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E265: Amy Bradley
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Vacations are supposed to be carefree—a time to disconnect from stress and reconnect with loved ones. But for the Bradley family, a Caribbean cruise aboard Rhapsody of the Seas became the start of a nightmare. Just three days into their trip, 23-year-old Amy Lynn Bradley vanished without a trace. No signs of struggle. No clear answers. How does someone disappear from a ship filled with thousands of people? And why, decades later, are there still whispers that Amy may be alive? This is the story of a young woman who set sail with her family… and never came home.
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Transcript
The Allure and Mystery of the Ocean
00:00:00
Speaker
There's something about the ocean that stirs a strange mix of awe and fear in us. It's vast, beautiful, and unforgiving. For centuries, people have set out across its waves seeking escape, freedom, or adventure.
00:00:13
Speaker
But the ocean keeps its secrets. It swallows evidence, silences witnesses, and leaves behind nothing but ripples. For every postcard perfect sunset, there's a storm.
When Vacations Turn Grim
00:00:24
Speaker
For every cruise brochure promising endless fun, there's a possibility, however small, of something going horribly wrong.
00:00:31
Speaker
Most of us think of vacations as a break from real life, a time when nothing bad could possibly happen. We pack our bags, leave our worries behind, and trust that the world will be kind to us while we're away. That's the illusion.
00:00:43
Speaker
Because sometimes in the middle of paradise, reality catches up. and it's far more terrifying than anything we left at home, especially when the place you vanish from isn't a dark alley or remote wilderness, but a floating city with thousands of people aboard.
00:00:58
Speaker
On the surface, cruise vacations promise laughter, adventure, and family memories.
The Disappearance of Amy Lynn Bradley
00:01:02
Speaker
But for one family, their 1998 trip aboard the Rhapsody of the Seas became a nightmare, warned from which they've never awakened.
00:01:11
Speaker
This is a story of a young woman who stepped onto a cruise ship with her family for what was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime, and she never came home. This is the story of Amy Lynn Bradley.
Introduction to 'Coffee and Cases' Podcast
00:01:57
Speaker
Welcome to Coffee and Cases, where we like our coffee hot and our cases cold. My name is Allison Williams. And my name is Maggie Dameron. We will be telling stories each week in the hopes that someone out there with any information concerning the cases will take those tips to law enforcement so justice and closure can be brought to these families.
00:02:16
Speaker
With each case, we encourage you to continue in the conversation on our Facebook page, Coffee in Cases Podcast, because as we all know, conversation helps to keep the missing person in the public consciousness, helping keep their memories alive.
00:02:30
Speaker
So sit back, sip your coffee, and listen to what's brewing this week. Okay. yeah Well, I was kind of looking forward to maybe a cruise in the future, but... Not now. Maybe not after this case.
00:02:43
Speaker
You know what's crazy is my cousin's on a cruise this week. This is why this story, though I've never been on a cruise, but anytime that I'm on vacation, this is why... I stick to Anthony like a leech. Like he should have me on a leash. Like I say that close to him because I'm afraid somebody is going to kidnap me. I'm a bit nervous to hear about this because the very first cruise I ever went on, was in college and my dad. He was by himself, so he wanted to go on vacation. So he was like, Allison, you know, come with me. We'll go on a cruise. I was like, OK.
00:03:17
Speaker
And because I was in college and he's older, he was like, whatever you want to do at night. Did you take a girlfriend? or No, it was just me. And he would go to bed and I was going to the little dance clubs on board and i i never drank. I'm not a drinker, but I mean, I was dancing it up and having fun. You have a lot of near-death experiences with with these types of scenarios. Maybe I have not made the most intelligent choices my whole life, but... Well, Amy, the girl at our story today, by every count, was a woman with plans. Like she was, i don't know for sure, but I feel like she kind of came across as like type A. She had everything figured out. And that's, I wish I could be that way, but i know I'm not.
00:04:03
Speaker
But at 23 years old, she had just graduated from Longwood University with a degree in physical education. So she was athletic. Okay. She was smart and she was very determined. She was a former lifeguard and she was known for her strong swimming skills. Is this going to come in to play later?
00:04:23
Speaker
Well, it is a skill that will be brought up during investigation. I mean, I feel the major danger... On a cruise is if you fall overboard. Right.
00:04:34
Speaker
And so, of course, you wouldn't need to swim. be able to swim. Yeah. So it does come up in the investigation.
Amy Bradley's Reluctant Cruise
00:04:42
Speaker
She had recently adopted a dog and was preparing to move into her first apartment. She had accepted a new job at a computer consulting firm. So she is...
00:04:52
Speaker
Moving forward with life. She's in a thoughthood. Lots major things that are coming up that are exciting. And even though she was a really good swimmer, she did have this uneasiness about the ocean, which I kind of think oh a lot of people do. Even though, like, I'm not the best swimmer, but the ocean does make me nervous. Well, you can be an amazing swimmer. And the riptide, riptide. It'll take you right out. Yeah.
00:05:16
Speaker
so she was... able to swim in like, the open water, but it's this, like, fear of the open water kind of was always in the back of her mind.
00:05:32
Speaker
And because of that, when her parents were planning this cruise, she at first was hesitant to go just because... of this fear that she has but they end up persuading her to go and this cruise is supposed to be really really fun it was a caribbean voyage so they departed from puerto rico they were stopping in aruba chorus out in st thomas oh those are all amazing stops along the way so because of that she eventually agreed to go yeah and it was a rare chance for the family to spend time together because Everybody's kind of settling into this post-college life for Amy. She's going into adulthood. Right. So Amy boarded the Rhapsody of the Sea with her mother and father, Iva and Ron, and her younger brother, Brad, for this sort a celebration of stepping into adulthood.
00:06:22
Speaker
But three days into the cruise, something would go terribly, terribly wrong. Three days into the cruise? Yes. And did you say how long the cruise was? How many days?
00:06:33
Speaker
the full week. Okay. So pretty
A Mardi Gras Night on the Cruise
00:06:35
Speaker
good amount of time. Yeah. So we're halfway through when this happens. yeah Okay. March 23rd, 1998 was a typical night on the cruise ship. So it was filled with the kind of manufactured revelry cruise lines are famous for. Bingo shows, the dance club. It's like a little Las Vegas on a boat. It really is.
00:06:56
Speaker
That evening, the Bradley family attended a formal dinner before changing into casual clothes. And then headed to a nightclub that was aboard the ship. They were having a Mardi Gras themed party filled with the pulsing music and the movement. Oh, yeah. All the same things. Yeah. And this is what you do on a cruise. I know you said you haven't been on one, but the dinners are...
00:07:17
Speaker
Amazing. And they're planned. Like you were assigned a table and a time for dinner. And then you go. it's the same time, same table every night. So you get you make friends with people at table? Exactly.
00:07:31
Speaker
But Amy and her brother... Joined in the dancing in the early morning hours, because like you said most of this is in the the early morning hours. And you lose track of time quickly. It's kind of like a casino when you're not seeing outside.
00:07:47
Speaker
yeah, you have no concept of time. Right. So they joined with the fellow passengers and members of the ship's band called the Blue Orchard. And one of these band members, whose nickname was Yellow, was seen dancing closely with Amy.
00:08:01
Speaker
Okay. And he was very friendly. Sources decided perhaps almost too friendly with Amy to the point that, according to Brad, her brother, Amy was like, you need to back up.
00:08:13
Speaker
Like, I need space. Give me my personal bubble back. I do wonder, and this is... a stereotype, but I do wonder if these cruise workers, if you've ever watched Below Deck, like Below Deck Mediterranean, no?
00:08:29
Speaker
this like the Never seen the show on Bravo? Oh, where they like work with the cruise ships? Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's a lot of nice addicted kind of sleeping around among the crew. They have very strict policies about sleeping with guests because they're luxury. But I wonder if those same policies of policies exist on cruise lines or if it's more lenient. Yeah.
The Last Sighting of Amy
00:08:52
Speaker
At about 3.35 a.m., Brad returned to their room, and he said that Amy followed just a few minutes later. The siblings exchanged like goodnight, see you in the morning before going to bed.
00:09:03
Speaker
And Brad remembers when he laid down, Amy stepped out on the balcony of their family suite. She was feeling a little seasick, she said, and she told Brad that she hoped the breeze and the fresh air would help ease the seasickness. Okay. Okay.
00:09:19
Speaker
No, I have never been in a family suite, so i'm I'm assuming it is just how it sounds, almost like a condo where you have separate bedrooms and maybe a common area, but I don't i don't know.
00:09:31
Speaker
But anyway, he sees her. She makes it back from the the party. Okay. The Mardi Gras party. Yep. But that would be the last time anybody in her family would talk with her.
00:09:43
Speaker
I noticed you said talk with Yeah. But Clara's at around 530. Her dad wakes up briefly, and he looks through the glass doors that go out to the family balcony, and he sees Amy asleep in a lounge chair. He said her legs were stretched out, and he assumed she was asleep because she looked very peaceful. The door was shut, and so he just went back to sleep and didn't wake her up. He left her out there to sleep on the balcony, which... ah I think that's fine because I'm sure they're not going to build these balconies where it's dangerous. Like you could roll off into the sea. Right, yeah.
00:10:18
Speaker
When he woke up again, roughly 30 minutes later, though, he said the door was open and Amy was gone. So he wakes up again around 6 and the cabin door to the balcony is open and Amy isn't there. So again, i would assume...
00:10:33
Speaker
If I'm him, Amy opened it, she came back in, maybe she still wanted the breeze, so she left it open, maybe she went to bed. before it's like six o'clock in the morning, maybe she went to get a coffee. Right, anything. The cruise ship never stops. right So maybe she wanted a chocolate ice cream from the soft search machine.
00:10:52
Speaker
Initially, just like you said, he didn't panic. right Ron assumed that Amy might have stepped out to go on a walk. Maybe she had gone to grab coffee or a snack, but minutes ticked by and there was no sign of her.
00:11:05
Speaker
So his concern grew into alarm because there were certain things that kind of stood out to him and made him think maybe something else I don't know. going on Because Amy had left her sandals in the room, but her cigarettes and lighter were gone.
00:11:22
Speaker
So he's like, where would you go yeah without the shoes? Most telling of all, she hadn't left like a note or woke up her brother or anybody else to say where she was going, which would have been out of character for her just to leave And not leave a note if everybody was still asleep or wake someone up and tell them that she was leaving. Yeah, that makes sense. Because you would want them to, you would say, hey, went to grab a coffee, be right back. Right. Or something. Right.
00:11:49
Speaker
Because even like Anthony and I will do that. Because I go to bed early now because I'm old. But he'll be like, hey, I think I'm going to sit out by the fire pit. So if you hear the door open, like that's me. Or if you need me and I'm not in the living room, that's where I am. Because, you know, I'm a stage five clinger or so.
00:12:04
Speaker
I'm freaked out a fine. By 6.30 a.m., Amy's entire family was in full panic mode because they're like, if she went to get a coffee, she should be back. If she went to smoke a cigarette, she should been back.
Delayed Search Efforts
00:12:18
Speaker
But no.
00:12:19
Speaker
When especially, okay so you said her whole family's in panic mode. which means they're all awake by 630, which tells me that they're early risers. And if they're early risers, she would know that and she would say, hey, I'm going to be gone for a little bit. They're going to be getting up.
00:12:35
Speaker
Now, if she thought that they would be sleeping until nine o'clock and she's running to go get something and think she'll be back, then I understand not leaving a note maybe. But the fact that they're all awake.
00:12:47
Speaker
She would know. Yeah. Yeah. They alerted the ship's crew and they begged them to halt their disembarkment from that seaward that I can't say very well.
00:12:58
Speaker
Carissa? Yeah. So they said, please just halt the disembarkment. We have a family member that is missing. So they're wanting the crew to lock down the ship so they can use the intercom system to say, hey, if you're Amy Bradley, your family is looking for you, and then search all the rooms before they leave.
00:13:17
Speaker
I'm going to guess that was not received well. Oh, no. The crew definitely hesitated for a couple of reasons. They said, one, it's very early in the morning, so they don't want to come over the loudspeaker okay and wake everybody up.
00:13:33
Speaker
And then they say that she really hasn't been missing long enough, that it kind of goes against the ship's policy. So, okay.
00:13:45
Speaker
ah yeah i'm I hope I don't sound like an awful person here. I'm sure you will not. I can see this situation from both sides. If I am her family, i completely understand, number one, why they're freaking out. Number two, why they would be very upset that the cruise line is not taking measures when my child right missing.
00:14:10
Speaker
i get that. At this point, I do understand where the cruise line is coming from. because there's thousands of other passengers who paid a lot of money. And maybe they're thinking, well, we don't want to stop them from – a lot of times on these cruises, even seven-day ones, they'll spend maybe one – At each port of call, because then you're spending at least overnight into the next day at sea going to the next one. So if they were to delay disembarkment. They may have to miss a stop. Right. off that they
00:14:46
Speaker
That these people feel like they've paid for. And so. i While I sympathize with the family and I would feel the exact same way, and I can't imagine being in their shoes, and I'm sure if I were in their shoes, I would not be so logical as I am right now, but I understand, I guess, where they're coming from.
00:15:05
Speaker
And the crew eventually does make an announcement, but they don't make it until 7.50, so that's nearly two hours after when the family believed Amy had disappeared. And by that point...
00:15:17
Speaker
most families had already left the ship to go into town or to their excursions or whatever. So a lot of people didn't even hear this announcement for Amy or have you seen a girl that looks like this because they're not on the ship.
00:15:34
Speaker
So that might be frustrating that they didn't make it before they open up the kind of plank to walk off the ship. Plus, I mean, if something did happen to her, if foul play,
00:15:47
Speaker
Well, I feel like it's been a while since I've been on a cruise, but I feel like they check your ID or they do something as you're disembarking.
00:15:57
Speaker
Well, I think they would do that if you came on and off where the passengers disembarked. But would they do that where crew disembark? No, because I don't remember seeing any crew get off the ship.
00:16:13
Speaker
Right, but I'm assuming that they can, so maybe they use a different, maybe they can leave at a different time or they use a different entrance and exit. They do end up doing a full search of the boat, but by then so much time had passed. They did search all 10 decks, all 999 rooms, but they found nothing that would give them a lead on any type of search for Amy. They found no clothing. There were no sightings from the people that were still aboard, so no answers. Then at this point, well, see, and it doesn't even make any sense if you said, well, maybe she fell overboard because then why was the door open? and
00:16:52
Speaker
That's true. Right? Like I get if you said, okay, we can't find her anywhere. Maybe she fell overboard and the door was still closed. And that maybe the chair tipped over. Right. Or something.
00:17:05
Speaker
But there's not. Mm-hmm. And the local Coast Guard did launch a four-day search of the surrounding waters. They used helicopters, boats, radar, but again, nothing. So it appeared that Amy Bradley had just vanished.
00:17:17
Speaker
From the beginning, the official's response was frustratingly inadequate for the family. Royal Caribbean, Caribbean, whatever, tomato, tomato.
Family's Belief in Abduction
00:17:28
Speaker
Officials suggested that maybe Amy had fallen overboard or possibly had taken her own life. But Amy's family rejected both of those theories because one, she was a trained lifeguard.
00:17:38
Speaker
She could swim. Yes, she could swim in the ocean. She was physically fit. There was no sign of depression or distress. She was on the verge of starting this new life. She had a new job, a new apartment, a new dog.
00:17:50
Speaker
Like all of these things that just pointed to a positive future for her. So then if it isn't, she jumped overboard or she fell overboard. Then she is somewhere. Then there are are darker possibilities. Exactly. Exactly.
00:18:18
Speaker
Witnesses did come forward with some rather troubling claims. So one woman said she saw Amy walking with yellow. So remember the... Oh, the band guy. Yeah, the band guy.
Suspicious Sightings and Individuals
00:18:28
Speaker
The bass player from the club before, or the night before, around 5.30 that morning, which would line up with when the dad...
00:18:37
Speaker
gets up to see her, but then she's gone. oh so they would meet up that early after she's with him and then comes back to the room? Well, this person said that they believed they met up around 530 because about 10 minutes later, they saw him walking back towards his room alone. Then where was she?
00:19:00
Speaker
and don't know. And other passengers recalled seeing the same musician that was flirting with Amy the previous night. And one of the strangest details. So remember, she is like, you need to back up. You're in my space.
00:19:14
Speaker
So other people said, yeah, we saw him almost aggressively flirting with Amy. So we have those people, and then we have Brad, the brother, that came forward with ah kind of strange detail. He said, at the time when only the family and ship—I almost said the bad word—the ship's security knew Amy was missing, that yellow approached him and said, I'm sorry to hear about your sister. Yeah.
00:19:40
Speaker
So even though Yellow is employed through the cruise line, he's not part of the security. So they hadn't been made aware that she was missing. But he comes up to Brad and says, sorry to hear about your sister before the rest of the crew was made aware. And none of the security would have been like, oh, hey, base player. Let me tell you about that. OK, yeah, that's a little fishy.
00:20:02
Speaker
Yeah. And there have been no charges that were ever filed against Yellow. But obviously, suspicion lingers. Mm-hmm. But I'm curious, though, because you would think, well, he could have made an advance, I guess. She denied him.
00:20:19
Speaker
He got angry. And that's why he's walking to his room alone. And then I'm wondering, kind of similar to the Below Deck show, umhuh like,
00:20:31
Speaker
I know those people maybe stay employed like through the season with, because this is their yachts, right? The below deck people. Yeah. Yeah. But they stay employed through the season. So like, does this band stay employed through the season? I would assume so.
00:20:47
Speaker
So then I'm wondering when, um wonder if they're familiar with the areas that they travel to, because I know on below deck, they do get kind of familiar with they're they're familiar with areas that they're at so i'm wondering if the same is true with the cruise line because then i wonder if the crew makes connections with locals there oh so could yellow have been a part of some type of organization outside of the cruise ship i don't i don't know i get what you're saying and i i think that that is definitely worth talking about as a possibility.
Human Trafficking Concerns
00:21:30
Speaker
But I don't know if they really get extended time in any area where they could... Like, meet people. Right. Because, i mean, even if you're, say, part of the...
00:21:45
Speaker
the band who plays in this nightclub, then let's say you your shift is from 7 until 3 a.m. Then you might get part of that day if you're at a port when you could go out just like everybody else.
00:22:03
Speaker
yeah But then it wouldn't be just like them. You'd be there for a day before you're going. This may be repetitive because we may talk about it again as we get further on. But I'm thinking about it now, so...
00:22:15
Speaker
I'm gonna say saying it. yeah But I wonder if in these places, so like, for example, when Anthony and I went to Mexico, there are people that walk up and down the beach and they'll be like, hey, you want to buy some weed?
00:22:30
Speaker
And you're like, no, that's okay. And then this happened to us. They were like, no, we're good. Thanks. And then he was like, what about cocaine? I have cocaine. And we were like, no. Also, no. I'm not trying to ruin my life. Thanks, but no. So, like, I wonder how difficult it would be if...
00:22:45
Speaker
She maybe did make him mad and he was just like somehow got her off the ship and just said, hey, you want to buy this girl for oh like a trafficking ring? yeah I wonder how easy one could do that. Yeah.
00:22:56
Speaker
I don't know. Just something for us so resting to ponder on Then there was the ship's photographer, the Bradley family, later discovered that the photographs of Amy taken the night before her disappearance, cause you know, they posed you like on the stairs or whatever, were missing from the gallery, removed from the display where passengers could purchase keepsakes.
00:23:18
Speaker
So there were no pictures Amy. Okay, that's weird. And it's like, is it weird or was he trying to be considerate and like... not have her picture up there, but she's just missing at the time, like, I just think it's weird. I do, too.
00:23:32
Speaker
The photographer remembered printing them, but they were just gone. So, I mean, anybody walking by could have taken them, but why is it that's too big of a coincidence for it to be Amy's pictures.
00:23:46
Speaker
The days would turn into weeks. The family did return home to Virginia without their daughter, but obviously not without hope. Because that summer, local taxi driver claimed he saw a woman matching Amy's description running through a parking lot looking for her phone, for for a phone, which is weird. Which could fit, I guess, with a trafficking scenario if she could escape or whatever. yeah In August, two Canadian tourists claimed that they saw a woman resembling Amy,
00:24:13
Speaker
She was with two men, they said. When they noticed that she fit Amy's description, one of the tourists called out in English, like, are you Amy Bradley? She turned around, made eye contact, and then the men quickly kind of ushered her.
00:24:31
Speaker
the other way, like by these words. Okay, so by speaking, if I'm somewhere and somebody says something in French and I have no idea what they're saying, I would not... Like completely turn around. Right.
00:24:43
Speaker
Yeah, but she completely turns around. Which she understands or recognize the name. The name, yeah. Because even if it isn't, right a she knows that she just may know an Amy. But yeah, so she turns around, makes eye contact, and they usher her away.
00:24:57
Speaker
The tourists were able to describe the woman's tattoos in vivid detail, and they were tattoos that matched the ones Amy had because she had a Tasmanian devil. Which is not common. Very millennial, though.
00:25:10
Speaker
spinning a basketball on her shoulder and then she had a chinese symbol of some sort on her ankle and they were able to tell authorities about both of those tattoos okay so that would make me feel like it's her yeah yeah then 1999 a u.s navy petty officer came forward with a chilling story and this is like
00:25:35
Speaker
We've talked about before, i in a roundabout way, I guess, but how much of yourself are you willing to like put at risk to potentially save somebody's life? Because he said that he saw a woman in a brothel who told him that her name was Amy Bradley. She recognized that he was English speaking, and she begged him for help.
Navy Officer's Account and Its Consequences
00:25:58
Speaker
She said that she was being held against her will and that she needed to return to her family in Virginia, He didn't report it at the time, though, because he shouldn't have been at a brothel.
00:26:08
Speaker
And he was afraid that it would hurt his career. But he came forward years later after retiring. But then it's like and too little, too late. ah And I mean, I get it because, you know, we all have that.
00:26:20
Speaker
self-preservation part of us and we don't want to jeopardize like a job that you know he worked so hard at but then at the other end of the space like then make up a reason that you had to go to the brothel I was just like heard there was this American woman a friend of mine went to the brothel here's what happened yeah something or he like even just say I've heard about this story a lot of people think that she's held at a brothel so on my free time I went to check it out. yes She is supposedly there. But yeah, I mean, I get it, but I don't in way as well. i'm Right.
00:26:56
Speaker
No one has ever been able to verify 100% any of these sightings. But for Amy's family, they were enough to hold on to enough to keep yeah searching. In the fall of 1999, which seems like yesterday, the Bradleys received an unexpected glimmer of hope.
00:27:12
Speaker
So they had this man named Frank Jones who contacts them, and he's like, hey, I am a retired Navy SEAL. I have a team that is capable of extracting Amy from this captivity.
00:27:24
Speaker
And he told the family that his... operatives had located amy she was alive and she was being held at a guarded compound in carousel yes ah this is why we're friends ah right yeah man just points curse out yeah so he was able to describe the property in full detail he even repeated lullaby amy's mother used to sing so details that seemed almost too personal to be fabricate So it wasn't just like Rockin' My Baby. Right. I'm sure it was a song that... Yeah.
00:27:59
Speaker
Interesting. So, of course, they're desperate for answers. They feel that this man is legitimate. They're acting in good faith. So the Bradleys wired him over $200,000 to fund the rescue.
Conman and False Hope
00:28:14
Speaker
So they waited. but I feel like, okay, if you're Navy SEALs, you're not calling and asking the family to fund it. Well, they they retired, and he makes this out to be like his job.
00:28:26
Speaker
Like, his job post-retirement is like a private investigator, basically. what Oh, my gosh. This breaks my heart. But, that obviously, we know the rescue never came. And he was eventually exposed as a con artist. He had never served in the military. His stories were lies. How do you know this about the lullaby? I'm not 100% sure about that. In 2002, he was charged with mail fraud and sentenced to only five years in prison. Oh, you should have done way longer. Yeah.
00:28:54
Speaker
And, like... This reminds me of, and I don't know how old Amy's parents were at this time, but like, have you gotten the text message? Oh, well, actually, we got one when we went to, um... Advocacy? Yes, remember I got that text? See, she doesn't even have to say what she just went through.
00:29:13
Speaker
Because I got that text right after we went through the toll that like, you have this unpaid toll. And people just will click on that link and then pay. out And so, I mean, we put our trust blindly in things sometimes. So I can't really hold. And if you're so desperate for answers. Right. Or ah scared of breaking rules like we are. And if I hadn't known that was a scam, I would have been like, did I go through it? Right. like I need to pay. Yeah, I to pay it.
00:29:37
Speaker
But, of course, they felt...
00:29:41
Speaker
Not just the financial loss, but the emotional toll that was far worse than losing the $200,000. So they weren't just robbed of the money. They were robbed of time. They were robbed of trust and the possibility that someone truly had their daughter within reach. And I can't imagine that yeah type of letdown.
00:30:01
Speaker
Amy's father would later say that Jones was more than a fraud. it was emotional terrorism. i agree. 100%. Heartbreaking. In 2005, Amy's family received an email that kind of reignited their worst fears.
00:30:16
Speaker
Attached were two photographs of a woman listed on a sex work website under the name Jazz.
Disturbing Reports and Images
00:30:23
Speaker
She was scantily dressed, seated in a posed but visibly distressed posture. um Her features, her tattoos, her expressions were an uncanny resemblance to Amy. So I'm sure there's like a sense of relief because...
00:30:37
Speaker
If it is her, she's alive. Right. But then you also know what she's gone through. Yeah, she's in this situation. The images aired publicly on Dr. Phil.
00:30:48
Speaker
And while there was no definitive confirmation that the woman in the photographs were Amy, the resemblance was close enough to keep the case in the headlines and to break, obviously, her family's heart again. Right.
00:31:00
Speaker
So that same year, another woman reported an account in an apartment store restroom in Barbados, and she claimed she saw a distraught woman accompanied by several men. And when the men briefly stepped away, the woman kind of rushed up to her and said, my name's Amy Bradley, and I'm from Virginia.
00:31:18
Speaker
But before the woman could act, the men returned and escorted her out because they saw her talking to that other woman. But again, no conclusive proof that that was her. No follow-up sightings.
00:31:29
Speaker
But I feel like that pattern is kind of hard to ignore. And if you truly are being held against your will, I don't think you would lie about your name. You know, I think you would want to use real name. Like I wouldn't lie and say, hey my name's Alice. My name's really Mac and I'm trying to get home. And there's definitely a commonality in all of these potential sightings that we're hearing about.
00:31:51
Speaker
Yeah, there's always the men. and i yeah Amy's case is often linked to a broader, more disturbing pattern. So ah think this is almost... I would say it has been debunked.
00:32:06
Speaker
Because at first, people were trying to connect Amy's disappearance with Natalie Holloway. Oh, okay. Who vanished in Aruba. and she had... Amy had visited Aruba.
00:32:16
Speaker
They were both American. They hadn't... were on vacation young women yes and like amy and natalie's body has never been found so that people at first try to make a connection but now we know right that what i don't even remember his name van der schloot yes yes um is responsible for natalie holloway But both disappearances kind of fueled this growing awareness about the risks of international human trafficking, especially in tourist hotspots where young women can be targeted and moved quickly across borders because it's a little more lax than, you know, yeah what it is.
00:32:55
Speaker
if you're coming in to fear.
Human Trafficking Risks in Tourism
00:32:57
Speaker
Amy's mother has long believed that her daughter was taken off that ship. Either she was drugged or coerced in some way and sold into a life from which she's not been able to escape.
00:33:08
Speaker
She described Amy as a trophy because she was a woman who would have stood out. She was beautiful to anyone looking for a specific kind of victim. But you know what I don't understand? ah Well, okay, I guess it's because these people are disgusting and psychos.
00:33:24
Speaker
But if you are like needing physical intimacy um hu and you saw the pictures presumably of Amy and she looks distraught, like obviously this was not the job that she wanted for her life.
00:33:41
Speaker
Like why? What part of your brain is like, pe yep. Yep. that's the one and like i feel like you have to be disturbed yeah to be able to look past the distress and the ethical or you have some sort of mentality that female emotions are but it like it doesn't matter like their property or something And perhaps that's the most terrifying part of Amy's story, how easily this abduction could happen.
00:34:11
Speaker
In the space of an hour aboard a ship with thousands of people and supposedly airtight security, this young woman just simply vanished. Okay, yeah, because from here on out, if I do go on a cruise and my daughter comes with me, she will go nowhere. You put a chip in her. Yes.
00:34:28
Speaker
You talked about a leash earlier. we and that Yes, yeah it'll be like you have with a toddler. yeah She's got the backpack leash on. In 2010, 12 years after her disappearance, Amy was legally declared dead. But this declaration obviously brought no closure, no peace, only really just the cold finality of a legal procedure.
00:34:49
Speaker
And I feel like I was reading something. I believe... Because this is one of the last things that I read. But I believe it was in the book A Light in the Dark by Kathy Kleiner Rubin, who was one of the victims of Ted Bundy, that she was talking about grief when don't.
00:35:14
Speaker
don't know what has happened to someone. Meaning like it's the same as experiencing the loss, say of a child, if you don't know what has happened to them. so it and And in some ways almost worse because you there is no closure. yeah And it's continual grief. Imagine that feeling, if you i gosh, horrifically to lose a child But then to feel that every day for years because it's like the loss over and over and over again because you don't know what's happened. Yeah, it's like every day and a fresh loss.
00:35:56
Speaker
And for Amy's family, the hope has never truly faded. They still believe that she could be out there somewhere, maybe alive, maybe waiting, maybe hoping that someone, anyone hasn't given up on her The FBI does continue to offer a $25,000 reward for information leading to her recovery or the arrest of those responsible, and her family has supplemented that with an additional $250,000 reward of their own.
00:36:24
Speaker
50 today if my math serves me. If she's alive, she has spent more than half of her life in the shadow of that morning. A life interrupted and name repeated in whispers across forums, podcasts, television specials, but never truly spoken aloud in the name of justice.
00:36:42
Speaker
Amy Bradley's story is not only one of disappearance. It's a story about the failure of systems we're told to trust, right? It's about what happens when red flags are ignored, when pleas go unanswered, and when a family's nightmare is dismissed as just being inconvenient for this cruise line.
00:36:58
Speaker
So it's about the quiet ways a person can be erased, even in a place... overflowing with people and it's about how the most beautiful settings those turquoise waters that we all want to see the warm caribbean the sandy beaches can conceal horrors that no one wants to believe possible there are no answers at the end of this episode no resolution no certainty but there is a name that shouldn't be forgotten or a face that shouldn't fade and that is of amy bradley she was 23 she was vibrant she was loved and as always in every case we cover allison
00:37:34
Speaker
Deserves to be found. Absolutely. When someone disappears, they don't just leave behind a mystery. They leave behind an ache that never really settles. For the Bradley family, every sunrise is a reminder of that one morning that changed everything.
00:37:49
Speaker
Their lives have been spent in a space between hope and heartbreak, searching the faces of strangers, clinging to dreams, and demanding answers from a world that has been far too quiet.
00:38:01
Speaker
Amy's story is one of injustice, of failure, and of a deep, enduring love. Her name deserves to be spoken, her face deserves to be remembered, and someone somewhere knows what happened that morning.
00:38:14
Speaker
If you have any information about the disappearance of Amy Bradley, no matter how small or how long ago, please contact your local FBI office or the nearest American embassy.
Call to Action for Listeners
00:38:24
Speaker
You can also submit anonymous tips at tips.fbi.gov.
00:38:29
Speaker
You could be the person to help bring a daughter home. You could help a family find peace. And you can be the reason that Amy's story doesn't end in silence. Again, please like and join our Facebook page, Coffee and Cases Podcast, to continue the conversation and see images related to this episode.
00:38:48
Speaker
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00:38:59
Speaker
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00:39:10
Speaker
Stay together. Stay safe. We'll see you next week.