VA - Amy Bradley - missing from cruise ship, Curacao - 1998 #4

[waldojabba]

I dont think it would have been hard. One of the witnesses saw Yellow hand Amy a drink. That drink could have drugged her. Yellow could have passed her off to someone else on the boat and they could have simply walked her off the boat along with the other passengers or carted her off the boat. There was not just one witness but three witnesses who testified before the grand jury. Why would they lie? He is a pretty rememberable character. He also was interested in Amy. You don't dance that way with someone you have no interest with.

I am just jumping in but yes this makes the most sense to me from all I have read and seen
JMO

 

[waldojabba]

Maybe they had plans to disembark the boat together at 7am. Many families that cruise book excursions and you have to meet your tour group quickly. That's what my family does. It's kind of a hectic process.

The father also went and looked about the ship for an hour or so before becoming concerned. He thought maybe she had gone for coffee or to take pictures. Her cigs and lighter were missing.
jmo

 

[waldojabba]

Any place is good for a drug deal. As a high-school teacher I can tell you that drugs are dealt not only in the bathrooms but the hallways and classrooms too. Moo

Interesting to hear that things have not changed in what 40 years ... since years ago in high school the bathrooms were where all the drug deals occured during school hours. Mostly the mens rooms JMO

 

[DustysMom]

Brad says here the camera was in the safe. The family has the camera.

He also says in past older interviews he speculated that she may have left to take pictures, but now he doesn't seem sure of that anymore since they have her camera and all the film; he does not know if she had a disposable.

(seems unlikely IMO that if she were in a photography contest, she would take a disposable to photograph the stunning entry to Curacao with the colorful buildings and leave behind her better camera)

I doubt, IMO, that she left the room to take pictures. She could have left for other reasons, though. I can't remember if any friends / family said she used drugs? Seems like I remember Brad saying she just smoked cigs and drank. But, if she were into any drugs, I could see leaving to score some. Could also explain why she didn't leave a note -- didn't want her family to know she left. All speculation and theorizing and just my opinion! I think it's impossible to know what happened IMO.

Mmmmm -I recall Brad saying that her camera was in the safe….
Also remember Mom saying that they bought many rolls of film for this contest.
What I don’t understand is who is sponsoring this contest and what type of photography equipment Amy had. Seems like I’ve heard it was a cruise ship thing, also heard it wasn’t related to the cruise and also heard that her ex-girlfriend (message in the bottle) was a photographer?

 

[Cedars]

Should we assume that if the FBI has seen the one photo of Jas, that they have seen all the photos of Jas? I feel that this is the elephant in the room, so to speak< that no one is addressing. We have to assume that the FBI knows more and has seen more than we, the public, have been made privy to.

IMO the FBI are too busy and too professional to squint at photos and speculate.

If there is a 'lead': eg someone who is trying to claim the reward gives them actual info such as a place, a phone number, a name - then they will follow up on the lead.to see if the info leads them to an actual encounter with an actual Amy. They have probably held back something crucial that will genuinely identify Amy.

IMO, all the claims to have "once upon an unspecified time" seen AB will be ignored. They want current info, and somewhere physically specific, not out there in disembodied Internelandia.

JMO

 

[SleuthyLou]

I watched the Netflix show last night about her disappearance and came here. Surprised that no one had brought up the guy next to their room who leaned over to chat with her. Could she have been up smoking and he started talking and he asked her over for a drink/smoke/to talk and she tried to climb over and fell? They mentioned that possibility. I wonder if she would have done that, or if it would have been out of character for her. I would assume they dusted for fingerprints on the railings and balcony barriers? I also had the thought what if she was stuck inside the ship somewhere sadly like that case with the girl went missing in a space between a laundry chute? I am so tired and mis-remembering the details. From a rooftop? If Amy had fallen in the ocean, I agree that not finding proof of that would be logical even seeing the footage of the waves crashing over all the rocky outcrops off the island. No one could even get to those places to check anyway. I feel for her parents who obviously desperately want to cling to the hope she is still alive somewhere. And I do agree with the commenter who mentioned the potential of a computer specialist being able to manipulate website hits from locations — though the FBI should be able to tell that? They mentioned not having jurisdiction in that country to get IP address information, but could the family hire a P.I. to try and do that?

 

[Quill]

IMO the FBI are too busy and too professional to squint at photos and speculate.

If there is a 'lead': eg someone who is trying to claim the reward gives them actual info such as a place, a phone number, a name - then they will follow up on the lead.to see if the info leads them to an actual encounter with an actual Amy. They have probably held back something crucial that will genuinely identify Amy.

IMO, all the claims to have "once upon an unspecified time" seen AB will be ignored. They want current info, and somewhere physically specific, not out there in disembodied Internelandia.

JMO

Huh? The FBI has actually analyzed the photos. My point was that surely if they analyzed one of the photos, they have looked at and analyzed the rest of the photos. If they could have ruled them out as being Amy, they would have by now. It seems it's still in limbo. There are no slam dunks in this case, no matter what anyone says.

 

[lohrtabitha]

I watched the Netflix show last night about her disappearance and came here. Surprised that no one had brought up the guy next to their room who leaned over to chat with her. Could she have been up smoking and he started talking and he asked her over for a drink/smoke/to talk and she tried to climb over and fell? They mentioned that possibility. I wonder if she would have done that, or if it would have been out of character for her. I would assume they dusted for fingerprints on the railings and balcony barriers? I also had the thought what if she was stuck inside the ship somewhere sadly like that case with the girl went missing in a space between a laundry chute? I am so tired and mis-remembering the details. From a rooftop? If Amy had fallen in the ocean, I agree that not finding proof of that would be logical even seeing the footage of the waves crashing over all the rocky outcrops off the island. No one could even get to those places to check anyway. I feel for her parents who obviously desperately want to cling to the hope she is still alive somewhere. And I do agree with the commenter who mentioned the potential of a computer specialist being able to manipulate website hits from locations — though the FBI should be able to tell that? They mentioned not having jurisdiction in that country to get IP address information, but could the family hire a P.I. to try and do that?

I just watched the interview the Youngjerks did with Brad. He addresses the guy by name in the video. I cant remember. He said the guy worked for the same company Brad's dad did. Brad said he was a loner and acted a little weird. He said they found out he got arrested for selling exotic animals. He said there is no way Amy would have climbed over the railing to go to his place.

 

[lohrtabitha]

I just watched the interview the Youngjerks did with Brad. He addresses the guy by name in the video. I cant remember. He said the guy worked for the same company Brad's dad did. Brad said he was a loner and acted a little weird. He said they found out he got arrested for selling exotic animals. He said there is no way Amy would have climbed over the railing to go to his place.

 

[RandyMcDonald]

Brad says here the camera was in the safe. The family has the camera.

He also says in past older interviews he speculated that she may have left to take pictures, but now he doesn't seem sure of that anymore since they have her camera and all the film; he does not know if she had a disposable.

(seems unlikely IMO that if she were in a photography contest, she would take a disposable to photograph the stunning entry to Curacao with the colorful buildings and leave behind her better camera)

I can actually step in here from my own personal experience, as a committed amateur photographer.

I do use digital cameras these days, but I started off taking photos with relatively basic cameras, not only with the sort of digital cameras that could take one megabyte images but basic disposable cameras. Different kinds of lens and different kinds of camera technologies take different kinds of photos, and it might make sense to switch cameras if she wanted to take photos with different sorts of effects.

There is even a whole movement, "lomography", that is all about taking spontaneous photos with minimal attention to technical detail, with non-standing techniques and technologies producing different sorts of effects.

Lomography - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I do not think this was as much of a thing if a thing at all in the 1990s, but if Amy was enough of a photo buff to have her own camera and take part in contests, she would know something about different sorts of cameras and their effects.

 

[lohrtabitha]

I dont believe the table having footprints.
Amy took off her shoes, which were found on the balcony , went in to get another pair...only to stand on the table and jump? Doesn't make sense

And can those tables even hold 120 pounds? I doubt it. Moo

 

[Acid_Bath]

Side note -

The fact that certain gender stereotypes are more entrenched than ever are clear in this case. It was actually common in the 90s for women to have short hair and wear loose comfortable clothing. You'd see female celebs styled this way. This was before skin-tight clothing was everywhere. Yet now people are making a big deal out of a woman dressing comfortably-- like it's so out of the ordinary that it needs to be constantly brought up as relevant to the case! I saw someone in another thread saying Amy's style meant Amy was questioning her gender identity. Wow. It's like people think only men like to be comfortable and not fuss with long hair or teeter around in stilettos. Her sexuality and her short hair do not mean she identified as a man. And I don't think her preference for comfortable clothing is relevant to the case.

I totally agree with you. Short hair and baggy clothes were very common in the 90s, I as a female had both short hair and wore baggy clothes back then.

 

[GXP Sleuther]

removed

 

[Jmoose]

So, her Birkenstocks were left on the deck but no mention of any other footwear missing.
Did she leave the cabin barefoot?

And do we know how much money Yellow's daughter was paid to cast her father in such a bad light?

Either intentionally or accidently, I think she went over the balcony

I do, too. In the documentary, Amy’s father said he saw her out on the balcony at around 5:30. Then he said something woke him up not long after, and at that point, Amy was no longer on the balcony. I think what woke him up, was her going over the side. I think Amy was upset after she sent her girlfriend a “message in a bottle”-I don’t think their relationship was the same after Amy admitted kissing someone else, regardless of how excited some people said she was about the cruise. I do think she was intoxicated, and at 23 her brain was not yet fully mature-it only takes a second to form the intent to do harm to yourself. I don’t care what the people in Curaçao said about the bodies always surfacing-I think this one just didn’t.

 

[Sweetluv]

I have to say, after watching the Documentary and listening to what Amy called a "Message In A Bottle " which was sent to Mollie a month before the cruise after kissing someone else, has an eerie parallel to the Cruise. Some takeaway passages...there is an ocean between us...I'm on a desert island waiting for you to save me...my Message in a bottle, my only hope...save me please, stranded Amy.
IMO, Amy was going to try to make the most of the cruise..but I think her betraying Mollie weighed heavily and the combination of alcohol and internal sadness clouded Amy's thoughts and judgement. She had alot of time to sit out on that balcony and think.
I hope I'm wrong and always keep an open mind and allow new information to possibly sway me, but so far...

 

[Jmoose]

I agree with you here and will add if this case as some posters suggest is so easily solved by saying that Amy fell overboard or jumped, then why is the FBI investigation still open? The FBI doesn't have extra revenue to waste.

The case is open, but what actual resources, either money or manpower, are they currently expending? It’s open, but they aren’t actually doing anything at the moment, unless and until some new information is brought to their attention. Any polygraphs they’ve done, were done years ago, for example. I think it’s still open only because there’s no actual evidence that she died in a fall from the boat, so they have an obligation to be open to other possibilites. The agents who appeared in the Netflix documentary may believe that she didn’t go overboard, but it wouldn’t surprise me to find out that everyone else at Quantico and elsewhere in the FBI, think she did.

 

[Jmoose]

Absolutely agree, if they thought for a second that she went overboard then why continue to keep the case open? Why continue to follow leads or sightings within the area? JMO

Why continue to follow leads or sightings in the area? Because that’s what they do, is the simple answer. It makes zero sense that a 50 year old woman who might have been abducted at 23, and sex-trafficked, would still be held captive and the FBI know that-but it’s their job to investigate.

 

[Jmoose]

James who? That was 18 minutes of my life I will not get back. This guy asked some ludicrous questions for an amateur crime podcaster. How about asking if she remembers a cool cartoon tattoo on her shoulder? That would be something memorable considering this woman was young at the time.
The woman seems semi-credible because I do believe she knew a woman named Jas/Jazz who was working as a call girl in Daytona Bach Florida when she lived there, but this woman was likely not Amy Bradley.
On a more salient note can someone please explain where the alleged "foot prints" found on the balcony table rumor came from? Was the table against the railing when it was found?

Something is amiss here, and some people seem to be vehemently pushing this "off the boat" and still alive somewhere narrative which honestly makes zero sense. We cannot just ignore simple facts relevant to the case. One is that Amy Bradley was by all accounts a lesbian who clearly preferred relationships with women. Maybe the family, including her brother are still in denial of her homosexuality, but just looking at her pics from the time. she had a very 90's alpha butch look to her. Short hair, baggy jeans. The point being is she wasn't interested in Yellow, or any other man, and likely was just having a good time under the influence when she danced with Yellow. If there was some nefarious scheme to kidnap her into the sex trafficking trade, they picked the wrong woman.
That being said I cannot see any logical scenario outside of her having an undisclosed drug habit where she could have landed in the sex trafficking trade in the Caribbean. Traffickers simply do not generally target Caucasian women in their twenties on vacation with their families. It's mostly young, and vulnerable migrants from places like Venezuela who are victimized in that sad regional trade.

Sorry to be pessimistic here, but I think the ship long sailed off in this case no pun intended. And if I was a betting man I'd say the simplest explanation is that she went overboard on her own, or with help. It happens. When I was in the Navy, we lost more than a few sailors on long deployments on the carrier cruises. An aircraft carrier is like a floating city, and drunken fights, suicides etc are more common than you would think. I remember hearing at least one man overboard alert on the comm, and I remember asking a chief in my squadron later why the boat didn't stop to look for them. He just chuckled and said "just try not to fall off the boat kid" and walked away. I know some people would call that callous, but it's reality. Just like the cruise ship guy in the Netflix series said "In the end this is a business" The other 2000 guests did not ask for one woman to go missing, and potentially ruin their dream vacation. You can empathize with the family's panic at the time, but for them to demand they keep people on the boat was incredibly selfish in my opinion.

I know some here love James Renner, but I am not among them.

 

[Jmoose]

I dont believe the table having footprints.
Amy took off her shoes, which were found on the balcony , went in to get another pair...only to stand on the table and jump? Doesn't make sense

Do we know she grabbed another pair of shoes? I don’t recall that detail.

 

[lohrtabitha]

The case is open, but what actual resources, either money or manpower, are they currently expending? It’s open, but they aren’t actually doing anything at the moment, unless and until some new information is brought to their attention. Any polygraphs they’ve done, were done years ago, for example. I think it’s still open only because there’s no actual evidence that she died in a fall from the boat, so they have an obligation to be open to other possibilites. The agents who appeared in the Netflix documentary may believe that she didn’t go overboard, but it wouldn’t surprise me to find out that everyone else at Quantico and elsewhere in the FBI, think she did.

I feel that the FBI, like the police in any investigation, withhold quite a bit of information from the public in their cases. I also feel that since the agent was a part of the Netflix documentary, Quantico is behind her. She would have had to receive permission from her superiors to be a part of it. I think the Netflix documentary was a smart move considering how many people watch Netflix around the world. To get people talking again about the case is ideal. I think we will see more victims of inappropriate behavior on cruise lines that involve staff come forward. In a previous thread, one poster already shared their story. Time will tell and I pray for the Bradley family that the truth of what happened to Amy will be revealed. Imo