Episode 780: The Disappearance of Amy Lynn Bradley | Forensic Files

Hey weirdos, I'm Ash. >> And I'm Elena. >> And this is a morbid in the morning. >> morbid.
>> Early morning afternoon. >> [music] >> Exactly, [music] it's brunch morbid. Early afternoon.
>> Yeah, [laughter] yeah. It's Oh, I would love some brunch right now. >> me too. I'm really hungry.
>> Yeah, she just said at 11:30 a.m. not even that she wants a burrito. [music] >> Yeah, there's
honestly burritos are for any time because there's also breakfast burritos. >> actually just going to say. I was like,
you know, what? That is valid because breakfast burritos are in fact a thing. >> burrito
could >> All encompassing, really. >> space and time. >> Oh. >> And I really want one.
>> And my mouth is kind of watering now. I want a burrito. >> [laughter] >> Maybe we can get some for lunch.
>> get a burrito. >> Okay, girl. >> Maybe I'll order one while you're talking. >> to get Taco Bell?
>> Maybe. >> get Taco Bell today. >> sick nasty. >> We've been eating so much fast food
lately and my stomach is like, "Bitch, would you just eat a vegetable?" [laughter]
>> Cuz I also just moved and I don't have an oven right now. So, it's like >> takeout. Oh my god, I yeah.
>> Breakfast, lunch, dinner, takeout, takeout, takeout. [laughter] Like my I'm not functioning. Every food that I'm
eating right now is beige. [laughter] It's not good. >> You're like a toddler. >> No, I'm on a I'm on a beige toddler
diet. >> Damn. >> It's no bueno. >> No way. >> Oh, you know what I did get last night?
>> What? >> A fear from like I think it Is the 99 only a New England thing? >> No.
>> I think it is. >> I think it might be. I think it was invented in Boston. Not invented, but you know what I'm
saying. >> Headquarters is Woburn. >> Woburn. Yeah, I got the 99 last night. If you're
ever in the East Coast area >> in New England >> doing good in specific, you got to get
the 99. I got >> Yeah. >> You can get a side of a biscuit and gravy. >> Oh, damn.
>> So, it was so beige and so delicious. >> beige-eous. >> And then I got the gold fever wings,
which are kind of orange. >> No, the gold fever wings and they're buffalo wings are A plus.
>> Next [ __ ] level. So good. >> Yeah. >> So >> good. Recommend. >> And then I and I got sweet potato fries.
>> Oh, hell yeah. >> I went nuts. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> So, you got color in there.
>> That's me eating. >> And that's a sweet potato. >> Yeah. >> Period. >> you go.
>> So, they say. >> They Sure. >> Yeah. It was a sweet potato at some point down there.
>> It [laughter] was. >> But, I can't wait until my oven gets delivered and I can cook in it and like
eat >> Yeah. >> I was like, Drew, we need vegetables so badly [laughter] and he was like, no. He
was like, we really do. I'm going to be making the most delicious home cooked [ __ ]
>> Hell yeah. >> Yeah. >> Um >> So, that's a little about me. >> So, yeah, go to the 99. We need to eat
better food right now. Uh >> I want Is there a 99 in New York City? Cuz maybe you could go to the 99 if you
come see us at Radio City Music Hall. >> I was That was a good segue. I I don't think there is one in the New York area,
but >> If you road trip >> Yeah. >> from somewhere >> stop at a 99. >> You can stop at Massachusetts and you're
bound to find a 99. >> Yeah. >> The 99 Restaurant. Great meal, great deal. Of the [laughter] best. We would like go
there like like after before dances all the time. Just so good. Just so good. >> they have like kids eat free if the Red
Sox win. >> It's the most it truly is the [laughter] I was like, this is such a New England
thing like for sure. >> sense. Uh but yeah, come to our New York show at Radio City Music Hall.
>> Got some New York City >> tickets left that you could purchase. >> It's um it's a one night only.
>> One night only. We just are about to finalize merch. >> Yeah. >> And there is some good [ __ ] We got you
guys options this time around. >> really excited for the merch. >> I'm stoked. >> And it's going to be a fun time. It's
going to be a cool atmosphere. We're going to make it very fun, very, you know, interactive.
>> Yes. >> All that good stuff. So, do it. It's going to be fun. >> And don't forget we also, not to like
make this like super businessy, but we also just dropped a [ __ ] ton of merch. Um, you can get that on the SiriusXM
store or if you're international on Podswag. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. I was looking at my knee.
>> Podswag? >> Podswag, question mark. Podswag. The links are in our bio and stuff.
>> Yeah. It's some fun stuff. >> Fun stuff. Also, somebody's mowing the lawn, so hopefully you don't hear that.
>> And also, uh, if you want a signed edition of The Butcher Legacy cuz some of you Ooh, I didn't get some of
[laughter] you were looking for >> You looked surprised. You were like, "If you want a signed edition
I was like, "Is this part of the bit?" >> No, it's a hiccup snuck up on me. >> You're funny.
>> Uh, but I know some people were looking for signed copies cuz they ran out at,
uh, Barnes & Noble for now. >> Um >> For now. >> There's a limited run of signed copies.
They are signed. Like, I'm signing them in the pod lab. >> Period. >> Of The Butcher Legacy that's going to be
on premierecollectibles.com/butcher. Uh, the link is in our bio. Go get them. >> Get them.
>> And if you go go pre-order them, and then I'll try to sign more if you want more.
>> Yeah. >> So, keep keep pre-ordering them and I'll keep signing them. >> And either way, buy the book cuz if not,
you might be a loser. >> Do it. >> Yeah. >> Do it. >> Do it. >> Do it. >> Okay. People like Patricia Cornwell and
Richard Chizmar liked it. >> That's the thing. Like, don't you want to be at the same table as them?
>> [laughter] >> I do. >> So, let's go. >> Let's G O. L E T S G O, let's go. Let's
go. It brings me back to our softball days. >> There you go. >> Okay. All right, to bring it to a place of
morbid. We're going to be talking about a very famous case. I would be surprised
if a lot of people hadn't heard about this one. I think most of you probably have. Um, this is the disappearance of
Amy Lynn Bradley. >> Yes. >> I actually, the first time that I heard about this disappearance was around like
last year sometime when the documentary came out and I devoured all three parts of this and I find this case just to be
like I got so sucked in. It is a crazy case. I just have to say off the bat, right off the bat, I do not believe that
she jumped off or fell off the boat at all. >> I don't either. >> I do not believe it in any way, shape or
form and I honestly, like I respect everybody's opinion and like everybody have your own but I don't know how
anybody could think that she did. >> your opinion but >> It just baffles me. >> That's the thing.
>> Yeah. >> So let's get into it and if you don't know this story, hold on to your butt
because this is twisty and turny. >> A true hold on to your butt moment. >> It is.
So we're going to start off in the winter of 1998 when Ron Bradley, who's Amy's father, got a pretty surprising
phone call at his home office where he worked as an insurance agent. As it turned out, he was one of the top 35
agents with the company who sold over $145,000 that year in premiums. >> Look at that.
>> So they said, "Honey, guess what? You have won an all-expense-paid family cruise on Royal Caribbean."
>> Damn. >> Yeah. >> Good for him. >> I know, right? Okay, Ron, snap, snap. >> Yeah.
>> And now here's the thing, too. That call could not have come at a better time. It
had been a super dark, super cold winter in Virginia. So Ron and his wife Iva saw
the cruise as one last opportunity to take a vacation with their kids cuz their kids were getting older. They were
about to start living their own lives, strike out on their own. At the time that like I'm saying right
now, the dynamic of their family was starting to shift a little bit. Their daughter, 23-year-old Amy, had just
graduated college and moved into her own apartment. And their son, 21-year-old Brad, was also just about to finish
college. By the way, Brad, his uh he's Ron Jr. but he goes by Brad. >> Okay. >> So Brad is not his first name. Brad
Bradley. >> Brad Bradley. >> middle name. >> Good call. >> Yeah. So the Bradleys, they'd always
been a really close family. So, while everybody was very excited for Brad and Amy to start these new chapters in their
lives, the shift into adulthood was a little bit bittersweet for their parents. >> There were just 2 years between Amy and
Brad, so they had been best friends their entire lives. And whether it was neighborhood basketball games or the
school swim team, they were both incredible athletes. They both loved sports growing up. They
were really, really good at pretty much all of the ones that they tried. But, it
was Amy who managed to leverage her success into something more than just a hobby. Her mom, Iva, said,
"Amy was the only girl on the boys basketball team, and she always had a tremendous amount of confidence because
we raised her that there really wasn't anything she couldn't do if she wanted to do it."
>> Hell yeah, which is how you should raise your kids. >> Hell yeah. So, after graduating from
L.C. Bird High School in 1993, Amy got a full scholarship to play basketball for
Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia. And at that time, this is crazy, she was the only student in the
school's history to ever receive a full athletic scholarship. >> Holy [ __ ] >> Yeah. Like, in the school's history?
>> Can you imagine that being your kid? >> No. >> Like, the level of proud that you would
be? >> Yeah. >> So, after graduating college in 1998, Amy had a lot to look forward to. She
had a job lined up for herself. She was going to be working with her uncle at his electronics company. She, like I
said, had moved into her own apartment, and she got a brand new bulldog that she
named Bailey. >> Bailey! >> A little dog named Bailey. There's pictures of Bailey. She's so cute.
>> A bulldog. >> Things did get a little tense between her and her parents when Amy came out as
bisexual a few years earlier, but they had really worked on their relationship. They had talked a lot about this, and
they were easing into this new relationship with Amy as an adult being able to make her own decisions.
>> Mhm. >> Now, when Brad and Amy heard about the free Caribbean cruise, they said, "Hell
yeah. Let's have one last big family vacation. Like, that's going to be awesome." Yeah, why not?
>> But, while Amy was excited, she did have some reservations about being on a boat.
>> Ooh. >> She was a champion swimmer on her high school team, and she also served as an
assistant to the swim coach at Longwood, but she found the idea of being out on the open ocean a little more frightening
than just like your typical body of water. >> I understand that cuz I also have that
same fear. >> Yeah, being out in the middle of nowhere is when you're on a cruise and you just
look out into the vastness of the ocean and you don't see >> land >> for as far as your eye can see, that's a
freaky feeling. >> Yeah, I have a healthy respect and a healthy fear of the ocean.
>> Same. >> Yeah, I don't like to [ __ ] with that. >> Yeah, yeah, absolutely not. And also,
like whenever you look over the balcony, it's just like the freakiest feeling in
the world. >> get that weird like um >> It's called something. Like it's like a sensation or like an intrusive thought,
I guess. >> intrusive thoughts that like literally you're like, what if I just fell?
>> Right. >> what if I just jumped? >> Yeah. >> Like ah. >> Like you're not going to, but you're
like, oh my god. >> that weird like primitive like psychological thing in your brain that's
like, when you're holding like a knife chopping something and you're like, what if I just chopped off my hand? Like, why
do we do that? [laughter] >> Yeah, cuz we're weird creatures. >> We are. >> Now, according to journalist Richard
Foster, Amy quote wasn't crazy about swimming in the ocean. Mainly, she was afraid of what else might be swimming in
it. >> Honestly, so very fair. >> I think she was super valid in all of these fears.
>> valid fear. >> Fortunately, though, Brad stepped in and convinced Amy that cruise ships were
incredibly safe and the trip would be fun, so she agreed. And that's the thing, they're supposed to be very safe,
but the ocean is lawless. >> But like, why would anyone think something like this would happen, you
know? Like you go on a cruise, it's supposed to just be a fun time. >> That's the thing, and you also have to
think this was the '90s. Like we don't have I feel like now there's a lot more stories that come out about things that
happen on cruise ships, but there weren't as many back then. >> No, definitely not.
>> So, a week before they set sail, Amy and her mom and her aunt Mary, they all went
out shopping, they got their hair, their nails done together. And while they sat
together getting their nails done, Amy told her aunt how excited she was to go on this trip, which was going to start
in San Juan, and then it would take them to Aruba, Curacao, and St. Martin and St. Thomas, and then it would return
back to Puerto Rico. She also told her aunt how excited she was to get home and start working with
her uncle Mike when she got back. And at the time she was just waiting tables at a steakhouse, so this new job
it really felt like she was finally taking a step in her professional life, like starting to build it.
>> yeah. >> So things to look forward to, that's the the key here to remember. >> Yeah.
>> At 7:00 a.m. on March 21st, Amy and Brad boarded a flight at Richmond International, and about 5 hours later
they met their parents in Puerto Rico. They all spent the night in Puerto Rico before they boarded the gigantic ship
that was the Rhapsody of the Seas. They spent the afternoon before that, Amy and Brad together, walking through
the neighborhoods of San Juan, and Amy bought a bunch of rolls of film and postcards to send back home. I think she
also was in a photo competition, or she was going to enter one from like the pictures that she was taking on the
cruise. >> Now the next morning, the Bradley family arrived at the dock, and they were
stunned by how huge this ship was. The ship was 11 stories high and over 900 ft long.
>> Holy [ __ ] >> And on this particular voyage, it was going to be carrying over 2,000 guests
and more than 1,000 employees. >> Woah. >> So this is like a city on the sea. [clears throat]
>> Yeah, village on the sea. >> Yeah. So the Bradley's opted to to share a single cabin on the 10th floor with a
private balcony overlooking the ocean, very lovely, but it was a smaller room. Now the first couple of days on the ship
passed pretty casually, they were doing cruise things. There was dinner and drinks by the pool, dancing in the
nightclubs. Amy and her mom went to an art auction, just you've been on a cruise, you know.
>> Yeah. >> It's cruise life. >> Cruise life. >> Cruise life, baby. Now, on March 23rd,
the ship docked in Aruba and the passengers disembarked to spend some time on the island. After spending some
time shopping in the downtown area, the family decided to skip the guided tour and instead they rented a Jeep to
explore the island on their own. This did not turn out to be an awesome decision because they found themselves
kind of lost at one point. >> Oh, damn. >> But eventually they found their way back
to civilization and they decided to spend the rest of the day at the beach not too far from the boat.
Ron even managed to convince Amy to join him in the water and remember like she does not like swimming in the ocean.
Uh so she was just kind of clinging to him the entire time. But it was like a cute little memory that they had
together. So back on the boat that night, everybody went back to the cabin to shower and change for what was going to
be the formal dinner. There's always a formal dinner when you're on a cruise. >> Of course, you got Is it the captain's
dinner? >> I think it is. It's something like that. You get all dolled up. The men wear
tuxedos, you wear gowns. And that was sort of the point. So they got to this dinner and that was sort of
the point where Ron and Iva started to notice how much attention Amy seemed to attract on the ship wherever she went.
After dinner, they were having drinks with one of Ron's business associates who was also on the cruise and a waiter
came up to them. And earlier that they recognized him cuz earlier that night they'd seen him talking to Amy and he
seemed to just be gushing over her. >> Mhm. >> He came over though and asked her
parents to see if Amy wanted to join him and some of the other crew members that
night at a bar Carlos and Charlie's. That might sound familiar to you. >> to say, why does that sound familiar?
>> Because coincidentally that was the last place that Natalee Holloway was seen.
>> Wow, that As soon as you said that, I was like I you I I like looked up at you
like, wait, do I know this? >> Isn't that chilling? >> That's >> really chilling. That hadn't happened
yet, obviously, but Carlos [clears throat] and Charlie's would become famous for that. I think it's
closed now. >> Yeah. >> So Iva passed along the message to Amy, but Amy was like, "Hell no, I'm not
getting off the boat with like a bunch of people I don't know. Absolutely not. She was kind of weirded out too at this
point by all the attention she was receiving. At the more formal dinner earlier that
night, the staff had been so attentive to her that her family actually started to joke that if anybody needed anything,
they should just say that Amy needed it and it would be there like in the blink of an eye.
>> Yeah. >> Like it was over the top. >> It's like what's going on here? >> Exactly.
>> That would make me uncomfortable. >> Yeah. Well, this would make you even more
uncomfortable. They ran into another weird occurrence that night when Amy and her mom Iva went down to the photo area
to pick up some pictures that they they had taken earlier that night. Cuz remember they're all dressed up. I think
Amy was in like this black spaghetti top um like dress and you know, she looks all nice and Brad was dressed up. So
they took pictures together and then Amy took some just on her own. But when they got to the shelf where
their pictures should have been, they were gone. >> What the [ __ ] >> Yeah. >> This would alarm me
in a big way. >> Yeah. >> And you have to when you put it together with all the attention.
>> That's the thing. >> I just feel like what's going on here? >> It was unsettling for sure. So they
thought it they definitely thought it was weird, but they were like okay, like can you just reprint them? And the
attendant was like yeah, for sure. >> Yeah. >> But looking back on it, Iva remembered
yet another weird occurrence that same night at dinner. A man was just staring at their table and at first she thought
he was staring at their family. And then she realized he was just intently staring at Amy. So this guy's
just staring so intensely at their table that Iva put out her hands and basically
was like, "What do you want?" Like hello, like kind of looking at the guy like what?
But she the group was getting up from the table and as she bent down to get her her purse or whatever she had, she
looked up and the guy was gone. >> Okay. >> Now looking back after Amy's disappearance, those were all blazing
red flags. >> Yeah, but during it obviously it's much easier in hindsight to be like
>> In the moment those things didn't seem as dire. They just seemed like Also like
no offense, you run into weird people on cruise ships. >> Of course you do. >> You cuz you run into weird people in
life. >> Anywhere that a bunch of people are gathered, you're going to get a whole [ __ ] crop
of strange. >> Yeah, you got a medley of weirdos people. >> that it's like unfortunately just human.
>> I met a woman on an elevator one night in a cruise and she was literally just
staring at my tattoo and then she finally got said, "Who's that?" And I told her she should have said, "It's
you." >> I wish I [laughter] had. >> And then just stared at her the rest of the time until she left.
>> I would Missed opportunity. >> just like, "Uh it's just a leaf." >> It's you.
>> Like what? I don't know. She was like, "Oh, it's not anybody?" I was like, "Just stop talking to me. Just
stop it." >> I feel like I've been waiting to meet you. >> Oh my god, you're so weird.
>> Thank you for coming to me. >> such a weird [laughter] girl. Like I'm pretty weird and like
like obnoxious, I would say, but you're just deep down [laughter] a weird [ __ ]
And I and I love that. >> You are [gasps] correct. >> I love it. >> very correct.
>> [laughter] >> But yeah, you you meet weird people and you see weird things going on so you're
just like, "I don't know. Like I'm going to stick to myself." >> Yeah. >> So the night went on and their parents
relaxed after dinner with some drinks and Amy and Brad changed into more comfortable clothes and then they went
to the casino. They played some slot machines and then they went to the top deck for the Calypso party which
featured the house band Blue Orchid. >> Okay. >> Nancy and Ron finally made their way up
to that deck and they found Amy and Brad in the middle of this big limbo contest
going on. Uh Brad of uh eventually won the contest >> Brad. >> and he gave his crown to Amy. It was
literally like a prom king crown. >> Oh, that's cute. >> were just like really having a nice time
together. >> doing the cruise thing, man. >> Yeah. Now while they were at the party
like on this top deck, the boat was leaving Aruba and heading to Curacao. Uh Curacao, excuse me. So Brad chatted
with some of the other passengers after the limbo competition. They were like, "Hey limbo king."
>> Hey limbo king. >> And Amy struck up a conversation with Blue Orchid's bass player, a man named
Alister Douglas, and his nickname was Yellow. >> Okay. >> So, she danced with him for a while,
they chatted, whatever. Around 1:00 a.m., Ron and Ivor were like, "Hey, we're going to bed for the
night." And a few hours later, Brad headed back to the cabin alone, but he had motioned to Amy that like he was
going to go down. Like she knew that she was by herself. >> Yeah. >> And she was just finishing her drink on
the top deck. So, she got back to the room about half an hour later, and she and Brad decided to have one more drink
together on the balcony before calling it a night. So, they're back at their cabin, but in their on their private
balcony. >> Okay. >> So, they they're drinking, they're looking out at the ocean. They talked
about their plans for the next day, about what they were going to do when they got home. Amy did mention during
this conversation that Alister Douglas from the band had made a pass at her while they were dancing.
>> Oh. >> Which like I think she didn't she wasn't super comfortable with that, but she
wasn't super upset, either. >> just kind of like, "Yeah, I'm not into it, but whatever."
>> What the hell? Kind of just like people on the ship are wild kind of you know?
>> they need to chill the [ __ ] out. >> Now, a short time later, just before 5:00 a.m., Brad finally ran out of
steam, and he was like, "Okay, I'm going inside." >> Damn. >> So, he said good night to his sister. He
said he loved her, and he would see her the next day. And she was like, "Okay, I'm I'm going to be in shortly." But she
wasn't feeling great, so she wanted to just experience some more fresh air >> Yeah.
>> before she went into bed. So again, he said, "Love you, see you in the morning." And that was the last time
anybody in their family spoke to Amy. >> What the [ __ ] >> So, the noise of Brad coming back into
the cabin woke Ron up very briefly from his sleep, and without sitting up, he just glanced around the room to kind of
check in on things. And he checked out on the balcony, and he saw Amy's legs and her drink in her hand. So, he knew
she was out there. >> Just sitting there. >> Yep. He was very comforted by the fact
that both of his children were back at the cabin, so he went back to sleep. And he said later, "It seemed like just
a few minutes, and then something woke me up again close to 6:00 a.m., and I looked out on the balcony, and Amy
wasn't there. >> Okay. >> So, he looked over and he saw Brad sleeping in his bed, but remember this
is a very small room. He's scanning the room and Amy's nowhere to be seen. At first, none of this struck him as
that unusual because he saw that Amy's yellow polo she was wearing the night before was laying on the chair in the
room. He saw that the balcony door was slightly open and her cigarettes weren't out there. So, he was like, "Okay, maybe
she got dressed, went upstairs to grab a coffee or take some pictures as we pulled into port in Curaçao."
>> Yeah. >> So, who knows? So, he got dressed himself and headed out to find Amy. He checked all the
places he might have found her, but he didn't find her in any of them. So, then he started to grow a little more
concerned, and he started to wander the ship's outer decks, the hallways, other open spaces hoping just to bump into
her. But after an hour, he still hadn't found her and his concern was now growing into panic. It was not like Amy
to just wander off without telling anybody where she was going. >> Yeah. >> And Ron was sure that if she was
planning to go somewhere that morning, she would have told him or her mom. >> Hm.
>> So, walking back to the cabin, he actually ended up running into the ship's head of security and explained
that he couldn't find his daughter. The security officer tried to calm him down.
He was like, "This is a big ship. This kind of thing happens, but I will help you look for her. Like, what what does
she look like? Let's check it out." So, they looked around, they didn't find her.
So, Ron went back to the cabin and he woke up Brad and Iva. He didn't want to scare them. He just wanted to let them
know that he needed help trying to find Amy, but he apparently was not very good
at hiding his own concern. >> Which I don't blame him. >> No. Iva said later, too, "I've known him
since I was 13. I've known him 32 years and I've never seen him look like he looked. I didn't have any idea what was
wrong. He just said, 'I can't find Amy.'" >> Cuz the pan- And it's like at first they were chill about it cuz
it's like she's 23 years old. So, it's not like this is like a 7-year-old that is now not in your room. You know what I
mean? So, at first it's like, "Okay, yeah, like they're 23, whatever." >> are gone. Maybe she went to get a
coffee. >> Yeah, but then walking around the ship and still not finding her and having
security help, like I can't imagine that sudden realization of like, "Oh, shit."
>> Well, and then over the course of a couple hours, like that's starting to set in that you're still not finding
her. That must feel like you're trapped in a nightmare. >> Oh, that makes my stomach hurt.
>> So, the family threw on some clothes and they went to speak with one of the senior administrators on the ship to
report what was going on and to ask if somebody else could help them look for Amy.
It was very clear that the family was pretty distraught, but the admin didn't seem super concerned.
They didn't suspect foul play and they were like, "Amy probably just went off to explore the ship, so there's no
reason to be that worried." He explained it was still very early and that the family at this point was like, "Can you
just make an announcement? Like, 'Hey, where Amy? If you're on the ship, come to this area.'"
>> to this part. >> But they didn't want to make any announcements that would unduly alarm
the other passengers and they felt like it was too early to do so. >> Here's the thing, that's stupid as [ __ ]
>> Yeah. >> That's just objectively stupid as [ __ ] >> Yeah. >> Because it's not going to alarm the
other passengers in a way that is detrimental to have them keeping an eye out for someone you can't find.
>> Exactly. >> isn't dangerous. It's not like you're saying like, "Hey, hello passengers, there's a psychotic
serial killer that's running around. Can you keep an eye out for him?" >> Right.
>> No, you're being like, "Hey, there's this girl, her name is Amy. This is what
she looks like. We're just looking for her. >> Yeah. >> Can you keep an eye out? If you see
>> her, >> tell her we're looking. >> Exactly. >> stress me out as a passenger. I'd more
be like, "Oh, I want to keep an eye out for this lady." >> thing, it would it would help people be
vigilant. >> on a cruise, I feel like, they get all like familiar, you know what I mean? Like
they all feel like they're on this like community together. >> It's true, you make friends with people.
>> these people looking for something, >> They're going to find something. >> for her.
>> Yeah, they're going to find something. >> Like I've heard things like this happen
before, like they'll look out. So, it's like I think that's the the part of this
case that drives me the craziest. >> Yeah, there's a there's a lot. >> So, they just refused to do it. They
>> And the thing is, I was just saying >> I was saying to Alena before we started
this, when I watched the documentary, there was a woman in the in it who she lost her daughter on a cruise ship and
she became like an advocate for families that go through things like this and like an advocate for cruise
cruise safety. >> Yeah. >> And she was saying, when you're on a ship like this, there's you're in the
middle of international waters. So, there's no police or anything like that. The best you have is the security on the
ship, but they're hired by the cruise line. So, it's like it's all it's tough. >> Yeah. [snorts]
>> That's tough. >> So, discouraged and frustrated, the Bradleys just went off on their own and
kept looking for Amy. >> Yeah. >> Ron and Iva searched the outer decks and Brad went to the pool to ask the other
passengers around if they had seen Amy. At one point, he was sitting at a table just kind of like thinking over what was
going on and what to do next. And he was approached by Alister Douglas, the bass
player from the night before who had made a pass at Amy and she had mentioned it.
>> Alister came by and told Brad he was sorry to hear about his sister and asked
what happened. And he also said he was feeling guilty. The comment didn't necessarily register
with Brad at the time because he was just so anxious in the moment. >> Yeah. >> But he said later, "I was just kind of
overwhelmed by the thoughts I was having and I was just like, yeah, you know, thanks." But later, after they were off
the ship, he realized the announcement about Amy hadn't gone out over the loudspeaker yet.
>> Yeah. >> So, it seemed weird that Alister already knew Amy was missing. >> Sure is weird.
>> Yeah, he comes up in this a lot. >> Hm. >> Now, when a few hours had passed and they
still hadn't found Amy, they went back to the admin desk and insisted, "You need to make some kind of announcement."
>> Yeah. >> And finally, they did, but kind of begrudgingly. So, they waited at the desk hoping that
Amy would have heard the announcement and would meet them there. And another message came over the loudspeaker that
they were they were about to be docking in Curacao very shortly. So, the message
sent a jolt of panic through Iva, and her mind went to the worst possible scenario.
>> Of course. >> If someone had taken Amy and was like hiding her in their room or something
like that, allowing everybody to disembark the boat would give them the opportunity to get away, and they might
lose their daughter forever. >> Of course. >> But the admin on the boat wouldn't
listen, and they were like, "We have a bunch of other paying customers, and we can't disrupt their vacation, so we're
allowing them off the boat." >> We can't disrupt their vacation for a possible like for a missing person This
is where I'm talking like the lack of humanity that we have as a species is really gross.
>> And it really is like all money cuz it's like, "Well, they paid for this." And
it's like, "Yeah, okay." Personally, >> I don't give a [ __ ] >> if I found out a family is missing their
daughter, I'd be happy to stay I'd be happy to stay on the boat a little longer.
>> I'd be happy to stay on the boat which offers endless entertainment. You can drink, you can go You can go to
the casino, you can go see a show, you can get a spa treatment. Like, there is a myriad of everything at your disposal.
[ __ ] >> That's the thing. It's like it's not like you're dooming these people to a
shitty vacation cuz I have to stay on the the floating city for a couple more hours. Exactly. I just think it's like
the way this was handled was so callous to the idea that they are literally missing a member of
their family. This would piss me off if I was outside of this family on that ship on that ship
cuz I'd be like, "You were letting me go about my life and like letting me jump off this ship
and then get back on with a potential dangerous person >> Yeah. I'm there. >> Exactly.
>> warn any of us. >> Yeah, I'd be pissed, too. >> pissed. >> You're not worried at all about your
reputation [laughter] here. Like on like the the gnarliest level, you're not worried about your reputation?
>> Right, exactly. >> Now later when they were interviewed by the American authorities, officials from
Royal Caribbean told investigators that they didn't believe any crime had been committed and they were very convinced
that Amy was still on the ship. So they said there was no reason to keep everybody on board.
>> Okay, I mean it's like you don't know that. >> Well, it's [laughter] like like did your gut feeling tell you that?
On what basis did you just didn't believe them? >> That's the thing, like I don't I know
it's like not obvious that a crime has been committed here. Like you don't have >> But it's also not not obvious.
>> physical evidence that says something happened here. Like there's no, you know, signs of foul play. That's the
thing, but then but you do have circumstantial evidence that's saying something happened here.
>> And also it's not like she like this was a concern at 7:00 a.m. and then you found her and you when everybody went on
their merry way. She's been missing since since 6:00 a.m. >> It's now hours later.
>> That's the thing. >> had people help the family search, the family's been searching and she's
nowhere. Like >> Like that should >> I think something happened here. >> That should ring a little bit like,
"Hey, maybe we should start locking stuff down a little bit and figure it out." >> Obviously like there's a lot that goes
into it that we're not even aware of, I'm sure, but it's hard to >> Hindsight makes it like, "Come on."
>> Exactly. So hoping to appease the family while the passengers were off exploring
the island, the captain did agree to gather the security crew and search the ship from top to bottom. And he assured
the family that if Amy was still on board, they would find her. >> Okay. >> Now the thing here is that the family
was basically told to go sit in their room and wait. So they really didn't have any way of knowing if the ship
really was searched top to bottom, which is a little tough. I'm not here to say that they didn't, but I'm I also can't
promise that they did. >> And you can understand that the family would be a little like uh
>> Yeah, I would want to be >> following along. >> Yeah, and I I'm sure they did.
>> So they waited anxiously hoping that the ship staff would find Amy, but several
hours later after they said they searched every inch of the ship, the captain returned to the family and said
they didn't find Amy anywhere. Now, they couldn't keep the ship docked any longer
than planned because remember the ship is going to other islands. >> Yeah. >> So, the captain gave the Bradley's two
options. They could get back on the ship and leave with the boat or they could stay in Curacao to look for Amy there.
>> Oh. >> Not really knowing what to do or even where to look for Amy at this point,
they chose to stay on the island. >> Okay. >> So, Royal Caribbean did pay for their
hotel and Ron's friend and co-worker Mike and his wife also stayed behind on the island to just try to help.
>> Yeah. >> Now, now completely alone on the island other than their their family and their
friend here, Ron, Iva, and Brad did not know at all where to begin. >> Yeah. >> So, Ron later said, "When they put us
off on the island, we didn't have any instructions. It was just you're off the ship, so you kind of have to fend for
yourself." So, they checked into the Otrobanda, which is a casino hotel on the island,
and then they went straight to the American Embassy to explain what happened, which is a really smart first
step. >> It was the first time that somebody took their concerns seriously that day, but
they were very disheartened by the response. It is incredibly rare, but passengers do go missing from cruise
ships, usually by jumping or by falling overboard, and that's what the staff at the Embassy believed happened to Amy.
They said either she jumped or she fell most likely. >> Which obviously you can understand why
that would be a first thought. >> Well, it's the >> From people who don't know her.
>> Unfortunately, like exactly from people who don't know her, it is the most logical thought.
>> Of course, cuz what else are you thinking? >> Yeah, like there's there's very little
other options here. >> Right. >> So, at 6:00 a.m. the following morning, Embassy security coordinated with local
officials and started developing a grid using the ship's coordinates between the
last time that Amy was seen and when she was discovered missing. So, this was really interesting.
>> They used three helicopters, a British warship, several low-flying planes, several small boats. Like, the Navy was
involved here. It was intense. Yeah. So, they searched that whole area where the
boat had been, like that whole grid area. But, by the end of the afternoon, there was still no sign of Amy Lynn
Wetsel. >> And the thing is, in that area, the current is really strong. So, had she jumped off the boat or
been pushed off the boat, >> It was >> it was likely that she would wash up at some point because of how strong the
current is, especially like where it would have happened. >> Okay. >> So, the fact that she never has is very
interesting. Now, having little success with the local authorities and virtually none
with the ship's captain, the next morning, Ron called his brother in the US and had his brother get in touch with
the FBI to report Amy's disappearance. >> Good. >> And that's when the investigation truly
got moving. But, at that point, it's 2 days later. We've all seen the first 48. >> So, a liaison from the FBI got in touch
with the captain of the ship and several agents, along with the Bradleys, ended up flying to St. Martin to reboard the
ship. >> Oh, wow. >> So, the involvement of the FBI made the ship's captain and Royal Caribbean much
more cooperative. But, because they were docked in foreign territory, the FBI didn't have jurisdiction.
>> Oh, Jesus. >> And they weren't able to make all the demands that they might have been able
to make if they were on our soil. >> Yeah. >> But, still, the captain agreed to let
two agents board the ship to conduct interviews as long as they were inconspicuous and dressed in regular
clothing. >> We're so worried about freaking everyone out here. >> They they really were.
>> Which I I'm not a cruiser, so I don't know the ins and outs of this, but >> I mean, obviously, it's going to create
some kind of spectacle, but at the same time, like you said earlier, if I find out the situation, I would be happy that
the FBI was involved. >> be like, I want to look for this girl. >> But, on the other hand, I obviously can
see how it might lead to like ma- pandemonium of people wanting to get the [ __ ] off that ship.
>> sword for sure. >> can see that side. >> Because you don't want the mass chaos,
but you also want people being informed and being able cuz also is some is a dangerous person on the
ship? >> Well, I think that's the biggest thing, exactly. >> Yeah, more alert here.
>> It's It's messy. >> It is. >> So FBI agents immediately searched the Bradley family room and they started
interviewing the staff and the passengers on the ship, speaking to as many as the almost or maybe over 3,000
people on board as they could. >> Wow. >> One major issue that they ran into immediately was that the cabin the
family was staying in had already been cleaned. >> Oh. >> Yeah. So any hope of finding any
evidence was gone. It was unlikely, obviously, because the entire family was in the cabin at the time that Amy
probably disappeared, but still you might be able to find something on the on the balcony even.
>> Yeah, I mean anytime you're missing a piece of the puzzle now, it makes it a hundred thousand times harder.
>> It does, exactly. One thing was that Amy's shoes, her Birkenstock sandals or Birkenstock style, were still out on the
dock. >> Mhm. Or out on the uh the balcony. >> thank you. Now, in interviewing a group that size, they
actually were surprised that several people remembered seeing Amy the night that she went missing.
>> Oh. >> Uh most of the passengers in the dance club that night remembered seeing her
with Alister Douglas, the bass player. >> Including two young women who remembered
seeing the two of them together in the elevator. And they weren't completely sure about the time, but they were
fairly confident that it was after 4:00 a.m. and before sunrise. >> Okay. >> Now, that was significant because the
last time that Amy used her key card to get into the family cabin was 3:40 a.m. and her father had last seen her out on
the balcony sometime around 5:00 a.m. >> Okay. >> So the fact that these two girls think
they saw her between 4:00 and sunrise >> Yeah. >> means she could have left the room
>> Yeah. >> and been seen with Alister. popping >> Right. So after conducting countless
interviews, the one solid lead that agents had was that Amy had been spotted with Alister. So, they brought him up to
the captain's office for an interview. This is where it gets a little weird. >> Okay.
>> He acknowledged that he spoke to Amy on the night of the party, but he denied
having been with her in the early morning hours, and he said he knew nothing about her disappearance.
Which is weird, because if you remember, he approached her brother and said he was sorry to hear about it, and he was
feeling kind of guilty. >> Huh. [snorts] Yeah. >> According to Douglas though, he said
they danced, they talked for a while that evening, but that was that. And he agreed and ultimately passed a polygraph
examination, which like you know how we feel about that. >> Hot dog in a trench coat.
>> But because of that, he was ruled out as a suspect. But, when he left the office
after the interview, he was seen smiling and giving thumbs up to his friends and
bandmates. >> Like >> went well. >> Like did it. >> Yeah. Like I mean like did it like
passed it. >> Yeah. Which that's the thing. It could be like whoo, like we're in the
>> I have nothing to do with this and I'm so relieved, or it could be like hey, I
had something to do with this and like hell yeah, I just got out of it. Could be either two of those things.
>> it could be like like looked at as either of those two things. >> Exactly. So, when agents finish up their
investigation on the ship by the next morning, they were not any closer to finding Amy than they had been when they
boarded the previous day. So, with nothing else to do on the ship, the agents and the Bradley family
disembarked the boat for the last time without their daughter. Iva [clears throat] said later, "None of
us wanted to leave. That's one of the single most difficult things. I don't really have words to describe what it
was like to leave as I flew over the island and I didn't have Amy beside me." >> Oh, that's horrific.
>> My whole entire body just got chills. Like you flew there together, and you had all this time together on the
cruise, and then suddenly she's just gone, and you have to go home without her. >> And now you just go home and like live.
>> And you're like is she on an island? Is she like where is she? She could be anywhere.
>> She's in the middle of the ocean? Like what's going on? >> Right. >> So based on what little they learned on
the ship, the agents didn't quite know what to make of the situation. On one hand, they did know, like we've been
saying, that most cruise ship disappearances are the result of accidental death or sometimes suicide.
But on the other hand, the family insisted that Amy's fear of the ocean meant she never would have gone close
enough to the railing to even fall overboard. >> Yeah. >> And on top of that, her psychological
profile was that of somebody future-oriented with healthy supports, a positive outlook on life. She's going home to all
these different opportunities. She didn't necessarily match the profile of somebody who was depressed and
considering ending things. >> Yeah. >> And she was she went into this being concerned about
the ocean and worried. >> That's not someone who who's going to jump into the ocean.
>> Yeah. There was this this I think this is insane, but there was this rumor that
she was telling people at a party while she was on the cruise that she was going to
jump into the water and try to outswim the boat to the dock with like the next dock. Which like But I think that's just
people talking [ __ ] because if you remember, one like you just said she was terrified of the ocean anyways. And two,
at the beach, she was literally clinging to her dad like afraid of the water. I just think that's like
>> Yeah. >> what? >> But that's the thing here is like you interview all these people and you start
hearing all these different things. So it does influence the investigation. >> of telephone.
>> Exactly. Now under the circumstances, agents were inclined though to agree with the Bradley family that Amy had met
with foul play and was likely kidnapped or something similar. >> Mhm. >> But any theory beyond that was just
speculation. The best lead they had, Alister Douglas, had passed a polygraph test and aside from unreliable
eyewitnesses, there wasn't anything exactly tying him to the disappearance. And to make matters worse or more
complicated, there was a significant chunk of time that couldn't be accounted for.
>> Yeah. >> Which sucks. >> Right. Now, Brad had been the last person to see Amy around 4:00 and then
nobody noticed she was missing until like 6:00 7:00 a.m. like around there. And as far as FBI agents were concerned,
anything could have happened in those 3 hours. >> Yeah. >> So, on March 28th, the FBI agents and
the Bradley's returned to Virginia to continue their search from home. Ron and Iva were continued to keep the momentum
going. So, they set up a website to receive tips and they started speaking to anybody in the media who would
listen. Amy's aunt Mary told a reporter on March 28th, "It has to be an abduction because
no other scenario works. And now the real question is, are we going to find her? Are we going to find her alive? Are
we going to find her dead?" >> Ugh. >> Knowing it was going to be the first thought on everybody's mind, she went on
to preemptively cut off any suggestion that Amy had ended her own life. Her aunt said, "She was getting herself all
excited for the glamorous nights that you have. Those aren't the actions of somebody who might consider suicide."
And that's a quote. She also addressed the possibility that it could have been an accidental
drowning, something that the Netherlands Coast Guard had suggested to the Associated Press. Mary said, "There's no
indication she was heavy drinking, either. As far as she was concerned, there were two possibilities. One,
somebody threw her off the ship, or two, somebody has her." Which is horrifying.
>> going to say, which are just the most horrifying possibilities. >> Yeah. And also, just for anybody, I'm
sure people are wondering like aren't there cameras on the ship? There were cameras, but they were really in like
common spaces. They weren't I mean >> like now. >> They're not armed like with every angle.
>> Yeah. >> So, while the family worked tirelessly just to talk to the press and get
everything out there, the FBI started interviewing Amy's friends and her co-workers in an effort to definitively
rule out suicide as a possible explanation. >> Mhm. >> Special Agent Bradley Bryant said, "I
found that Amy was very outgoing, a very friendly person. She had an upbeat personality. Pretty much everyone I
interviewed said she had a lot of friends. She was the kind of person who would strike up a conversation with
anyone and often did. And the same thing was said to them a lot during the investigation that
actually happened on the boat. A lot of people they talked to said that they recognized Amy on the boat, like she was
the life of the party. People loved her. >> So the interviews unfortunately didn't
turn up a lot of useful information like necessarily. >> of hearsay and >> Yeah. But they and they provided even
more evidence to support the belief that she hadn't faked her own death, she hadn't ended her own life, nothing like
that. >> Yeah. >> So that meant she'd fallen overboard or she'd been kidnapped now.
>> Yeah. >> If she fell overboard, it was highly unlikely that investigators were going
to find her remains in the vastness of the ocean, they felt. But there were people in the area that said, like the
people the authorities in that area said, "If there's a body that fell overboard or ended up in the ocean, it
would wash up because of the current." So it's kind of like a back and forth there.
>> But if she'd been kidnapped, enough time had passed by then that she could have
been transported literally anywhere in the world. >> Yeah, which is horrible. >> a nightmare.
>> By the end of the month, the family had announced a reward of $100,000 for Amy's
safe return. And in the weeks that followed, they increased that amount to $250,000.
The reward prompted a seemingly endless stream of tips pouring in from all over North America. But none of those tips
led to any significant discoveries and by the end of the summer, they weren't any closer to finding Amy.
On May 12th, 1998, Ron and Iva held a party to celebrate Amy's 24th birthday. >> Aw.
>> Friends and families brought gifts, they shared stories, just hoping that Amy was
going to walk through that door at any moment. But days later, the gifts were all packed away in what was once Amy's
bedroom and they put the cake in the freezer. >> Aw, that's so sad. >> By that time, the tips and reports of
potential sightings of Amy had considerably slowed, but the FBI agents kept putting in work on the case and
they followed up on every single tip, no matter how trivial or unrealistic it seemed. Agent Jay Perry Smith told
reporters, "The investigation is very thorough and we're not done yet. We have an unexplained disappearance which may
be a crime on the high seas and we will investigate until we're satisfied as to what happened." That was in 1998.
>> It's like, let's go. >> However committed they were to finding the truth though, the fact remained that
investigators had virtually no leads to follow and no evidence that a crime had even been committed. Like obviously it
seems that way and I do believe that a crime was committed, but there's no evidence whatsoever.
>> the thing. >> So eventually they were just hitting dead end after dead end. With the FBI's investigation into Amy's
disappearance in danger of going cold, Amy's family stayed very committed in their pursuit of any evidence or leads
that might help them find her. That summer Ron and Brad actually went back to Curacao to hand out flyers and that
had like all the details about the disappearance and they just tried to talk to anybody they could who might
know something. >> The helplessness that that family must feel is so immense. I can't even
comprehend it. >> You also have to think like they're from West Virginia or from Virginia. They get
this opportunity to take this really awesome vacation. >> happens. >> They all fly out together and it's this
super fun thing and then the next time you're flying out to that area is to follow up on leads about your missing
daughter and sister. >> And he like the the family like the father worked really hard for this and
this was like he >> It was supposed to be like a prize. >> for working his ass off and being good
at what he did. >> Mhm. >> That sucks. >> It does. >> Like in so many different ways.
>> Exactly. So they're in Curacao now and it was while they were handing out flyers one
afternoon that Ron got approached by a local taxi driver. This is when the story takes a wild turn. This taxi
driver came over and told him, "I want you to know your daughter did not fall from that ship. She's here on this
island and I hope you can find her." >> What? >> Yeah. >> Why would you say that, sir? And Unless
you know. >> He claimed that one night a few days after the cruise ship left Curacao, a
woman who matched Amy's exact description came up to his cab and seemed to be in distress. She said she
was in trouble and asked where she could find a payphone. So he pointed her in the direction of a payphone and he never
saw her again. >> Oh. >> He claimed if Amy had been kidnapped and was still on the island, she would
likely be in one of three places and he gave them directions to all three of those places.
They ended up reaching out to a an officer named John Mentar who worked with the harbor police and something
about the tip compelled him. So he offered to help them get around to these three different locations, this officer.
So that he literally said he was like if they weren't with an officer, it would have been real bad for them because the
areas areas that this man said she may have been in were super dicey. Yeah. So the first location was a large old
resort on the outskirts of town just at the edge of the island. But when Ron and
Brad arrived, there was almost no one there to speak of aside from a handful of employees and nothing came of it.
They checked the other two locations the cab driver mentioned, but they also proved to be dead ends.
Now this particular trip to the island would set a seriously heartbreaking pattern where the Bradleys would get
their hopes up only to have them dashed a few days later when the latest and most exciting lead would just fall
apart. >> That makes me so sad for them. >> This is so chilling, this next part. So
John Mentar drove them around the entire island one night following up on another
lead. And as they were driving in the car just like in the these dicey areas looking around for Amy or any sign of
her, Brad swore that in the night as a car passed them, he heard Amy call out to
him. >> [gasps] >> He swore. >> My whole body just [ __ ] went crazy. >> He said, "I heard Amy call my name
pretty distinctive all my life, the way she would say my name and call me. And like to this day, it seemed when I
watched this part of the documentary, he's still convinced that he heard that. >> I believe him.
>> I believe him, too. And so did >> You know. >> You did Well, that he said, he's like,
"I've heard her call my name my whole life." >> very close. It's like, I believe him.
>> So, they believed him, too. John Menter did and his father. So, they chased down
the vehicle that Brad thought the call had come from. And they finally caught up with them at
a light, but when they reached the driver's side window, the driver was alone and nobody had yelled out the
window. >> But maybe it was the wrong car. >> It could have been the wrong car, yeah.
Or maybe she was in the brush somewhere. Like, I don't know. >> Yeah, you don't know.
>> So, 2 days later, Ron and Brad had to board a plane and return home to Richmond again without Amy.
While they were at the Miami Airport waiting for a connecting flight, Iva called Ron and said she'd got a call
from one of the FBI agents. They had found a body on a beach in Curaçao and it matched Amy's description. She said,
"I can remember immediately starting to vomit." >> Yeah, I don't blame you. >> Once again, it seemed like the case was
about to break wide open, but when the medical examiner finally conducted the autopsy, the body was not Amy Bradley.
>> Which is obviously the outcome you want. >> Of course. But for a brief moment, at
least the unknown was taken away. >> Yeah. But replaced with something catastrophically
>> tragic that you would never recover from. >> Exactly. >> like, what a what a horrifying,
harrowing situation all the way around for her family. >> conundrum of grief. >> good outcome there. I mean, this is a
good outcome, but then it keeps opening up the outcome of >> Well, okay, if that's not
still don't know what happened. >> Exactly. >> Ugh. >> So, almost a year went by with no new
information. Then, after the story appeared in a segment on America's Most Wanted, investigators got a call from a
man in Canada with a pretty compelling tip. A man named David Carmichael had been
vacationing in Curacao in August of 1998 when he saw a woman who he firmly believes was Amy Bradley on the beach.
According to him, the woman was walking on the beach flanked by two men he described as aggressive.
They seemed to be manhandling her and almost pulling her along. And he said the moment she heard I spoke English,
she picked up her pace and was putting distance between her and the two people flanking her.
>> Oh. >> He followed them for a while hoping to get a chance to check on the young
woman, but eventually they entered a restaurant and he lost sight of him. What made this tip different from the
others was that David Carmichael described tattoos on the woman's back including a Tasmanian devil on her left
back shoulder. >> It's so 90s. >> It's so 90s and it's pretty >> distinct >> distinct, exactly. It matched Amy's
tattoos. So either he had seen a woman with tattoos remarkably similar to Amy's who was in trouble who was in trouble or
Amy had been on the island several months after she disappeared from that same island. But here's the thing, if
she had been there the previous summer when David Carmichael saw her, she may have still been there now.
>> Yeah. >> Absolutely. >> Not like [clears throat] like now >> When when they were there.
>> So because Curacao is a Dutch territory, I think I mentioned earlier, the FBI
does not have jurisdiction there. So they had to work with the assistance of a governmental attache to continue their
investigation. >> doesn't that sound so fancy? >> Even with their assistance though, the
FBI agents still clashed with local authorities because people going to people. >> Always.
>> are going to agency. And after a few weeks of investigation, there was nothing to show for their efforts and
they left the island. So by summer of 1999, the search for Amy had basically stalled out. With no new
leads, the FBI couldn't do much and while the case was still technically open, the agents assigned to Amy's case,
they just had to turn their attention to more current cases, unfortunately. >> more leads for.
>> Right. The family, though, had no intention of giving up their search, obviously. And
in August, they found themselves turning to an unusual source for help. One afternoon, that summer, Iva got a
call from a friend who heard about a local man named Frank Jones, who ran a kind of private detective agency that
dealt with cases like Amy's, where the kidnapped individual might have been trafficked. Desperate, Ron and Iva
contacted him and set up an initial meeting. After that meeting, things started to
move very quickly. He told the Bradleys he had a team of men who were very skilled at finding and returning people
who had who were trafficked. >> That kind of sounds like Taken. >> It does. I have a particular set of
skills. >> Exactly. That's immediately what I thought of. >> Exactly. So, the Bradleys were
convinced, and they cut him a check, and he and his team traveled to Curaçao. Now, within days, Jones contacted Ron
and Iva to he did believe that Amy was still alive and being held against her will on the island.
>> Oh, I hate it. >> He said he received several reports of a woman matching her photo that had been
spotted on a local beach in the company of various men. >> Oh. >> He felt very confident that he could get
Amy off the island, but in order for the operation to continue, he would need more money, several thousand more
dollars. >> how this pans out right now. And in my brain, I'm screaming. >> I know.
>> I don't want people to people here. >> I know. So, he needed several more thousand dollars if he was going to to
get this done. So, Tim Buckholds, a member of his team, later said, "What we had was a list of
hunches and clues that and past history on the island, supposedly, and we checked out all the
locations that were on those." A few days later, Jones called Ron and Iva again and said the team had learned
that Amy was being held on the island in a house occupied by known drug dealers in the area.
>> Okay. >> They found the location of the house. They identified some of these men, some
of these dealers, and Jones believed that the men were holding Amy for ransom, and he was about ready to start
the rescue operation, but he needed more money to pay his crew. Ron, Iva, and Brad had been disappointed
several times by then, and they were starting to feel like he was leading them down another dead end. Yeah.
>> Yeah. >> So, before they were willing to pay him any more money, they insisted on seeing
proof that Amy was still on that island, and >> Mhm. >> a legit hunch. A short time later, he
sent them a photograph showing a young woman on the beach with unidentified men. The photo was kind of blurry, and
it was shot from far away, but that was also to be expected because he can't get
like right up and be like taking pictures. In the photo, the young woman Jones claimed was Amy can only be seen from
the back. >> Oh. >> It wasn't super compelling evidence that their daughter was still alive, but in
the photo, the woman did seem to have tattoos on her back in the same spots that Amy did.
>> Okay. >> So, who knows? So, Ron, they they felt compelled, and Ron wired Jones an
additional $100,000 to finish the job and get his daughter back. >> I feel this is not They should not be
having to pay this much to do this. Like, I feel really bad for this family. >> So, weeks passed with no word from
Jones, and then finally, in October 2000, a few weeks later, he contacted Ron and Iva to say that they were ready
to move on the house where Amy was being held, and he told them to fly down to Miami to Miami, excuse me, and be ready
to fly to Curacao to pick Amy up when he gave the word. They booked the flight. They waited to hear anything. Iva said
it was a sleepless, exciting, but terrifying nightmare that any minute we were going to have Amy.
>> is literally destroying my heart. >> Ron and Iva spent the following week in a Miami hotel room just anxiously
awaiting any word from Frank. When finally, he called with some distressing news.
They had started the rescue operation, he said, just as he'd planned, but they had to abort the mission when some of
his men were, quote, injured in a gunfight with Amy's captors. He insisted that they would try again,
but now they needed to regroup and let some time pass because the kidnappers were alerted now.
Disappointed, they started packing up and were just going to return back to Richmond, and that's when the hotel
phone rang a second time. This time it was Tim Buckholt, who I mentioned before, a member of Frank's agency.
With very surprising and very devastating news. >> Oh, no. >> He had been working with Frank on what
he believed to be a genuine human trafficking case, but in recent days he discovered that Jones was nothing more
than a con artist who was using the Bradley family's money to fund a lavish vacation in Curacao.
>> If that is true, >> It is. >> He is the epitome That is so evil. >> Yeah. >> I can't even
I can't even. >> It gets so much worse. >> These grieving parents >> You have them fly to Miami.
>> You make them and give you hundreds of thousands of dollars claiming that you
are res- you know their daughter is alive. >> Mhm. >> You know she's being held in this
horrific situation, so putting that in their heads that every night they're going to sleep being like she's there
being God knows what's happening to her. >> Yep. >> And then telling them I'm going to get
her out. >> You just have to pay me more money. >> I'm so close. Book a trip to Florida and
just wait for my word that that's how close I am. >> fact that that family, like, the
hundreds of thousands of dollars is one thing in and of itself, but for some reason, for me, it's the fact that he
had them fly out and sit in a hotel room and wait for his word. >> Oh, yeah. >> And it was all a lie.
>> And just excited to see their daughter. Like, I can't my I don't know how you have that in you.
Like, I don't know how It makes me so sad that the human species has the capacity for
this kind of [ __ ] Like >> to just be like on an island living it up on money that a family spent trying
to get their daughter found. >> And you're out there getting their daughter back.
>> And you're just like tossing back my ties? Are you [ __ ] kidding me? You got to be devoid of anything.
>> There's so many things that I hope happen to that man that I could never say out loud on this show.
>> The dead [ __ ] that is inside where your heart should be is should be studied.
>> Yeah. So they were obviously devastated to learn that they had been completely
taken advantage of. >> I'm so [ __ ] angry for them. Like I have such a rage for this fam Like I
want to [ __ ] throw hands right now. >> Me, too. >> Like [laughter] I'm so mad for them.
>> Yeah, I can't imagine what this must have felt like. Iva said he had taken time away from us being able to search
for Amy because we put all of our eggs in that basket. >> wasted time. >> That's the thing. And for her to say
that it's it wasn't about the money. It wasn't about the fact that they flew somewhere. It was just about the fact
that it was a waste of [ __ ] time. >> They contacted the FBI immediately to tell them what had happened and they
immediately began investigating Frank Jones. When he got word that he was under investigation, he fled Curacao and
went back to Virginia. By the way, he's from the same place as them. >> What a >> Like you're supposed to be
You're supposed to be a homie if you're from the same place as me. That That leads to trust.
>> Yeah. >> But agents arrested him on the tarmac at the airport >> Good. >> when he was trying to get back to
Virginia. >> Good. [ __ ] >> Days later, he was indicted on charges of mail fraud and wire fraud. In their
interview with him, he learned they learned that he had convinced a female friend to pose for the pictures that
were supposedly Amy. They had been taken in Florida. Not They weren't even in Curacao.
>> And And also who's the girl that agreed to do that? >> Yeah. >> Cuz also scoop that [ __ ] up. Scoop her.
And the photos were taken, quote, while a male acquaintance stood nearby wearing
a blonde wig. >> Yep, get that guy, too. >> too. Find them all. Scoop him up and
toss them in jail and throw away the [ __ ] key. >> That when we've said this before,
I don't know how these people find each other. I don't I have no idea. >> know how these kind of rotten ass people
find each other. >> But they do. But you know what? I say that but lately, with the way everything
is, I can see it now, how they find each other because there's a lot of them floating out there.
>> Unfortunately, there >> really sad. There's really just exceptions to the to the rule.
>> Yeah. >> a lot of these people are just pigs that exist. >> very upsetting. >> In a statement to the press, US Attorney
Greg Navales said, "Mr. Jones has been clearly been living in something like a fantasy world, and he concocted an
elaborate lie to steal nearly $200,000 from the Bradley family and the nation's missing children organization in
Phoenix." >> Oh. >> Yeah. >> See you later, goodbye. >> Yeah. >> Like that is What the [ __ ]
>> Like what the [ __ ] >> piece of dog [ __ ] >> Ew. >> You're a piece of dog [ __ ]
>> I hate this. >> In April 2002, Frank Jones pleaded guilty to mail fraud and was sentenced
to 5 years in prison for what he did. >> on, guys. >> 5 years is not enough. He was also
ordered >> Everything is so broken. >> It is. It really [ __ ] is. He was ordered to pay back those he defrauded,
as well. >> Well, good. Did he though? >> [laughter] >> Like let's be real. >> Couldn't couldn't be sure. After his
sentencing, Iva told a reporter, "What he's done to our family is horrible and has caused a lot of misery."
Of course. >> I really hope he has the life he deserves. >> Same. >> Not long after he was sentenced in the
fraud case, a naval officer contacted the Richmond FBI to to that 4 years earlier, not long after Amy went
missing, he encountered a woman in a Curacao brothel who he believed was was Amy.
According to the officer, he had gone to the brothel with several other sailors,
and while there, a young woman approached him and said, "My name is Amy Bradley, and I need your help."
>> Oh, so that's why he thought she was Amy Bradley. >> Yes. >> That makes sense.
>> He said he didn't report the interaction at the time because he was afraid he'd
be punished by his superior officers because they were not obviously supposed to be in a brothel.
>> Yeah, but she's a missing woman. Man, [ __ ] that. >> I know I know [laughter] you're not. I'm
saying [ __ ] everyone. >> Yeah, like come on. >> Get it together. >> But, he was reminded of the incident
when he saw a story about Amy on the news, and he said he finally wanted to do the right thing.
>> Thanks. >> Agents interviewed him and got as much detail about the interaction as they
could, but by the time they arrived in Curacao to investigate the brothel, it had burned down, and the women who had
worked there were just dispersed around the island. >> Oh, lord. >> They tried to get more information about
the brothel, but if there was any more to get, the authorities in Curacao were not
interested in cooperating. >> I was going to say, I'm sure it's a little difficult to get the the reports
from those kind of places. >> Not sure if you know, but brothels are usually kind of underground.
>> Kind of secretive. >> So, throughout the next few years, other leads came in that unfortunately did not
lead to much. But then, in 2005, this is the part of the case that chills me to my [ __ ]
core. The family received a series of photos of a woman posing for a sex work site in
the Caribbean area. The woman bore a striking resemblance to Amy, which is why they were sent to the
family in the first place. >> pictures are >> The pictures are You got to Google them
if you're listening and it's safe to Google right now. It's insane. >> Yeah. >> As soon as Iva saw those photos, her
first thought was that could be Amy. >> Oh. >> It's It actually like I've been having
nightmares lately about the pictures just because of it's just so chilling. >> Yeah.
>> That that's possibly what could have happened. >> she was on a ship with her family and
now that's what happened. >> I can't stop thinking about this case. I can't I'm ever since I watched the
documentary it's been haunting me. I want this case to be solved so badly and I so badly want her to be reunited with
her family because I firmly believe she's alive. Yeah. So the family reached out to their
contact at the FBI and a forensic analysis was done on all of the photos. Obviously the Bradley's had tons of
pictures of Amy throughout the years all at different angles for comparison. So the analyst spent time with those photos
measuring features like Amy's ears, her chin, the length of her arms, etc. All things like that. And then he did the
same thing with the new photos that had been sent. When the analysis was complete the analyst believed that based
off of all of the measurements the woman in the photos from the sex work site was
Amy Bradley. >> Holy [ __ ] And that's the FBI analyst, right? >> firmly believed that, yes.
>> Okay. >> So that confirmed the theory that had been floating around for years that Amy
possibly could have been sold into sex trafficking against her will. >> Horrifying.
>> So that gave the family hope that she was still alive. So to spark more interest and get their story out there
again they made an appearance on the Dr. Phil show and the photos were shown. A woman watching the show immediately
recognized the woman in the photos as a woman who she had had a strange and very
unsettling experience with in a bathroom in Bridgeport, Barbados. >> Oh. >> Now Judy Maurer was on a cruise with her
husband when the ship stopped in Barbados and they decided to do a little shopping on the island.
While shopping Judy went to use one of the restrooms in the little stores and while she was in the stall she suddenly
heard men in the bathroom at the door. >> Oh. >> So obviously that got her attention. She
said they were speaking to a woman about some kind of deal that she needed to be
ready for and they were upset with her. They were like, you better be ready. We don't want to hear it. You better not
try anything. La la la. So when the men left the bathroom, Judy exited the stall and she saw a woman
standing at the sink. And she said this woman looked very upset, like she'd been
crying. She was dressed in a short skirt and a tube top, and she said her hair was wild, which if you look at the
pictures >> Mhm. >> the woman's hair is just like everywhere. >> Yeah. >> So she just started talking to her and she
asked her name, and the woman said her name was Amy. She kept talking to her, Judy did,
thinking that she was cheering her up maybe. And she realized, Judy did, that the
woman had a Southern American accent, she said. So she asked where she was from, and she answered so low that Judy
thought she said West Virginia. Amy's from Virginia. >> Holy [ __ ] >> So she may have just said Virginia, but
it was low, so she couldn't tell. The interaction got really strange when the woman kind of started getting in
Judy's face, not really saying anything, but just like staring at her. Judy wanted to get the hell out of there
cuz this all felt weird. >> So she opened the bathroom door to leave and was suddenly face-to-face with two
men who just wouldn't move out of her way. So she kind of inched around them. She
said she played dumb to her. She was like, "Oh no, excuse me." >> like I got to go.
>> So she got out of there. And she find she found her husband in the store and she told him how strange
all of this had just been. And as she was telling him, she saw the two men leading the woman out of the store with
their arms looped through hers, so she couldn't >> Oh [ __ ] >> really like make a break for it.
So she was like, I we have to help that girl, like something's up here. But her husband said there wasn't anything they
could do. >> They needed to get back to the ship. But Judy couldn't stop thinking about
it. Like she went back to the ship and she said she looked out at the island and it's all she could think of. Like
she wanted to do something to help. So, you know, the thought kind of left her mind a little bit, but it was always
with her. And then she's sitting watching the Dr. Phil show that day, and the pictures come up, and she says, "Oh
my god, that's the woman." >> Holy [ __ ] >> Amy Bradley, or it's at least a woman
named Amy. >> Yeah. So she called the FBI to report everything. But unfortunately, there was nothing
that they could use in the pictures to track down the location of that woman or even confirm if it was 100% Amy Bradley.
Everything in the photos was very generic like the bed frame. Woman is posed in a way that all of
Amy's tattoos would be hidden. But that was not the last time that Bridgetown, Barbados would come up in
the investigation, which is interesting. At some point an online investigator named Anthony Willis became really
interested in this case and he started a website where he compiled every photo, every sighting, theory, tip, anything
that had been recorded throughout the years since Amy's gone missing. And it's Amy Bradley is missing.com.
>> Which is good to have like one single place for all that stuff, you know. >> That's the thing, he couldn't believe
that there wasn't. There was just like everything kind of floating everywhere. So he gathered up everything.
>> Damn, that's bad ass. >> Now he ended up connecting with David Carmichael, the man I mentioned earlier
who believed that he had seen Amy on the beach in Curaçao right after she went missing in '98.
>> Mhm. >> David is a telecommunications networking specialist. So they kind of started
working on the website together. And that's when they realized that they could use string data and IP tracking
from the website to kind of work on the case and get some more leads. Actually pretty genius.
>> That is actually very smart. >> So they started looking for patterns and they realized that there was a lot of IP
activity coming from Bridgetown, Barbados, the last known sighting of Amy. >> Huh.
>> Now specifically a lot of these a lot of the activity from the IP specifically
coming from Bridgetown is on family birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, and Thanksgiving.
>> Huh. >> These IPs in Bridgetown will spend 45 minutes or so on these pages. >> Really?
>> Now they specifically linger on the pages two of the site that feature updated family photos,
>> [gasps] >> pictures of Amy's car. She had got like this brand new red car before like right
around the time that she left, and pictures of her dog that have been put on the site.
>> Really? >> Yeah. >> That's interesting. >> It is. David Carmichael says his theory
is that it's either the people that are involved in this are curious and they want to know how close they are to being
caught. The second thing is it's Amy. >> Yeah. >> Like wanting to see how her parents are
aging and what her family is doing on these days. >> That's honestly soul-crushing.
>> It is. >> To think of. >> Now with the last sighting in Barbados, that's where the public credible leads
kind of end. The FBI does report that Amy's case is still very active and it's a very it's very much in a open
investigation. They follow up on every lead and the Bradley family does continue to hold out hope that they'll
find Amy alive despite nearly 30 almost 30 years having been passed. >> They promote the case whenever they have
the opportunity. Iver recently said in the documentary that I've mentioned, "Something happened to Amy. We don't
know what that is, but we've got to have answers. If you know something, please give us that one thing that we need.
Please do that for us and do that for Amy." >> Ugh. >> And Brad echoes the same sentiment. In a
video released by the FBI, he said, "Myself and my parents have had to endure a lot of sadness, but the last
thing I ever said to Amy was I love you before I went to sleep that night. Knowing that's the last thing I said to
her has always been very comforting to me." >> That just destroys me. >> Yeah. So, if any we always say at the end of
these cases a cold case is never cold whatsoever. >> So, if anybody has any information about
the whereabouts of Amy Bradley, they are encouraged to contact the family through
the website amybradleyismissing.com or to contact the FBI at tips.fbi.gov. >> Anything.
Cuz there's stuff. There's pieces. >> There's a lot here. >> There's strings, there's pieces, there's
leaves, it's just needs a couple more little things. >> I've never heard a missing person's case
quite like this. >> No. >> Where there's many sightings. >> Yeah. >> And like somewhat credible.
>> That's the thing. >> You know what I'm saying? Like I'm not saying somewhat to be an [ __ ] I'm
just saying like obviously you have to take sightings with a grain of salt, but like
a lot of these do feel credible. >> And the pictures are and for the FBI analyst to say we analyzed these and
that this seems to be Amy. >> If you look >> You guys should really watch the documentary. I I definitely recommend
it. It's three different parts and I think the third part is when they go over the pictures. They literally morph
a photo of Amy into that new photo. Like they kind of like progress it. It looks so much like her.
>> Oh yeah, when you look at it, it's shocking. And I'm not saying that people can't look like other people obviously.
Like that's >> No, but these measurements >> But the measurements and then the place
that these are taken and how that is also being connected to certain things and now the website hits are coming from
like >> Exactly. >> That's something. >> And one thing they do say in the documentary is like cuz I know obviously
people are like why would that be her if she has access to the internet? That's not that likely. One, yeah it is.
And two, she might have children now that she's unfortunately, you know, been in a position to maybe have had.
>> Wow. >> So or she might be like that that might be what's tying her to the island and
like why she's not reaching back out. Or she might be being told we'll kill your
whole family if you try to reach out. Like she's being told if she's alive and if that is the case, she's being told
horrible things and that's why she's not reaching out. So it's not that crazy to think that
>> Of course. >> that could be what's happening. >> For sure. >> It's horrifying. This case haunts me.
Yeah. >> Truly. >> It really does. >> matter what the outcome is, it's horrific.
>> That she's endur- If she is alive, she's enduring something horrible. >> And it's like I I just wanted to have a
a period on the end of it. >> And you want that for the family. >> Yeah, that's all I want for that family
is for them to have know what's going on and be able to either move forward with the information
or do something about it. >> Exactly. Or hopefully like I just hope that they can be reunited one day.
>> You know? Cuz this is also one of those families that like has never even let up
for a minute. >> No, never. >> So it's like I just want it to pay off for them. >> I know.
Me, too. So sad. >> So here's my fun fact. >> Okay. >> Dragonflies shoot water out of their
butts. >> What? >> Um it's used for jet-propelled escapes when they're tired. >> That's iconic.
>> It's just like pretty sick. >> You just shoot yourself up with water. >> I'm just going to propel myself through
the air. >> They're just like, "I need some water." >> What the hell? [laughter]
>> It's like a reverse enema. Wow. >> Right? >> I don't want to think about that too
much. >> I love that. >> But I can't stop thinking about that. >> I love it. It's honestly one of my
favorite facts. >> It's a good one. >> Cuz now every time I see a dragonfly, I'm going to be like, "Are you tired? Or
are you just >> You burst into the air with water coming out of your butt. What's going on?"
>> What if that's landed on you? Like you know when it's like about like trickle
rain you're like, "Op, I felt a drop." What if that was actually just water coming out of a dragonfly's ass?
>> [laughter] >> Might be. >> That's crazy. >> That's crazy. >> That's crazy. Well, think about that for
sure. And with that being said, we hope you keep listening. >> And we hope you >> keep
>> weird. >> But not so weird that if you know something you don't say something.
>> Yes, if you know anything contact [music] the things we have in our show notes.
>> Say it. >> Do it. >> Let's get this case solved. Let's go. >> [music] [music]
[music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music]

When Ron Bradley won an all-expense paid cruise to the Caribbean in 1998, it seemed like a great opportunity to have one last family vacation with his wife, Iva, and his kids, twenty-three-year-old Amy and twenty-one-year-old Brad. In March, the family flew to Puerto Rico, where they boarded “Rhapsody of the Seas,” a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, and set off for the island of Curacao. The trip was everything Ron and his wife had hoped for, but just two days after departing from Puerto Rico, Amy went missing and their lives would never be the same again.

If anyone has any information about the whereabouts of Amy Bradley, they are encouraged to contact the family through their website amybradleyismissing.com or the FBI at tips.fbi.gov.

Mentioned in this episode

Buy Tickets to our LIVE SHOW at Radio City Music Hall on June 27th!

Want a signed copy of THE BUTCHER LEGACY?Click here to order from Premiere Collectibles!

References

Campbell, Thomas. 2002. "Guilty plea in cruise-ship case." Richmond Times-Dispatch, April 10: B3.

Campbell, Tom. 2002. "Mother named custodian for suspect, 42." Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 13: B4.

2018. Disappeared. Produced by Carmen Garcia Durazo. Performed by Carmen Garcia Durazo.

Foster, Richard. 1999. "Amy interupted ." Style Weekly, April 27.

Goodwyn, M.W. 1998. "$100,000 reward offered for woman." Richmond Times-Dispatch, March 31: 13.

Pope, John. 1998. "Family on cruise suspects abduction." Richmond-Times-Dispatch , Match 28: 18.

Pope, Jon. 1998. "Bradley's family increases reward." Richmond Times-Dispatch, April 2: 27.

Sager, Jessica. 2025. "What happened to Amy Lynn Bradley? Inside the 23-year-old's last moments before vanishing on a cruise ship." People, July 16.

Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022) Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023) Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025) Listener Tale Theme Music licensed from https://www.purple-planet.com Main Theme: Matti Paalanen — Trick or Treat — Provided by Jamendo Ad Music: Title: Artist: BlueJay Studio — Spooky Waltz — Provided by Jamendo

Brief Summary

Amy Lynn Bradley disappeared during a family cruise in 1998, sparking an ongoing investigation and numerous sightings.

Key points

The Disappearance of Amy Lynn Bradley. A deep dive into the mysterious case of Amy Lynn Bradley, who vanished during a family cruise.
Family Dynamics Before the Cruise. The Bradley family prepares for a cruise, reflecting on their close-knit relationships and Amy's achievements.
A Night of Fun Turns Dark. The family enjoys a limbo contest, but Amy's later disappearance raises alarms.
The Last Conversation. Brad says goodnight to Amy, unaware it will be their last interaction.
Cruise Ship's Indifference. Despite a missing person, the cruise line prioritizes passenger enjoyment over safety.
Investigation Intensifies. The FBI gets involved, but jurisdiction issues complicate the investigation.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Hold on to your butt because this is twisty and turny.

Teasing the story of Amy Lynn Bradley's disappearance.

6:22WatchApr 30, 2026

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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