Family vacations are meant to be fun times, with little worries in the world. You most often never consider the fact that something, anything could possibly go wrong. In the case of the Bradley’s not only did something go wrong, but it was an event that would change their lives forever. For a family that was so close, something this unthinkable was devastating and unimaginable. It was March of 1988 when the Bradley family decided to take a family trip together following Amy’s graduation before she embarked on a new journey in life starting her new job. Although apprehensive, Amy agreed to take a Royal Caribbean cruise with her mother, father, and younger brother. The family boarded the ship in Puerto Rico and expected to travel around the islands of the Antilles before traveling back home and picking their normal lives back up.
On the second night of the cruise, the family got dressed up for a fancy dinner. After dinner, at about 1 A.M, Amy’s parents went to bed while her and her brother decided to check out the night club aboard the boat before going to bed around 3:30 A.M. Before sunrise the next morning, her father awoke shortly to see her sitting outside on the balcony. However, after waking up again around 6 A.M, it appeared that Amy was no longer sitting in that same spot. He figured that Amy must have gone to walk around the ship, so he decided to go attempt to locate her. The ship was docking in Curacao and Amy’s father still could not find her.
Becoming worried, her family asked the personnel on the ship to make an announcement in an attempt to locate her, but they refused because they did not want to frighten other passengers. They then urged personnel not to allow anyone to leave the ship, but again this request was denied in order to not upset other passengers. Instead, staff decided to conduct a search of their own, but came up empty handed. As time went on and they still could not find Amy, the family was notified by staff that the ship had to stay on schedule and that if they needed more time to search, they should remain on the island and do so themselves. The Bradley’s did remain on the island and reached out to the American Embassy for help, and even the FBI became involved.
After receiving information that the staff aboard the ship did not conduct a thorough search, the FBI and the Bradley’s flew to meet the ship at its next destination in order for another search to take place. At this time the FBI was given video footage of Amy dancing with a man named Allister Douglas, a member of the band, the night before she disappeared. Eventually, Allister was removed as a person of interest, but this caused Amy’s family to begin recalling strange encounters they had with the man. Her younger brother recalled Allister giving him condolences about the disappearance of his sister before the news even became public. Amy’s mother also recalled that the night before at dinner the family had their picture taken, but when they went to purchase the photo as usual outside the restaurant, she noticed that her family portrait was not there.
The FBI investigation failed to provide any information on the whereabouts of Amy, and the family was just expected to go on with their lives as best they could. However, it was not until America’s Most Wanted did a special on Amy Bradley that the leads began pouring in. In August, about 5 months after Amy originally disappeared, a man named David Charmichael reported seeing a women and two large men walking down the beach in Curacao. He said that she appeared terrified and believed that she wanted to reach out and say something, but was too scared to do so. However, it was not until he mentioned remembering two tattoos (a gecko and Tasmanian devil) that the FBI knew it must be Amy. They sent investigators back to Curacao but again found no trace of Amy. The family was so distraught that they even attempted to hire their own private investigator in an attempt to locate Amy, but this investigator turned out to be a fraud and only scammed the family out of thousands of dollars.
There have been other potential sightings of Amy as well. In 2005 a woman, Judy Maurer, claimed to have seen Amy in a department store bathroom in Barbados. When the two women were alone, Judy reported that the woman stated that her name was Amy and that she was from Virginia. From this encounter a composite sketch was created and the results are eerily similar to the appearance of Amy. The last lead provided to the family was in 2005 when they received photos from an online advertisement for sex workers. There was a woman pictured named Jas that shared a striking resemblance to Amy Bradley. A member of the FBI claimed that he was positive these were pictures of Amy, but was unable to track them to any place or person. This was the last known lead in the case of Amy Lynn Bradley, but anyone who may have any information should contact their local FBI office or the nearest American Embassy.
Pictured Below (Left to Right, Top to Bottom): A photograph of Amy Lynn Bradley, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Amy_Lynn_Bradley: The Bradley family, https://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/12/31/grace.coldcase.bradley/index.html: Amy pictured with younger brother, https://allthatsinteresting.com/amy-lynn-bradley: Amy and Allister pictured dancing at the night club the night before her disappearance, https://morbidology.com/cruise-into-the-unknown-the-disappearance-of-amy-lynn-bradley/: Sketch compared to actual photo of Amy, https://www.thethings.com/20-details-about-the-amy-lynn-bradley-disappearance-that-were-swept-under-the-rug/: Photo of website woman named Jas with resemblance to Amy, https://amybradleyismissing.com/index.php?topic=16.0.
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