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

[Tutter]

What happened to Amy’s cruise pictures? That is just such a weird thing to go missing. Why, and who took them?

 

[BethAnn777]

I was a preteen in 1998 and being 'out' was sort of a big deal back then. I can totally see her family changing the gender of Amy's significant other back then because they feared her disappearance wouldn't be taken as seriously if the public knew she was gay.

Exactly. And being gay used to be considered a mental illness. When a “mentally ill” person goes missing from a cruise ship, it’s more likely to assume suicide via jumping overboard than something nefarious happening at the hands of another.

IMO

 

[BethAnn777]

I thought this was interesting for them to use ‘it was the 90s’ as an excuse. I was in 10th grade in 1998 and I knew teenagers who were out. It wasn’t that big of a deal. Of course, I was in Southern California not Virginia.

I was a teen in the 90’s in the Midwest and it was a huge deal to be gay. To even be associated with someone who was gay was frowned upon.

 

[GreyPhantom]

What happened to Amy’s cruise pictures? That is just such a weird thing to go missing. Why, and who took them?

The thinking was that the trafficking ring's local capo is handed pictures to greenlight suitable targets. Then the selected ones are communicated to Yellow and the other honey traps to setup a plan to isolate/comprise them.

So in Amy's case maybe offering her a stiff Carribean drink(booze)and/or seeing the view from the disco on Curacao approach(photography).

 

[RickC]

purpose?

people have been known to lie, embellish, or remember events through a certain lense simply to insert themselves into a story.

prostitutes tell stories - Amy Bradley was a well-known story at that point - this one could've been spinning a tale to see if she could get a $200 handout from the Navy guy.

many times you just have genuine mistakes, events weren't quite how they remember them, or people have their memory influenced by something the find out afterwards. memories are not perfect. i have memories of a lot of things, that if you could somehow see a real video of the actual events... they wouldn't quite match.

"Yellow" probably wasn't the only guy with his build, skin coloring, and short hair on the cruise. I'll admit that Amy was more distinct looking - with her short hair - but witnesses can mistakes in the dark and misremember times - especially when there is no other evidence to confirm their sightings.

So the other guy was lying about her distinctive tattoo that he saw? Why would he do that?

 

[Salah11]

Exactly. And being gay used to be considered a mental illness. When a “mentally ill” person goes missing from a cruise ship, it’s more likely to assume suicide via jumping overboard than something nefarious happening at the hands of another.

IMO

In 1998?

I am from London, UK so even in 1998 I don’t feel like there was such a stigma. I was 12 years old though so small towns in American may of been more closed minded over such matters.

My heart breaks for her that she struggled to find acceptance in her own family.

 

[RickC]

I think another issue with the Jas pictures is that there are more of them than what was shown on NETFLIX... and in others... the resemblance isn't as strong as it is in the 2 with the 80's hair and makeup.

An example of a TV show putting out the "mysterious" side of the story... but maybe leaving out other information.

Do you have a link or somewhere to look at the other Jas pictures?

 

[Salah11]

A question for the old timers how come they never managed to track down Jaz?

 

[GreyPhantom]

In 1998?

I am from London, UK so even in 1998 I don’t feel like there was such a stigma. I was 12 years old though so small towns in American may of been more closed minded over such matters.

My heart breaks for her that she struggled to find acceptance in her own family.

In America, sadly yes.

 

[GreyPhantom]

A question for the old timers how come they never managed to track down Jaz?

The site operators said they were sent Jas' pictures from another island and that she wasn't actually available at theirs

 

[Salah11]

The site operators said they were sent Jas' pictures from another island and that she wasn't actually available at theirs

Thank you - I was wondering why nobody had come forward about Jaz but I just realized I was being hopelessly naive as she would be a sex worker so of course men don’t want to come forward and stir the pot.

Silly old me not thinking of that straight away

 

[GreyPhantom]

Thank you - I was wondering why nobody had come forward about Jaz but I just realized I was being hopelessly naive as she would be a sex worker so of course men don’t want to come forward and stir the pot.

Silly old me not thinking of that straight away

Amy was too valuable to them to use in standard prostitution. Also too risky

 

[BethAnn777]

In 1998?

I am from London, UK so even in 1998 I don’t feel like there was such a stigma. I was 12 years old though so small towns in American may of been more closed minded over such matters.

My heart breaks for her that she struggled to find acceptance in her own family.

Not so much in ‘98, but her parents and other members of the general public were from an era where it was considered as such.

 

[Silverstorm]

Also the netflix doc.the woman who ran into Amy in the shops bathroom-heard the man with Amy say the deal happens at 11 be ready to go. Behave and dont try to get away. Amy asked if they could see the children. He said they could do that. The women said Amy was happy about that.
The documentary stressed there was no way to know what Amy has been through. She may have stockholm syndrome, or she may have children by now.

 

[GreyPhantom]

Thank you - I was wondering why nobody had come forward about Jaz but I just realized I was being hopelessly naive as she would be a sex worker so of course men don’t want to come forward and stir the pot.

Silly old me not thinking of that straight away

Im not sure that she was a regular sex worker. I think her captors took the photos for other reasons (confuse investigators, blackmail).

 

[Arven]

In 1998?

I am from London, UK so even in 1998 I don’t feel like there was such a stigma. I was 12 years old though so small towns in American may of been more closed minded over such matters.

My heart breaks for her that she struggled to find acceptance in her own family.

In 1998 it was still illegal in the UK for teachers to mention the existence of lgbtq people due to section 28. There was absolutely still a lot of stigma around during that time, even if it did coincide with queer people becoming more visible culturally and socially. It's never a given that a gay kid will be accepted within their own communities/families whatever the time period.

In this case, though, Amy seemed on the verge of completely taking control of her own life. Own car, new apartment. And she was clearly still on good enough terms with her parents to go on a cruise and drink and have fun with them. Hers doesn't seem like a situation she would've felt trapped in enough to consider ending it.

 

[fridaybaker]

purpose?

people have been known to lie, embellish, or remember events through a certain lense simply to insert themselves into a story.

prostitutes tell stories - Amy Bradley was a well-known story at that point - this one could've been spinning a tale to see if she could get a $200 handout from the Navy guy.

many times you just have genuine mistakes, events weren't quite how they remember them, or people have their memory influenced by something the find out afterwards. memories are not perfect. i have memories of a lot of things, that if you could somehow see a real video of the actual events... they wouldn't quite match.

"Yellow" probably wasn't the only guy with his build, skin coloring, and short hair on the cruise. I'll admit that Amy was more distinct looking - with her short hair - but witnesses can mistakes in the dark and misremember times - especially when there is no other evidence to confirm their sightings.

Yellow, in my book, was quite distinctive looking, far from “build, skin coloring and short hair”.

 

[fridaybaker]

I was a teen in the 90’s in the Midwest and it was a huge deal to be gay. To even be associated with someone who was gay was frowned upon.

Well, that seems to be very personal and anecdotal, as I and others have experienced the opposite.

 

[fridaybaker]

Thank you for that! They had said she came out as gay but didn’t specify bisexual or lesbian so I was unsure.

The watch is visible in photos on the cruise and also detailed on the Amy website, but not in the documentary. I’ve no idea why as this would put to bed the redditor theories that David’s sightings of her in Curcao beach in 1998 was false or unreliable. He couldn’t have possibly known the detail of the watch whereas the tattoos had been described from the get go to the media.

I still believe his sighting had also Judy’s. A bit on the fence about the second bloke’s… think he’s not entirely truthful despite how many years have passed.. didn’t feel he was taking it seriously.

The documentary is interesting (and frustrating) in that it includes new information, but also leaves out other information. I understand, as it likely would’ve been 20 hours long if they would’ve included everything that had been covered in previous programs or articles

In an earlier program about the Carmichael sighting, it continued on to say that he and his friend went up to the bar area after they finished rinsing their equipment. They were seated at a table and they noticed that Amy and her two handlers were sitting at the bar. Again, he felt that Amy tried to get their attention, surreptitiously pointing to one of her tattoos.

 

[GreyPhantom]

Yellow, in my book, was quite distinctive looking, far from “build, skin coloring and short hair”.

Lol the documentary messed up saying he was called Yellow due to his dyed hair. It was due to being a light skin Afro Carribean (high yella).