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Amy Lynn Bradley was 23 years old in March of 1998 when she went on a Caribbean cruise with her family. Bradley had only recently graduated from college with a degree in physical education, and her family wanted her to enjoy her summer break with a vacation. She planned to continue her education by pursuing a master’s degree in sports psychology the following semester.
Amy Lynn Bradley’s father, Ron Bradley, won tickets to the cruise through his employer. The family, including Amy’s brother Brad and mother Iva, were excited about the trip. Amy herself, though, was nervous about leaving the country. When pressed, she couldn’t tell her family why, just that it seemed dangerous.
The last time Amy’s family saw her was on the morning of March 24. She was sitting on the balcony of the family’s room with her brother. Brad and Amy had attended a party on the cruise boat that kept them up until 4 in the morning, so Brad went to sleep and left Amy on the balcony. Later that morning, Amy was gone, and the sliding door to the balcony was left open.
That morning, the family asked the ship’s crew to begin a search for her immediately. Unfortunately, the ship’s captain let the gangplank down at the boat’s next stop in Curacao, against the family’s insistence. When the crew couldn’t find Amy, they told the Bradley family that she was probably just on the island already.
The family never found Amy on Curacao, and the case was transferred to the authorities. At first, the Bradley family worried that they’d never hear from Amy again. Sadly, they would be haunted by bizarre sightings of Amy over the next several years.
Travelers in the Caribbean have reportedly seen Amy in the years following her disappearance. In August 1998, two Canadian tourists in Curacao claim to have seen Bradley walking on the beach with a strange man. This sighting is believed by authorities to be genuine because the tourists accurately described Bradley’s tattoos.
Another possible sighting occurred in 1999 when an American Navy petty officer claims to have met Bradley at a bar in Curacao. The Naval officer said a woman identifying herself as Bradley told him that she was abducted, but that she stopped talking to him when a local man returned to her side from the bathroom. This sighting has never been verified, however, as parts of the officer’s story didn’t add up to investigators.
The family believes that Amy may have been kidnapped aboard the cruise boat and trafficked into Curacao. To this day, a $250,000 reward is still active for any information that can lead investigators to Amy Lynn Bradley. Bradley’s case remains open, and anyone with information regarding her disappearance is encouraged to contact her family and the FBI.
