Jawbone rekindles cruise ship mystery

By Rupa Mikkilineni, CNN
January 3, 2011 8:52 a.m. EST

(CNN) -- If the human jawbone that washed up on a beach in Aruba late last year wasn't Natalee Holloway's, whose was it?

Authorities continue to investigate. They say the jawbone is human and likely was from a Caucasian. It held a single tooth.

Ten people have vanished while vacationing in the Caribbean in the last 15 years, according to the Aruba Missing Persons website. One of them was Amy Lynn Bradley, then 23, who disappeared 12 years ago while on a vacation cruise with her family.

Bradley and her mother, father and younger brother were on board the cruise ship "Rhapsody of the Seas." The ship had just left Oranjestad, Aruba, and was heading to Curacao, in the Netherlands Antilles, on the day she went missing -- March 24, 1998.

Bradley left her cabin early that morning, barefoot and carrying her cigarettes and lighter. It appears that she vanished while the ship was docking in Curacao.

The last people to see Bradley, according to witness accounts, were members of the cruise ship's band, "Blue Orchid." But no one seemed to know where she went or what happened to her.

Amy Bradley had a new job and a new dog, Daisy, waiting for her at home in Virginia, her family says.Band member Alister Douglas, who goes by the moniker "Yellow," told CNN that Bradley joined band members for a drink at the ship's dance club after the band's performance. He said he parted with Bradley at about 1 a.m. and headed to the staff elevator. She went off in another direction, he said, but did not see where she went.

He recalled that he was awakened in his room at about 6 a.m. by a cruise line manager, who asked if Bradley was with him. Investigators searched his room, and those of his band mates later that day, but nothing was found, he said.

Bradley's family insists she had no reason to run off. She was planning a life back in Virginia, with a new job and a new home. She has no history of running away and would never abandon her family or newly adopted bulldog Daisy, the Bradleys said.

Did she fall overboard by accident? Could foul play be involved? Was she kidnapped by someone she encountered on the ship's deck? Did she get into a violent argument with someone?

The Bradleys say they have received no answers from authorities in Curacao and Aruba.

Ron and Iva Bradley said in a statement to CNN: "We believe that our daughter is alive, but being held captive by someone." They say they had a sighting in 2005 they believe was credible, when a witness said he saw their daughter in a Barbados restaurant bathroom.

Royal Caribbean International Cruise Lines, which owns "Rhapsody of the Seas," did not respond to CNN's request for comment, and authorities in Aruba and Curacao would say only that their investigations remain open.

The Bradleys' complaint that that no one looked closely at their daughter's disappearance echoes the complaints during the early days of the Natalee Holloway investigation.

Holloway's parents also complained of a lack of urgency by the authorities when she disappeared during a senior class trip to Aruba in May 2005. To this day, authorities have no resolution as to what happened to Holloway five years ago.

A local man, Joran van der Sloot, who was last seen with Holloway, was arrested and questioned several times. He was released and since has been arrested and charged with murdering a young woman in Peru.

At the time she disappeared, Bradley was 5'7" tall, weighed 120 pounds and had short brown hair and green eyes. She had a Tasmanian Devil tattoo on her left shoulder blade, a Chinese symbol tattooed on her right ankle, a green and blue gecko lizard tattoo around her navel, navel ring and multiple ear piercings.

A $250,000 reward is offered to anyone who provides information leading to the safe return of Amy Lynn Bradley. A reward of $50,000 is offered for information leading to her verifiable location. Please contact 804-276-2204 with tips.

interesting. so any followup? did they identify the jawbone? I've always been interested in the Bradley case and thought there was more to it that just falling off a ship, maybe im wrong but i dont know....

I hadnt heard about the restaurant bathroom sighting. I always remember the guy who lied to them about being special forces and having surveillance crews watching her. It's messed up, but i laughed at him, good thing he is in jail.

Ten people that are KNOWN to be missing have disappeared. There's no way of telling how many people have actually disappeared in the area. And since Venezuela is only 15 miles from the island, there's the possibility that the body part that was found was from Venezuela and not Ms. Bradley.

interesting. so any followup? did they identify the jawbone?

That would be fast... the article was posted today.

heheh, yeah it would, didnt see that date:) .....just saw that late last year it was found

Does anyone know if there are any updates to this story?

Does anyone know if there are any updates to this story?
Amy Bradley's disappearance was featured on Beth Holloway's new show Vanished a few months ago (early summer?). I don't remember if the jawbone specifically was mentioned, but I do know that the episode did not mention any outstanding evidence waiting to be tested to see if it belonged to Amy.

So yeah, I don't think the jawbone is Amy's.

Amy Bradley's disappearance was featured on Beth Holloway's new show Vanished a few months ago (early summer?). I don't remember if the jawbone specifically was mentioned, but I do know that the episode did not mention any outstanding evidence waiting to be tested to see if it belonged to Amy.

So yeah, I don't think the jawbone is Amy's.

I saw the Vanished show and was amazed at how they portrayed the likelihood that Amy was still alive, sold into human slavery. They even have several American eyewitnesses (one of which was a woman in a bathroom who said Amy came in and told her she needed help and that she was Amy Bradley, yet this woman apparently did nothing after the encounter until she saw a missing poster) who claim to have seen her. I think due to the amount of time that has passed, she is unfortunately dead. I do believe the bass player of the ship's band definitely knows more than he is leading on, just as the UM segment suggested.

Question: The Charley Project says Amy was a strong swimmer and trained as a lifeguard. Didn't the segment say she couldn't swim or was she just afraid of heights?

You figure with a jawbone and a tooth, they'd be able to extract some DNA from it.

what have her parents said about the pic? Because I think I would know my own daughter,if the photo hadn't been altered in anyway,even if she was dressed differently or had makeup on.

what have her parents said about the pic? Because I think I would know my own daughter,if the photo hadn't been altered in anyway,even if she was dressed differently or had makeup on.


In Beth Holloway's new show Vanished, she interviewed Amy's mother and she said she was convinced it was her daughter but she look "tormented". One of the worst cases on UM imo. I just wish these Caribbean scumbags would be brought to justice. I wouldn't spend a dime in Mexico, South America, or the Caribbean because the law enforcement is a joke.


Also, I believe they confirmed the jawbone isn't Amy's recently.

they just profiled this case again on unsolved mysteries just now. still no updates. unbelievable!

I think Amy is dead. I just can't believe so much time has passed and she has never attempted to contact her parents or anyone else.

If she was taken and sold into slavery or something like that then how do we figure they got her off that ship? The parents knew she was missing before the ship docked and the search was well underway before they came into port right? How could they have got her off? Had someone waiting in a dingy? Could they have hid her somewhere on the ship until the family gave up and left? It just seems unlikely then someone could be kidnapped from a cruise ship especially when they have famliy members with them.

If she was taken and sold into slavery or something like that then how do we figure they got her off that ship? The parents knew she was missing before the ship docked and the search was well underway before they came into port right? How could they have got her off? Had someone waiting in a dingy? Could they have hid her somewhere on the ship until the family gave up and left? It just seems unlikely then someone could be kidnapped from a cruise ship especially when they have famliy members with them.

From what I remember, some crew members were seen carrying out a rolled-up piece of carpet.

From what I remember, some crew members were seen carrying out a rolled-up piece of carpet.
wow,I hadn't heard that.I always thought if someone had killed her,they would have thrown her overbrd,and that would explain why she was never found.
I can only say if it were my daughter,I would have never left the ship till I had the answer to what happened.

I don't buy the whole crew smuggling her out in a rolled up piece of carpet. If this "human slave trade" were this complex and big don't you think there would be hundreds of other similar cases of this? And why was Amy singled out out of all of the other women on the ship?

Here's what we know about this case:

-She was drinking and partying until almost 4 in the morning.
-She told her father she was going to sleep on the balcony of the ship.
-Her father woke up again and saw her sleeping on the balcony and the sliding door leading to the balcony was closed.
-Just 30 minutes later, her father wakes up again and sees the balcony door open and Amy is gone.
-Amy's cigarettes were missing.

I don't see how or why the "abduction" theory is plausible at all in this case. What could have possibly happened in that 30 minute time frame for her to either suddenly wake up and randomly leave the room and run into foul play with a random psychopath (or someone in the human slave trade), OR be abducted from her room without waking up her parents or her brother? Based off of what we do know about this case IMHO I think she woke up, grabbed her cigarettes and decided to smoke before returning back inside to her bed, left the balcony door open since she figured she would be coming back in after her smoke, and somehow accidentally fell overboard. This is pure speculation on my part, but if she were indeed intoxicated perhaps she decided to overcome her fear of heights (thanks to liquid encouragement) and accidentally slipped and fell. That's the only thing that makes sense in terms of the things we know for certain about this case.

I may be wrong, but if she fell overboard, wouldn't they have found her soon after? If the door was open, and she fell over the side, wouldn't the father hear screaming? Especially since she was afraid of heights or whatever.

I would quickly dismiss the kidnapping theory if it weren't in the Caribbean. I just think it is too coincidental. The sex trade was thriving in the 90s, and even with law enforcement is still doing fine now.


My theory is she probably got into a routine of smoking cigs on the ship, someone (not necessarily the bass player) picked up on the pattern, and may have known this was the last chance to grab her if they were going to.

More than likely (in this theory) someone working on the ship WAS involved and was either able to make a different exit, or exit later.


You cannot dismiss the sightings. I hate to go back to the bass player, but the witness said she saw her in the early morning with him. If that's true, he's involved.

The way the sex trade works in the Carribbean is these scumbags pay guys like Joran van der Sloot somewhere in the $5000 - $10000 range to meet potential girls, hang out with them, earn the girls trust, then meet a location where the middleman basically is done with the job and the cronies pick the girls up. It is entirely likely a crew member of the ship was lured by this prospect, considering how much money was involved, and the access they had.

The last point is the alleged sightings in the Caribbean a few years ago that was featured on Beth Holloways show. This sighting links the scary 80s hair metal girl in the photo with Amy. The woman saw her in a bathroom, says she was from Virginia, and she needed help. Soon after 2 or 3 men came in the bathroom and escorted her out.

The composite the woman described and police drew was a dead ringer to the purported photo of Amy that came out on Dr. Drew.

i do remember seeing the dennis farina version several weeks back and a military man who was in a bar i think it was thought he spoke with amy but didnt tell his commander because of some stupid rule saying the military personel are not allowed to go to bars while on duty

I do not believe someone who was so afraid of the water would stand anywhere near enough to the edge to fall. That bass player is also really suspicious, I have to say.

Also, was Amy more afraid of heights than water? Her bio on another site says that she was a strong swimmer with lifeguard training.

I understand that Amy had a fear of heights, and her brother stated on UM that she was very leery about getting anywhere near the ledge of the balcony. But she was out drinking until 4 in the morning. Who's to say a little "liquid encouragement" didn't help her briefly quell that fear long enough for her to have accidentally fallen overboard?

yes and on of the military man who visited i guess a bar or brothel said that amy came to him asking for some help but some guy took her away against her will he said he didnt want to get in trouble because of military rules banning him from going to bars while on duty

maybe the ship's crew had something to do with her disappearance i mean isnt it odd that they call for amy over the ship's speaker while passengers were off the ship instead off while they were on it on this just made me realize it is very suspicious. and the bass player maybe one of the crewman told the bass player amy's family knew abt amy being missing

I understand that Amy had a fear of heights, and her brother stated on UM that she was very leery about getting anywhere near the ledge of the balcony. But she was out drinking until 4 in the morning. Who's to say a little "liquid encouragement" didn't help her briefly quell that fear long enough for her to have accidentally fallen overboard?
In my opinion, she would have had to be pretty wasted for anything like that to have happened. When I'm drinking, even if I'm giggling and a little silly, I still very much remember my fears (i.e. if I see someone leering at me, I stick closer to my friends or if I see something dangerous, I step back). The reason I really dispute this angle is that her brother was speaking to her very shortly before and she was reportedly not that drunk. Plus, I don't know if she would have been grabbing for her cigarettes if in a state of drunkenness; most people I know who have too much to drink want to lay down. I think that she was sober enough to want her cigarettes, but not enough to be goofing around near the edge.

In my opinion, she would have had to be pretty wasted for anything like that to have happened. When I'm drinking, even if I'm giggling and a little silly, I still very much remember my fears (i.e. if I see someone leering at me, I stick closer to my friends or if I see something dangerous, I step back). The reason I really dispute this angle is that her brother was speaking to her very shortly before and she was reportedly not that drunk. Plus, I don't know if she would have been grabbing for her cigarettes if in a state of drunkenness; most people I know who have too much to drink want to lay down. I think that she was sober enough to want her cigarettes, but not enough to be goofing around near the edge.

You do some very odd things when you're drunk, but you sometimes also remember your regular routine. I've been drunk (i.e. wasted) before and I always wake up the next morning thinking I've lost my phone and my wallet only to find my phone on the charger and my wallet where it should be, having no recollection of how they got there. This may be why Amy had her cigarettes. And a lot of smokers I know will continue to smoke no matter how drunk they are.

However unlikely it is for her to be standing on the balcony, falling overboard, IMHO it's even far more unlikely that there is this massive conspiracy coverup in which Amy (out of all of the other females on board that cruise ship) was solely targeted and abducted and forced into the "sex slavery". I could see if there was more than one woman missing from the ship, but Amy alone? I just don't buy it. It wasn't like Amy was a young child or a teenager, she was a grown woman. Don't you think she would have tried (more frantically than this soldier's account of how he allegedly saw Amy) to seek out help, or contact her family?

EDIT: While I don't buy into the whole slave angle at all, I suppose it's possible that someone on board the ship targeted Amy (possibly the bass player), she went back to their room and this person got a little too friendly with Amy, she rejected him and in a rage he killed her and threw her overboard. That seems plausible enough.

You do some very odd things when you're drunk, but you sometimes also remember your regular routine. I've been drunk (i.e. wasted) before and I always wake up the next morning thinking I've lost my phone and my wallet only to find my phone on the charger and my wallet where it should be, having no recollection of how they got there. This may be why Amy had her cigarettes. And a lot of smokers I know will continue to smoke no matter how drunk they are.

However unlikely it is for her to be standing on the balcony, falling overboard, IMHO it's even far more unlikely that there is this massive conspiracy coverup in which Amy (out of all of the other females on board that cruise ship) was solely targeted and abducted and forced into the "sex slavery". I could see if there was more than one woman missing from the ship, but Amy alone? I just don't buy it. It wasn't like Amy was a young child or a teenager, she was a grown woman. Don't you think she would have tried (more frantically than this soldier's account of how he allegedly saw Amy) to seek out help, or contact her family?

EDIT: While I don't buy into the whole slave angle at all, I suppose it's possible that someone on board the ship targeted Amy (possibly the bass player), she went back to their room and this person got a little too friendly with Amy, she rejected him and in a rage he killed her and threw her overboard. That seems plausible enough.

I agree with you that she could have acted in any manner while drunk; we all take in alcohol differently and react differently. She could very well have decided to smoke while very intoxicated.

I don't really believe the sex slavery angle myself, either (but that picture is very striking, I have to say), and I would believe the being thrown overboard theory more so. It could have been the bass player, who was with her (according to the eyewitness) for several minutes before returning by himself.