

The FBI will officially open and lead a missing persons investigation when foul play is suspected and… The victim’s last known whereabout was on federal property, such as a federal park, an Indian reservation, or the victim was onboard a commercial ship in international waters. (OR) The missing person is a US president, or other elected or appointed federal officials, such as cabinet members and members of congress or is a federal judge, a federal prosecutor, or federal law enforcement official, such as an FBI, DEA, IRS, or Secret Service agent and their missing person status is believed to be related to their official employment.

This wasn't a local case, where the FBI's assistance and resources would have to be requested through different channels. They didn't take up Amy's case because it was particularly tricky and important. That's just what they have to do. With the lack of a body or a solid confession, cases like this can't ever be closed.

The FBI are not wasting resources. That's what their resources are there for. That's not something one manager can choose to dismiss for budget reasons. You look into it when some potential lead comes around, you do what you have to do.

 

[Murkywaters]

That does not contradict anything of what I said. I was saying that Amy was reported missing in 'international waters', so that would be under the job description of the Federal Bureal of Investigation.

The FBI will officially open and lead a missing persons investigation when foul play is suspected and… The victim’s last known whereabout was on federal property, such as a federal park, an Indian reservation, or the victim was onboard a commercial ship in international waters. (OR) The missing person is a US president, or other elected or appointed federal officials, such as cabinet members and members of congress or is a federal judge, a federal prosecutor, or federal law enforcement official, such as an FBI, DEA, IRS, or Secret Service agent and their missing person status is believed to be related to their official employment.

This wasn't a local case, where the FBI's assistance and resources would have to be requested through different channels. They didn't take up Amy's case because it was particularly tricky and important. That's just what they have to do. With the lack of a body a solid confession, cases like this can't ever be closed.

The FBI are not wasting resources. That's what their resources are there for. That's not something one manager can't choose to dismiss. You look into it when some potential lead comes around, you do what you have to do.

This is completely incorrect. The have been many cases of U.S citizens who have disappeared on cruise ships and abroad. They do not all become FBI investigations, they become FBI investigations if there is evidence a federal crime has been committed. And even in cases where there is strong evidence a crime was committed, even then there is still no guarantee for the FBI to continue their investigation. Claudia Kirschhoch and Max Devries and Robyn Gardner are great examples.

 

[Murkywaters]

- CRUISE INDUSTRY OVERSIGHT: RECENT INCIDENTS SHOW NEED FOR STRONGER FOCUS ON CONSUMER PROTECTION

International Cruise Victims Association reports they have been told by the FBI that a person overboard is not necessarily a crime and thus will not be investigated and not included in the FBI's official statistics. It is difficult to understand how a determination can be made about whether a case of a person overboard is not a crime without a proper investigation. Even if CCTV videotapes show a person falling overboard, an investigation may be warranted to determine the conditions surrounding the incident, for example whether intoxication is an issue and whether the cruise ship was responsible in serving alcohol. Current wording of the CVSSA does not classify a person overboard as a crime.


Amy's case is very easy to find on the FBI Kidnappings/Missing Persons list.

AMY LYNN BRADLEY | Federal Bureau of Investigation

March 24, 1998

www.fbi.gov

Reward:​

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to the recovery of Amy Lynn Bradley and information that leads to the identification, arrest, and conviction of the person(s) responsible for her disappearance.

 

[lebvidox]

This is completely incorrect. The have been many cases of U.S citizens who have disappeared on cruise ships and abroad. They do not all become FBI investigations, they become FBI investigations if there is evidence a federal crime has been committed. And even in cases where there is strong evidence a crime was committed, even then there is still no guarantee for the FBI to continue their investigation. Claudia Kirschhoch and Max Devries and Robyn Gardner are great examples.

Disappearing "abroad" is NOT the same of being on board of a ship in international waters. If Claudia Kirschhoch disappeared in Jamaica and Max and Robyn disappeared in Aruba, that's not the FBI's jurisdiction. They can't proactively take up a case in another country.

 

[Murkywaters]

Disappearing "abroad" is NOT the same of being on board of a ship in international waters. If Claudia Kirschhoch disappeared in Jamaica and Max and Robyn disappeared in Aruba, that's not the FBI's jurisdiction. They can't proactively take up a case in another country.

The FBI absolutely does cover crimes against U.S citizens abroad. That's why they were involved in the first place. Aruba is not in the FBI's jurisdiction? Are you forgetting about the Natalee Holloway case and the FBI manhunt that went on with that? The FBI were involved with Claudia Kirschhoch, Max Devries and Robyn Gardner. They closed their investigations.


Also, again, there are many U.S citizens who have disappeared while on cruise ships in international waters. Why aren't those cases actively being investigated and worked?

 

[lebvidox]

The FBI absolutely does cover crimes against U.S citizens abroad. That's why they were involved in the first place. Aruba is not in the FBI's jurisdiction? Are you forgetting about the Natalee Holloway case and the FBI manhunt that went on with that? The FBI were involved with Claudia Kirschhoch, Max Devries and Robyn Gardner. They closed their investigations.


Also, again, there are many U.S citizens who have disappeared while on cruise ships in international waters. Why aren't those cases actively being investigated and worked? What makes Amy's case different? Well, a lot of things.

You're misunderstanding me. The FBI can assist, but they're not "running" the investigation.

Some quotes from Natalee Holloway’s case: "The FBI used cadaver dogs to assist in the recovery operation (…) The FBI announced that Aruban authorities had provided its agency with documents, suspect interviews and other evidence."

And from Claudia's case: "Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation have joined Jamaican police in the search for missing New York travel writer Claudia Kirschhoch"

That was precisely what I was talking about before - "the FBI's assistance and resources would have to be requested through different channels"; they can also offer their assistance, of course, but it's not up to them to go over there and do whatever they want. It could be very tricky, like the Scotland Yard with the Portuguese police in the Madeleine McCann case.

I don't know what cases you're referring to about "many U.S citizens who have disappeared while on cruise ships in international waters", but we could take a look in them and see if they could fit into the category of "missing persons" and "foul play".

 

[fridaybaker]

I was struck in the documentary by the two women who witnessed Amy and AD together in the early morning. We’ve all heard this story before, but this interview of one of them was interesting for its expansion on the topic. We now know that they’d noticed Amy before they saw her with AD (It seems like Amy has a very magnetic persona) and it strengthens their eyewitness to me.

Another interest little nugget was that AD has been hitting on them earlier, but when walking past them, after being seen heading up to the disco a few minutes before with Amy and now seen without her, he now paused them no attention.

 

[GXP Sleuther]

I wonder why Amy's supposed boyfriend was never bought up? Didn't he go to the trip with Ron and Brad?? Did the boyfriend exist? The night before she left for the cruise she made up with her ex-girlfriend whom she had sent a message in a bottle to.

 

[GreyPhantom]

I was struck in the documentary by the two women who witnessed Amy and AD together in the early morning. We’ve all heard this story before, but this interview of one of them was interesting for its expansion on the topic. We now know that they’d noticed Amy before they saw her with AD (It seems like Amy has a very magnetic persona) and it strengthens their eyewitness to me.

Another interest little nugget was that AD has been hitting on them earlier, but when walking past them, after being seen heading up to the disco a few minutes before with Amy and now seen without her, he now paused them no attention.

And they didn't mention the solo sick girl that was on the upper deck watching the approach to Curacao and saw Yellow hand Amy a dark drink

 

[Bree1950]

I feel it was Amy in the brothel after the FBI did their facial measurements where the photo matched measurements from photos of her by family. The more I read, I feel there were people involved in trafficking who used employees to target women. Remember, the traffickers would have the money to pay someone to deliver someone kidnapped off a the boat. I found it interesting when Alistar Douglas’ daughter, in the documentary, said her Mom divorced her Dad after finding pictures from the photographer of women on cruise ships in his luggage when he came home. Remember, Amy’s pictures were missing. It’s sad, but once someone drinks alcohol their defenses are down. The Cruise Director is very suspicious to me do to his lack of empathy toward the family.

 

[avob00]

I wonder why Amy's supposed boyfriend was never bought up? Didn't he go to the trip with Ron and Brad?? Did the boyfriend exist? The night before she left for the cruise she made up with her ex-girlfriend whom she had sent a message in a bottle to.

Yes!! The story was always that Amy was seeing a man prior to disappearing but it seems this story was false or else they have omitted this detail to avoid painting her in a further bad light after kissing another woman. But the family may have decided to say it was a man rather than a woman to avoid any negative perception to her case (it was the 90s).

Scroll down and there are two blog entry of Amy mentioning the word boyfriend:

Amy Lynn Bradley is still missing

Website dedicated to spreading accurate information regarding the 1998 disappearance of Amy Lynn BradleyAmy Lynn Bradley - Amy Lynn Bradley

amybradleyismissing.com

“On another evening when her dad and I were with she and her boyfriend and her brother Brad and his girlfriend”

Amy Lynn Bradley is still missing

Website dedicated to spreading accurate information regarding the 1998 disappearance of Amy Lynn BradleyPorto Marie, Curacao - Amy Lynn Bradley

amybradleyismissing.com

Amy's boyfriend was the manager of a restaurant in Virginia. One of his suppliers gave him a Dos Equis watch, similar to the one above. Amy brought the watch with her on the cruise and she was wearing it when she disappeared. Information about the watch had not been released to the media. David Carmichael accurately described the Dos Equis watch to the FBI, the Bradleys, and the Federal Grand Jury.


The second detail of the watch was totally excluded from the documentary. This makes me question the accuracy of that website as several sightings (San Fran, etc) are not discussed.

So there are 2 possibilites:

1. The ex-boyfriend story was false and her girlfriend gifted her that watch… but why exclude the watch from the documentary?

2. She was seeing a local man in her area and also having a long distance with her girlfriend. Was Amy in an open relationship?

If they were in an open relationship, Amy would not be writing letters of apology to her ex for kissing someone else.

It doesn’t make sense.

 

[Salah11]

It seems like her parents were not supportive of her life choices, so I can see why they would cover that up to protect their image and daughters.

It’s easy to judge them now but I was a kid in 1998 so I don’t know the in’s and outs back then on if it was that bad to be “out”.

IMO

 

[earthgurl]

I agree. I just finished watching it it is so incredibly sad.
The “cruise director guy” I cannot remember his name. He’s loves the older ladies he had said along with dancing with them. Do you remeber him??
He was so incredibly cold, which came across very strange to me. Personally, something seemed very strange about him.

My husband and I both felt the cruise director guy was suspicious. He was so cold and dismissive of everything. It makes me wonder if he was aware of the ship being used to find women to traffic. I don't think he was directly involved in Amy's disappearance but it felt like he knew more than he let on. Either that or he had been directed by the cruise line to squash rumors or something. I don't know - he just had such an off-putting vibe.

 

[detective.moon]

i just keep wondering.. why would criminals look for sex trafficking victims on a cruise ship of all places? not just because you’d have to smuggle someone off a ship, but also because cruiseship passengers seem like the opposite of a typical trafficking victim. amy is from a wealthy family, from a wealthy country, she is with her family who will immediately miss her and do everything they can to find her.

but then i don’t know why the witnesses would make things up, so that does makes me second guess things. but it’s also known that with high profile cases there always seem to be sightings and different people believing all kinds of things and witness reports aren’t always reliable. the pictures of the escort who looks just like amy did make me pause again too!

at the end of the day, i’m not convinced of any specific outcome. if i would have to pick i would say i think she did fall overboard and somehow her body didn’t end up somewhere where it would be found. but i could be completely wrong.

 

[Salah11]

Was it not claimed for years she was afraid of heights?

I don’t remember that being mentioned in the documentary yesterday though.

 

[KSwizzle]

The cruise director absolutely thought he’d come off as this amazing person, talk about not being able to have any self awareness geez

This docuseries to me helps confirm she was trafficked, moo

 

[avob00]

Way too many details from the early years of the investigation were omitted from the documentary, it adds more confusion.

I hope the doc director clarifies in interviews why aspects were not discussed.

Many online think she jumped because of her sexuality…

 

[avob00]

The current family who live in Amy’s family home. It seems Amy’s family moved out some time ago but this lady kept her memorial garden. I always assumed her family stayed in the same house??

https://www.tiktok.com/video/7527789419646946615

 

[Sleuthster]

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www.facebook.com

SEARCH FOR MISSING AMY BRADLEY group

What are everyone’s thoughts on this group if you have joined?

I joined yesterday and had a read and it basically has been sharing the same information as posted on the website.

However, a man named Mitchell Galway comments on the majority of Facebook posts and is supposedly the family’s PI. No mention of him at all in the documentary. Is this legit?

I couldn’t see a PI spending all their time responding to random Facebook comments.

He said under one post he went to Curaçao to search birth records for Amy’s kids.

Makes me wonder if the Hollywood director guy I memtion convinced him to go to curocao to find proof about the children he claimed Amy has. BTW. I googled yesterday and directo came up on other projects with the production company. Something about Hoffa.