Detective moon, you have picked up on the stickiest wicket of this mystery, and one that confounds many. People do go “missing” on cruise ships, but it’s usually eventually attributed to some variety of overboard incident. Why Amy. And why from a cruise ship? It certainly doesn’t seem to be a common occurrence for someone to be trafficked that way.
There’s been MUCH discussion over the years about this, but this is what I’ve come up with. No doubt, better thinkers and better sleuthers than I can come up with more.
Why not on a cruise ship? Much trafficking and sex tourism goes on throughout the Caribbean. Perhaps it was simply because someone who worked on the ship came into contact with a group doing this, and saw an opportunity to make some $. There is little security on the ship, very few security cameras (and an employee would know where those are and aren’t located). It’s an atmosphere of “escape”, “letting one’s hair down”, and partying in general. Tons and tons of mixing with strangers and free flowing alcohol. Most people aren’t “on guard” on a cruise.
How easy would it be to slip something into someone’s drink, then get them down a staff elevator in the wee hours of the morning, put them in a laundry cart, band equipment case, etc., and get them off the ship via a staff gangway. Certainly, staff and laundry aren’t mixing with the well dressed cliente as they embark/disembark.
Also, there’s been talk that certain staff at RC were linked to AAV. I’m not sure why that would surprise anybody. Look at the character of the cruise director. I highly doubt any of the staff are vetted in depth for character.
At the end of the day, anyone, anywhere can be kidnapped and trafficked and if you look long enough, you’ll see that there are many examples of middle class, ordinary women becoming victims to it. Layer onto that the lack of security on cruise ships and billion dollar industry out to protect its image, and you have what many are trying to blow the whistle on, which is a situation rife for crime without consequences. It’s hard, though, as the billions in the industry can simply crush those who go up against them.
