20 years ago today: Amy Bradley disappearance

[1990 UM fan]

Let's revisit this tragic case. Amy Bradley, a 23-year-old Virginia college student, went aboard the cruise ship Rhapsody of the Seas with her parents and brother in March 1998. On the early morning of March 24, 1998, Amy partied at the ship's dance club and was seen with a member of the ship's band, who witnesses said was flirting with and dancing too close to Amy. Ron said that at 5:30 that morning, he saw Amy asleep on the balcony of their suite. A half hour later, he awoke to find her gone. Amy's parents attempted to have the crew search for her. They claimed to have searched all 999 rooms for her, but Amy's parents later found out that no such search was conducted. When the ship docked in Curacao, the Bradleys searched the island for Amy, but were unable to find her. The Royal Caribbean cruise company believes Amy either accidentally fell overboard or deliberately jumped from the ship, but her parents believe she was taken off the ship against her will.

There were possible sightings of Amy Bradley in Curaçao in 1998 and 1999. Two Canadian tourists reported seeing a woman resembling Amy on a beach in Curaçao in August 1998. The woman's tattoos were reportedly identical to Bradley's. Bradley's tattoos included a Tasmanian Devil spinning a basketball located on her shoulder, the sun placed on her lower back, a Chinese symbol located on her right ankle, and a gecko lizard on her navel. She also had a navel ring. A member of the Navy stated that he had seen Bradley in a brothel in 1999. He claimed she told him that "her name was Amy Bradley and begged him for help," explaining that she was not allowed to leave.

There was another potential sighting in 2005, when a witness named Judy Maurer claimed to have seen Bradley in a department store restroom in Barbados.The witness claimed a woman entered the restroom with a couple of men, who were threatening her if she did not follow through on a deal. When she approached the distraught woman after the men left, she claimed the woman said her first name was Amy and that she was from Virginia before the men re entered the bathroom to take her. Mauer called authorities, who created composite sketches of three men and the woman based on her account.

Bradley's mother and father appeared on the November 17, 2005 episode of Dr. Phil. An image of a young woman resembling Amy Bradley that was emailed to her parents was shown on the program, and it suggests that she might have been sold into sexual slavery.

There is a $250,000 reward offered by the Bradley family for information leading to Amy Bradley's return and a $50,000 reward for information leading to her verifiable location. The FBI is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to her recovery. Her case has been featured on America's Most Wanted, Unsolved Mysteries, Disappeared and Vanished.

[Judith from Omaha]

I'll admit that I don't know a lot of details about this case, but I tried to research it in the past and I got really confused by the popular theory that she is still alive and is being sex-trafficked. I guess my questions are:

1.) Why did RC lie about the room searches?Did they at least stop everyone from leaving and entering at that time? How can they be so sure that someone didn't kill Amy and then stuff her body in a suitcase?
2.) While I don't think Amy fell overboard, wasn't she afraid of the water? I've also heard that she was a lifeguard and on her school swim team. Are both true? If so, it seems really odd that someone who participated in swim activities would be afraid of water...
3.) Aside from the "sightings" and that photo (the one of "Jas") has there ever been any other evidence that Amy is still alive? If these people saw her and she identified herself as Amy, then why did none of them immediately call the police? In these stories, there are always several men who conveniently come and take her away before any more can be said.
4.) Do her parents think she's alive, or do they think she's dead? I don't know how true this is, but I read on a message board that the Bradley's were swindled by a conman who claimed to be a private investigator who basically staged photos and told them that Amy was still alive. Are these photos available to be seen? They aren't the same ones as the "Jas" person, are they?
5.) Was the "Jas" in the photos ever contacted or proven that it wasn't Amy?

This is such a weird ass case. The majority seems to think Amy is still alive, but I just can't imagine how she wouldn't have been found after all these years. What's so special about her that would warrant her being kidnapped and held for all these years? And all this time, would she never have a moment alone without her captors? It just seems strange to me that a few individuals would dedicate their lives to pimping out this woman and then watching her every move. Yes, I realize human trafficking is a legitimate business but from documentaries I've watched normally, it's a bit more, faceless? Normally these men are herding hundreds of women, and not always the same ones. Kidnapping a woman off of a cruise ship and keeping her working well into her forties seems like not only a stretch, but a serious commitment. I just can't imagine real sex traffickers having interest in someone for that long, especially once Amy grew older. Seems like to me they would have used her and got rid of her once she aged out.

Actually, the more I think about it, the less sense it makes. I'm not saying Amy wasn't pretty, but from looking at pictures she seemed a bit tomboy-ish to me. From what I've gathered, traffickers look for girls with a specific look (I hear of aspiring models being tricked and sold this way) and Amy doesn't fit that profile.

But I also don't think she went overboard either. Did Alistair have a way to take her off the ship? Maybe she didn't get kidnapped or went overboard, maybe she was killed some other way.

[James T]

1. It would have been logistically impossible to conduct a search of that nature. Plus they aren't law enforcement-they are ship crew & nothing like this had ever happened to them previously. At the time they likely thought she had either disembarked to party, was crashed out onboard somewhere drunk, or had hooked up with somebody on the ship & was in their room, let's not forget while the Bradley's were frantic she had only been missing for a very short time. I think the Bradley's probably misunderstood what they were told had happened or like most people heard what they wanted to hear, their time frames/stories are a tad confusing.

2. She was afraid of the open water of the ocean. I am afraid of heights but have no issue standing on a bridge looking down or being in a tall building, put me up in the air in a helicopter & my palms would be sweating like mad.

3. No, these were all people who came forward after national publicity when a reward was on the table.

4. No, that was a guy who contacted them in late 1999 & the con game happened in 2000, he used a couple of people he knew who would get a cut to pose as her & the captor. The photos have never been made public.

5. Nope, there is a photograph with a woman in the background taken in that area who also resembles Jas somewhat. Best guess is she was a wannabe model or legit escort who never came forward for obvious reasons-like getting out of that life & starting a family, or not wanting the authorities on her case. Often adult/porn services photos can be taken years before-so it is quite possible they were 5-10 years old. I did hear a podcast on the case where one of the hosts said he knew the guy who took them & he was in the adult business & it was just a casting audition/photos for cash situation, but he never elaborated with any details.

Well yes, this is the problem. LE have been unable to find her in 20 years, yet we are supposed to believe she is being led around in public by a bunch of incompetent goons who draw attention to themselves at every turn yet nobody can find them. Supposedly she was smuggled into America somehow in 2003 & has been smuggled all around the world for 20 years without one assumes her fake passport being detected or the yachts they use being raided by customs agents, now she is no longer a sex slave apparently but smuggling something else that the people making the claims refuse to say.

As you say what is so special about her that she would be kidnapped? There are any number of women willing to sell their bodies in that part of the world & no offence to Amy but she was hardly model material. The risk of kidnapping a US citizen & knowing the FBI & LE in the Caribbean will be hunting for her & you is incredibly high risk for low reward & then we are supposed to believe they are advertising her on websites, putting her in brothels attended by US citizens etc.

If we go by her fathers statements & that of witnesses she left the outside of the cabin between 5.30-6.00 am & got into an elevator, she plainly wasn't abducted from her sleeping position just outside the room her family were in. She had either arranged to meet somebody or was having trouble sleeping & wanted to wander-whether she met with foul play or just simply fell overboard due to alcohol consumption we will likely never know.

Sadly it seems the Bradley family believe she was abducted, that Jas is her & that she is still being held against her will 20 years on. Despite the con done on them they buy into certain people & one in particular who for whatever reason have filled their heads with lurid & frankly unbelievable tales in recent years while claiming they are in on the LE investigations.

[drew790]

Yeah this one's open and shut for me. She's dead. She fell overboard, the end.

The photos that have swirled around online don't convince me, they're very generic. I could see them taking a US citizen, in general, despite the risk because they probably want to have different types for the demands of their .... "customers"(ugh!). But, like James said, she didn't physically seem the type if that indeed was to have gone down.

The brothel thing. How much did the navy guy drink? Is he remembering the right name? Given the publicity the family was making could a random girl drop her name to try to get out of her own jam? All of this stuff is so flimsy you can poke a million holes in it

[plmkr88]

Agree with last 2 posts.

While its sad that people are left in a state of uncertainty of what happened to her, w out closure I believe that the only real logical and non emotional explanation is that she fell overboard at some point. Now, you can possibly say well maybe the fall overboard happened as a result of foul play, and that might be possible but I just do not buy any other theories.

She is not being sex trafficked. I am 99.9% certain of that.

The only 2 scenarios for me are 1: Fell overboard via too much drinking or 2: Fell overboard via foul play.

[WishfulDreamer]

Originally Posted by plmkr88

The only 2 scenarios for me are 1: Fell overboard via too much drinking or 2: Fell overboard via foul play.

I think these are the two most plausible theories. It's just too much of a stretch that she was taken from the ship and no one saw a thing. I used to be of the camp that there's no way she fell because she was terrified of the railing, but I still buy that more than the trafficking. It's also within the realm of possibility that she was assaulted and thrown overboard. Seedy things happen on cruise ships. It was five something in the morning, she was intoxicated, alone, and completely vulnerable. A mishap with the railing or another person on the cruise ship are much more likely than an elaborate kidnapping.

Eyewitness testimony is often mistaken, no matter how good a witness intentions might be. The women cited in the Vanished segment who "saw" her on the beach/in a bathroom? Too implausible, in my opinion. Why on Earth would a trafficked victim be allowed to roam around like that, even guarded? The navy guy who claims she identified herself in a brothel? Questionable at best.

The Vanished segment goes into a lot of detail about several incidents in which the Bradleys were duped by people who wanted to squeeze money out of them by pretending to have information about their daughter. I think that's probably the case with many of the stories.

[drew790]

Originally Posted by WishfulDreamer

Eyewitness testimony is often mistaken, no matter how good a witness intentions might be. The women cited in the Vanished segment who "saw" her on the beach/in a bathroom? Too implausible, in my opinion. Why on Earth would a trafficked victim be allowed to roam around like that, even guarded? The navy guy who claims she identified herself in a brothel? Questionable at best.
\

Indeed.

It's also not like her tattoos were the most unique. WB's marketing machine had the looney toons everywhere in the 90s (child of that era), way more than you'd see now. Space Jam was also out 2 years before the disappearance. The Tasmanian Devil with a basketball ... not unique at all.

Chinese symbols are also common place, and easily mistaken to people who don't understand the language. Many who have them don't even know what they mean, they just "looked cool".

A sun tramp stamp ... what else is there to say here?

[Hot Jock]

Originally Posted by drew790

Yeah this one's open and shut for me. She's dead. She fell overboard, the end.

I’m in 100% agreement with this and always have been.

She was trashed and was outside on a balcony. Homegirl either lost her footing and fell over the edge or was vomiting over the edge and just fell out. While I’m certainly not proud of this, I have been inebriated to the point of being able to stand up but unable to keep my balance for more than one pace. Several times. The last time as recent as about 3-4 years ago. I can totally see somebody in that state of drunkenness falling over a stomach-high balcony. Especially in surroundings that they weren’t used to.

None of the other theories make any sense to me and I’ll be nice and leave it at that.

[TheCars1986]

Originally Posted by Hot Jock

I’m in 100% agreement with this and always have been.

She was trashed and was outside on a balcony. Homegirl either lost her footing and fell over the edge or was vomiting over the edge and just fell out. While I’m certainly not proud of this, I have been inebriated to the point of being able to stand up but unable to keep my balance for more than one pace. Several times. The last time as recent as about 3-4 years ago. I can totally see somebody in that state of drunkenness falling over a stomach-high balcony. Especially in surroundings that they weren’t used to.

None of the other theories make any sense to me and I’ll be nice and leave it at that.

Agreed in full. I don't like to use the terms "overrated" and "underrated" while discussing true crime cases, but this would definitely be my pick for most overrated case that gets the most discussion.

[LooksLikeCRicci]

My thoughts on this case have changed, and its ironically only because of something that happened to me last week:

So, without getting into TOO much stuff that's off topic, I got hospitalized for severe dehydration last week. (I had food poisoning. I wasn't re-hydrating after vomiting as I should have.) I went to the ER and felt horrible. While the techs were in the process of sitting me up to get a chest X-Ray, I felt like I was going to vomit. I said that, grabbed the vomit bag... and blacked out. I was told I was unconscious for about thirty seconds. In that time, the E.R. techs had moved my body back down on the hospital bed, were running vitals, and had started an IV and I didn't know/feel a thing because I was obviously unconscious. I'd never passed out like that before and had no idea how time passes, etc. when you're out like that.

Based on this new life information for me, I believe Amy Bradley was vomiting over the side of the ship (or thought she had to vomit and therefore leaned over the ship), passed out, slumped over the rail, and was knocked overboard. Nothing else makes sense to me anymore.

[drew790]

All it would take was one good ebb and poof ...

[James T]

Originally Posted by LooksLikeCRicci

My thoughts on this case have changed, and its ironically only because of something that happened to me last week:

So, without getting into TOO much stuff that's off topic, I got hospitalized for severe dehydration last week. (I had food poisoning. I wasn't re-hydrating after vomiting as I should have.) I went to the ER and felt horrible. While the techs were in the process of sitting me up to get a chest X-Ray, I felt like I was going to vomit. I said that, grabbed the vomit bag... and blacked out. I was told I was unconscious for about thirty seconds. In that time, the E.R. techs had moved my body back down on the hospital bed, were running vitals, and had started an IV and I didn't know/feel a thing because I was obviously unconscious. I'd never passed out like that before and had no idea how time passes, etc. when you're out like that.

Based on this new life information for me, I believe Amy Bradley was vomiting over the side of the ship (or thought she had to vomit and therefore leaned over the ship), passed out, slumped over the rail, and was knocked overboard. Nothing else makes sense to me anymore.

While I didn't ever black out from a series of bouts of food poisonings years back, I sure as hell got dizzy & weak to where even lying down was painful, very unsteady & sleeping was in & out of bizarre nightmares as my body was really hot.

[Jon]

Originally Posted by LooksLikeCRicci

My thoughts on this case have changed, and its ironically only because of something that happened to me last week:

So, without getting into TOO much stuff that's off topic, I got hospitalized for severe dehydration last week. (I had food poisoning. I wasn't re-hydrating after vomiting as I should have.) I went to the ER and felt horrible. While the techs were in the process of sitting me up to get a chest X-Ray, I felt like I was going to vomit. I said that, grabbed the vomit bag... and blacked out. I was told I was unconscious for about thirty seconds. In that time, the E.R. techs had moved my body back down on the hospital bed, were running vitals, and had started an IV and I didn't know/feel a thing because I was obviously unconscious. I'd never passed out like that before and had no idea how time passes, etc. when you're out like that.

Based on this new life information for me, I believe Amy Bradley was vomiting over the side of the ship (or thought she had to vomit and therefore leaned over the ship), passed out, slumped over the rail, and was knocked overboard. Nothing else makes sense to me anymore.

How are you feeling now? Hopefully much better!

[1990 UM fan]

I'm wondering if Drew is the same one I had to ban due to crass statements? Anyways, don't forget that witnesses saw Amy and Yellow, a member of the ship's band, walk up the stairs to the upper deck, and he came back minutes later by himself. Amy was NOT alone. I don't know if anyone testified as to how inebriated Amy was or might have been during the time she left her parents' suite, but if she didn't accidentally fall overboard (doubtful, given that Amy hated the open waters and wouldn't have gotten near the railing), then the bass player made more sexual advances towards Amy in her intoxicated state, she resisted, and was pushed or thrown off the ship.

[Todd Mueller]

Originally Posted by LooksLikeCRicci

My thoughts on this case have changed, and its ironically only because of something that happened to me last week:

So, without getting into TOO much stuff that's off topic, I got hospitalized for severe dehydration last week. (I had food poisoning. I wasn't re-hydrating after vomiting as I should have.) I went to the ER and felt horrible. While the techs were in the process of sitting me up to get a chest X-Ray, I felt like I was going to vomit. I said that, grabbed the vomit bag... and blacked out. I was told I was unconscious for about thirty seconds. In that time, the E.R. techs had moved my body back down on the hospital bed, were running vitals, and had started an IV and I didn't know/feel a thing because I was obviously unconscious. I'd never passed out like that before and had no idea how time passes, etc. when you're out like that.

Based on this new life information for me, I believe Amy Bradley was vomiting over the side of the ship (or thought she had to vomit and therefore leaned over the ship), passed out, slumped over the rail, and was knocked overboard. Nothing else makes sense to me anymore.

As I started reading this, I totally thought you were going to go with a "Tom Sawyer/Max Planck" sort of story and say you were clinically dead for a few minutes and that you met Amy Bradley who said she fell over the side on her own and that it wasn't your time yet and you should return to your life on Earth...

In all seriousness, that sounds HORRIBLE and I hope you are feeling back to normal. I can't imagine barfing and blacking out like that... Scary.

Originally Posted by plmkr88

Agree with last 2 posts.

While its sad that people are left in a state of uncertainty of what happened to her, w out closure I believe that the only real logical and non emotional explanation is that she fell overboard at some point. Now, you can possibly say well maybe the fall overboard happened as a result of foul play, and that might be possible but I just do not buy any other theories.

She is not being sex trafficked. I am 99.9% certain of that.

The only 2 scenarios for me are 1: Fell overboard via too much drinking or 2: Fell overboard via foul play.

I totally agree with this. I think the trafficking stories are just red herrings/false hope. I feel really bad for her family and if it were my daughter/sister I would never give up hope or stop looking. But sadly, I think she fell off or was pushed of the boat and died at sea.