Season One: Episode 3
Last Seen: March 24 1998
23 year old female Amy Lynn Bradley was last seen on March 24 1998 on the cruise ship Rhapsody of the Seas. A recent college graduate Amy was on a Caribbean cruise with her father Ron, mother Iva, and brother Brad.
Although Amy was a strong swimmer and lifeguard, she had been afraid to go on the cruise. In hindsight, perhaps Amy had a premonition of the terror that would unfold as her family’s dream vacation descended into a nightmare.
– What We Know –
To celebrate a generous work bonus, insurance executive Ron Bradley took his suburban Virginia family to San Juan Puerto Rico for a Caribbean cruise. The Bradley’s left San Juan Saturday March 21 On board Royal Caribbean’s Rhapsody of the seas bound for Aruba.
Having conquered her fear of cruising, Amy had adapted to life on the high seas and was having a great time with her family. Amy also seemed to be making an impression on the ship’s waitstaff, who mentioned to her family one night at dinner they’d like to take her on shore to Aruba. Amy would later say there was no way she’d go anywhere with them and that the waiters creeped her out.
On Monday evening, March 23rd, the ship left Aruba for Curacao, a Dutch island off the coast of South America. that night would reveal the first of many disturbing events.
while docked at Aruba Amy’s mother recalled seeing a group of people who were not passengers hanging out onboard the ship talking with and watching a band named blue orchid. This mysterious group has never been confirmed, nor has it been explained how Iva knew they were not passengers.
That last evening prior to her disappearance Amy and her mother went to go look at the latest prints taken by the ships photographers. What they found at the photo kiosk was chilling. All of amy’s photos were missing, but why and by who? the gallery operator recalled seeing amys pictures earlier, but had no explanation. Disturbed, Amy’s mother requested they be reprinted. she still has the ticket for those reprints.
Later that night After the Bradley parents were in bed, Amy and Brad headed out to the ships disco for some fun. Coincidently a camera crew shooting a promotional video was filming that night and captured Amy on camera, in what would be her final appearance. She is seen dancing with a man later identified as Alistair Douglas, aka yellow, a member of a ship band named blue orchid – the same band her mother claimed to have seen the mysterious group of men hanging out with earlier. Yellow stated he left Amy at 1am to return to crew quarters, a claim that was later confirmed by investigators. Amy and Brad returned to their cabin at 3:40am and hung out for a while on the balcony before Brad went to bed.
Not feeling well amy slept on the balcony where she was seen still resting by her father at 5:30am. Around 6am ron was awakened by a loud noise. He noticed Amy had left the balcony and the cabin, taking cigarettes and a lighter, but no shoes, indicating a quick trip back. When Amy didn’t return, Ron’s gut instincts leapt into action and he began searching the ship. An hour later, a panicked ron returned to the cabin and told his family that Amy was missing.
With the entire ship about to debarked onto curacao, the Bradley’s plead with the crew to wait until Amy could be located but it proceeded as scheduled. The captain also denied the families request to announce that Amy was missing or post photos, citing it would disturb the passengers. While the captain searched the ship, Amy’s family spent all day scouring curacao both efforts turned up empty handed. As the ships departure time approached, the Bradley’s stayed on the island, praying for a miracle. the ship moved on to st martin, virgin islands and then back to Puerto Ricco.
The next day the FBI contacted Ron, saying only the ship’s common areas had been searched. Hopeful Amy may still be aboard., the Bradley’s flew from curacao to st martin and reboarded the rhapsody.
Disappointingly – Both the ship and the FBI’s investigation turned up nothing.
For 5 days The Dutch Antilles coast guard and a boat chartered by Royal Caribbean searched the waters where Amy was last seen. It was also in vain.
Even interviews with crew members, including Yellow, the man seen with Amy in the video, turned up fruitless. After a polygraph test, the FBI released yellow with no evidence to charge him in amys disappearance. Ron claims yellow gave him and his friends a thumbs up after he passed the polygraph.
In the absence of suspects and a body, the investigation would stall, but what did emerge were two compelling and disturbing theories on what happened to Amy Bradley.
—Theory #1
The first explanation for amys disappearance came from Royal Caribbean the cruise line who believed she had committed suicide. The Bradley’s immediately dismissed the suggestions, citing how Amy had sent postcards, bought gifts for friends, and had a new job, apartment, and dog waiting for her back home. The idea that amy had no reason to runaway or injure herself was later supported by the FBI.
With suicide taken off the table, the cruise ship, and many investigators still believed it was very possible Amy had gone overboard by accident – or not
it’s even been suggested Amy never made it out of the cabin, but fell overboard on her own balcony, making that noise which woke Ron up.
For now though, we’ll follow the official version that amy left the cabin that morning fully expecting to return.
One Highly plausible scenario is that while outside of the cabin amy either intentionally or unintentionally met up with someone and fell victim to an assult. , where she was accidentally injured or killed, with her body then being hidden or disposed of before the gangplanks dropped. Supporters of the assault explanation believe the early hours, the impending debarkation, and the known occurrences of assult aboard cruise ships would make that morning a choice time for such a predatory act.
it’s also possible Amy left the cabin, went on deck to take pictures, didn’t encounter anyone, and fell overboard alone somewhere else on the boat.
There were Several witnesses who stated they saw Amy that morning with yellow in an elevator and again on the top deck, where she was drinking a dark beverage he brought for her.
Regardless of what occurred that morning, Amy’s brother brad recalled a comment from a crew member that day saying that he was sorry for what had happened to his sister. A weird comment considering no one at that time except amys family and the ships senior staff knew she had vanished.
For any missing persons case the on boat scenarios would be tragic enough, but this is where amy’s case gets seriously weird and …Creepy.
Theory #2 sold into slavery
Since the beginning Amy’s family has believed she was taken off the rhapsody and brought to curacao against her will. They further suspect some members of the ships crew had orchestrated the entire operation, which could explain why the captain and security dragged their feet on immediate searches and refused to wait that morning until Amy was found.
It has been speculated amy was Separated from the passengers, possibly drugged and smuggled out through a cargo exit hidden inside luggage, a laundry cart, or even onboard a small boat.
supporting the abduction theory are a disturbing series of sightings which began soon after amys disappearance and continued for years after.
– In August of 1998, just 5 months after Amy was last seen, two Canadian tourists reported seeing a young woman with identical tattoos to Amy on a curacao beach. The Canadians reported she was with several rough looking men, who they believe prevented her from speaking to them. Years later, The man recognized Amy from an episode of Americas Most Wanted and contacted her family. He says he is haunted by the encounter and knows it was her.
– In 1999 a sailor from the us navy reported while at a brothel in curacao a young woman had come up to him and introduced herself as amy bradley. The woman said she was being held against her will and needed his help to escape. The sailor told her where the ship was docked, but he didnt tell authorities about amy fearing he would be disciplined for visiting a brothel. In 2002, After his retirement, the sailor reported the encounter, but By that time the brothel involved had been burnt to the ground.
– 2005 Barbados, while using a department store restroom an American female tourist saw a young women enter with three men who aggressively threatened her to not mess up a big deal that was arranged. After the men left, the witness exited the stall to find the distraught woman hunched over the sink, the woman identified herself as Amy from Virginia. The sighting ended when the men reentered the restroom and the witness ran out in fear. She reported the woman to authorities and this sketch was drawn.
The latest and perhaps most disturbing clue of amys abduction came in 2005 when the Bradley’s were emailed two photos found on a Caribbean sex tourism website. The photos are of an escort named Jas. It is believed the woman in the pictures could be Amy. A facial recognition expert has examined the pictures and believes that Jas is without question Amy Bradley.
Doubters of the website photos question their authenticity – could they be photo-shopped fakes in some twisted prank? Also, are the photos too old to be Amy? the website credited photos as being from 1987 to 2003. The photos of Jas appear to have hair styles more typical of the late 80’s and early 90’s, setting it well before the time Amy disappeared and the early 2000’s. Also none of her 4 tattoos are visible.
Like all the other leads, the website photos ultimately led nowhere.
the southern Caribbean is a known hub for human trafficking, and it is possible that Amy was victim to an inside job with the cruise ships staff. but many criminal experts who have examined this case find abduction the least likely of the two disappearance theories. Furthermore Many experts believe any abduction would most likely happen while the victim was on the island, not from being smuggled off a cruise ship to the island all while on a family vacation.
None of the sightings have ever been confirmed as being Amy, instead they have become part of a succession of false starts bringing the Bradley’s no closer to uncovering the truth about what happened to their daughter . that morning.
perhaps The greatest of these false hopes came in the – fall of 1999 when the bradley’s were contacted by frank jones, a fla based private investigator and former navy seal, who stated he had a team of ex soldiers who could locate amy and rescue her from curacao. Working with tips from a hotel cook on the island, jones claimed amy had been seen shopping, ridfing in a car, and was being held captive by heavily armed colombian gangsters in a housing complex. To complete the mission Jones requested more money from the bradleys, now totalling close to $200k. As the stories escalated, and the bradleys waited in florida to pick up their daughter, a former special forces sniper hired by jone’s realized the house he had been staking out which amy was allegedly held in – was bogus. The ex-soldier also realized other stories jones had been telling the bradleys were lies. He alerted the family who in turn contacted authorities. Frank Jones, had fabricated the entire story – including being an ex navy seal. Jones was convicted and sentenced to jail for 5 years and ordered to pay back the money he stole from the bradleys.
Amy was declared deceased in 1999. In 2003, her parents brought a lawsuit against royal carribean for negligence and wrongful death, but lost the case. due to apparently not disclosing several allegeded witness reports from curacao, and attempting to defraud the court. They planned an appeal.
it has been over 20 years since amy was last seen, and there has been no closure for her family.
Did amy ever make it off the rhapsody of the seas that morning or did she fall victim to foul play or an accident? Or is her fate even more horrifying? had amy been set up and sold into human trafficking, forced to work in captivity, and moved around the carribean for years after – possibly even today.
Bradley has the following tattoos: a Tasmanian Devil spinning a basketball on her shoulder; the sun on her lower back; a Chinese symbol on her right ankle; and a Gecko lizard on her navel. She also has a navel ring.
In 2018, 20 years after Amy was last seen, the FBI released these time enhanced pictures of her.
there remains three separate rewards for the return of Amy, information on her whereabouts, or any information leading to her recovery.
Additional Info on the case:
On subsequent visits to curacao amys father and brother heard several more accounts from witnesses who claimed to have seen Amy – including a taxi driver who said he had seen Amy that morning and she asked him for a phone, he said she ran off. Other witnesses had vague stories of seeing a girl on a beach who matched Amy’s description.
The fact Amy’s body has not been recovered could be explained in a variety of ways. She may have fallen overboard at a different time and had been lost at se where it is possible she was eaten by sea life, or partially washed ashore and never found.
To this day amy’s family blames the cruise line as being derelict in its resonsibility to search for their daughter, or provide assitance. Was this due to legal constraints on the cruise line – or did amy’s dissapearance indicate a larger problem, one which the ships captain and chief of security were fully aware of ? But if it is true, amys case has sent a terrifying alarm that cruise lines, or at least some employees on cruoise ships, are involved with humman traficking. Someone knows what happened, and they most likely were on the crew of the rhapsody on the seas. Although I was unable to locate the comments or source, information has come forward in recent years from yellow’s daughter that she heard him say things related to amy’s dissapearance.
Last Seen: Missing Persons 