EP. 158: CURAÇAO - The DISTURBING Disappearance of Amy Lynn Bradley 01:14:24

Ryan Reynolds here from Int Mobile. With the price of just about everything going up during inflation, we thought we'd bring our prices

down. So to help us, we brought in a reverse auctioneer, which is apparently a thing. Mint Mobile, unlimited premium wireless. I'm ready to get 30, 30, ready to get 30, ready to get 20, 20, 20, ready to get 20, 20, ready to get 15, 15, 15, 15, just 15 bucks a month. Sold! Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. $45 up front for three months plus taxes and fees. Promo rate for new customers for limited time. Unlimited more than 40 gigabytes per month. Slows. Full terms at mintmobile.com. This episode is brought to you by Shopify. Whether you're selling a little...

Or a lot. Shopify helps you do your thing, however you cha-ching. From the launch your online shop stage, all the way to the we just hit a million orders stage. No matter what stage you're in, Shopify's there to help you grow. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at shopify.com slash special offer, all lowercase. That's shopify.com slash special offer.

This podcast brought to you by Ring. With Ring cameras, you can check on your pets to catch them in the act. Izzy, drop that. Or just keep them company. Aw, I'll be home soon. Make sure they're okay while you're away. With Ring. Learn more at ring.com slash pets.

Warning. The following podcast is not suitable for all audiences. We go into great detail with every case that we cover and do our best to bring viewers even deeper into the stories by utilizing disturbing audio and sound effects. Trigger warnings from the stories we cover may include violence, rape, murder, and offenses against children. This podcast is not for everyone. You have been warned.

Planning vacations can be a lot of work. You have to find where you're going to stay, set up transportation, set aside money for food and activities. It's a lot of planning and even more money. So that's why a lot of people these days opt for cruises. You can usually find a really good deal where it's all-inclusive.

All you have to do is pay a lump sum front and for the next week everything is covered including your room, food and drinks, and entertainment. It takes the stress out of vacationing because everything's already paid for and planned out for you.

Now for the first few days of the trip, you and hundreds of others board a large boat and you spend your days relaxing by the ship's pool, eating good food, meeting people. And then at night they have fancy dinners, clubs, karaoke, casinos, and even live performances.

There's a lot to do, but the fun hasn't even started yet. After a few days out at sea, the ship will usually dock on a beautiful island where everyone on the boat can get off and go explore. Then you'll get back on the ship and the cruise will take off for the next beautiful island. And at the end of it all, you've got to see all of these beautiful locations for a pretty good price. Cruises are undeniably a lot of fun.

which is why millions of people go on them every year. But something that people don't really think about is the dark side of cruises. For days, you are stuck in the middle of the ocean with a bunch of strangers. And what they don't advertise is that death and tragedies occur on cruises all the time. Some people will jump overboard.

There are medical emergencies, sexual assaults, suicides, physical assaults, and of course, murders. A chilling fact is that most cruise ships are required to have a morgue. Sitting below the passengers as they enjoy their vacation is a cold dark box used to store the human remains of the most unfortunate of passengers.

But the story we have for you today is one of the most haunting cruise stories I've ever heard. It's about a young woman named Amy Bradley. She and her family boarded a cruise back in 1998, expecting to have a fun and relaxing vacation. But somehow, along the journey, Amy vanished. And to this day, she has never been seen since.

So we are going to walk you through her story and the investigation into her disappearance. I'm Courtney Browen. And I'm Colin Browen. And you're listening to our series, Murdered Americans. ♪♪

Amy Lynn Bradley was born on May 12th, 1974 in Petersburg, Virginia to her parents, Iva and Ron Bradley. Then two years after she was born, her little brother, Brad was brought into the world, completing their little family. And from what we could tell, Amy and Brad had a very normal childhood. They were raised in a loving, supportive home and they had all the tools they needed to live a successful and fulfilling life. Amy had short brown hair and striking green eyes. She was described as kind, curious, smart, athletic.

and her parents always knew she had a bright future ahead of her. And throughout the years, she really proved herself through her hard work. In high school, she played basketball, and she was a very talented player. So much so, she was even offered several college scholarships. But the one she accepted was the full-ride scholarship to Longwood University in Virginia. While going to school there, she majored in physical education, and she was thriving.

Towards the end of her undergraduate degree, Amy was still trying to figure out what she wanted to do in life. There were endless possibilities and the world was her oyster. So after she graduated, she decided to continue on with school to get her master's degree. You see, the thing about Amy was that she would always accomplish what she set out to do. She was a hard worker and always did well in school.

So this was the perfect path for her life. She was also recently offered a job at this computer consulting firm, which was the perfect way to make some money while she earned her master's degree. Things were going really well in Amy's life in the year 1998. She was 23 years old and had just moved out of her parents' house to start this new chapter. And now she was in an apartment of her own, gaining even more independence.

Now Amy's younger brother Brad was also moving out of his parents' house. So soon enough, Iva and Ron would be empty nesters, which was bittersweet for everyone. The Bradley family had always been extremely close. So to commemorate their children growing up and moving out, Iva and Ron decided to plan a special trip for their family.

It was a seven-day cruise on Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody of the Seas. But believe it or not, when Iva and Ron told Amy about the cruise, she refused to go. You see, although she was athletic, a swimming coach, and a trained lifeguard, for her entire life, she had this huge fear of the ocean.

Something about the vastness, the dark unknown that lurks below, it just terrified her. So she had her reservations about going. But at the end of the day, who can pass up a free trip like that? I'm sure Amy reasoned with herself. I mean, at the time, thousands of people went on cruises every year and most had the best time. So she would be fine.

As the days neared closer to the trip, Amy's fears lessened and she started to get excited. She even purchased 15 rolls of film so she could take a bunch of pictures and make a little collage for her coffee table when she got back home. Another excited thing she was looking forward to was that Amy had really been wanting to adopt a dog. She had actually been keeping an eye on this cute little French bulldog that was for sale named Daisy.

And the day before the cruise, she officially adopted her. Now, Daisy wouldn't be ready for pickup for about another week. But it was perfect because right when Amy got back, Daisy would be ready for her. And she was really excited about it. So as you can see, things were going really well for Amy Bradley. She had just moved into her own apartment. She started a new job, started graduate school, adopted a dog.

And she was overcoming her fears by going on this cruise. But as we know now, maybe Amy was right for fearing the ocean because once she left for that cruise, she would never come back home.

The cruise ship was set to depart from San Juan, Puerto Rico on March 21, 1998. So that morning, Iva and Ron got on a flight in Virginia, and hours later they landed, ready to start their vacation. Then a couple of hours after that, Amy and Brad's flight landed in Puerto Rico. Now, they had a couple of hours to spare before they had to get on the cruise ship, so they spent some time exploring the US territory. Amy even bought souvenirs and sent some postcards to her friends back home. One of them read, Hey, girl, it's gorgeous here.

We leave for Aruba tomorrow. Take care. Tell Madison and Niles hello. I'll be home Saturday at 10. See ya. Amy. On the next one, she wrote, Hey, it's beautiful here. Old San Juan has got some amazing buildings. I'm taking pictures. Maybe you can see them at Easter. Wish you were here. Amy. Soon after sending these postcards to her friends, the Bradley family made their way to the boating dock, and there it was. The Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody of the Seas cruise ship.

The luxury ship was nearly brand new, with a 3,000-person capacity, and hundreds of people were lining up with their suitcases, ready to board. The energy in the air was contagious. Everyone was so excited, ready to get on the ship and make their way out to the pool to start their fun. Amy was still a little nervous, but her brother Brad reassured her that they were about to have the best time. Right before they boarded, the Brownlees were handed their room keys, and one of the ship's photographers even snapped their picture.

And with that, she and her family stepped aboard. The first thing they did was go to their rooms and unpack their bags. Their family's cabin was located on the eighth deck in the junior suite number 8564. The Bradleys were all in one room together, with Amy and Brad getting twin beds of their own, and their parents had a queen.

They also had a private balcony where they could go out and enjoy the beautiful sunsets. And they were so excited for the great week ahead. Now that first day, the cruise would travel south through the Caribbean Sea, all the way down to the island of Aruba. Then from there, it would travel to Curacao, a tiny island off the coast of Venezuela.

Then after that, it would head to St. Thomas, hitting several beautiful locations in the Caribbean. But for now, as the ship drifted further and further from Puerto Rico, Amy and Brad decided that they were going to make the most of their time at sea and explore the ship. When they walked around, Amy was kind of scared to get close to the railings.

But a cruise isn't complete until you stand on the edge and look out at the beautiful ocean. So her dad convinced her to do it, and just to make sure she wasn't scared, he even offered to hold on to her. Eventually, Amy would get used to it, and she realized that this was actually such a beautiful experience.

From there, they all walked around, grabbed some food and drinks, hung out by the pool, and Amy was really enjoying herself. I'm sure she even felt a little silly that she was so scared to come on this trip. It was way better than what she pictured in her head. Now after a few hours of hanging out on the upper deck, Amy would go back to her room and get ready for their formal dinner.

And shortly before, the ship's photographer would snap a picture of Amy and her brother. From there, they would sit down and enjoy their meal. Now, honestly, these cruise dinners are one of my favorite parts of the trip. You usually get a waiter that will be your waiter for the entirety of your stay. And by the end, you feel like you really know them.

Then on top of that, the food is all-inclusive so you can pretty much order as much as you want and it's always a very beautiful dining experience. So when the Bradleys sat down to eat, they were pleasantly surprised. Their waiters even went above and beyond to be friendly and make sure they had everything they needed. By the time the Bradleys went to bed that night, they were all very happy with their decision to go on this cruise.

Over the next few days, as the ship continued to make its way towards Aruba, Amy and her family enjoyed every last minute on board. They had drinks by the pool, listened to live music, ate good food, and relaxed. And every night they went to dinner, they had the same three waiters, who were again very friendly. But each night, as the Bradleys sat down to eat,

Iva and Ron couldn't help but question the waiter's intentions. It was hard to put a finger on why they unsettled them. After all, they were very attentive to their needs. Maybe it was the way they kept talking to Amy, their 23-year-old daughter. The men were clearly flirting with her at some points, which made them all a little uncomfortable.

In addition, if Amy spoke or needed anything, the staff would work faster for her needs than for anyone else's. Now Amy was beautiful and she definitely attracted people's attention. But to her parents, the level of attention she garnered from the crew bordered on inappropriate. Now that next day, the crews would finally dock in Aruba for their first destination.

And while they sat down to eat, one of the waiters approached Amy and asked if she wanted to go with them to a popular bar in Aruba. And can you guess which bar they invited her to?

If you listened to our recent episodes on Natalie Holloway, you will be very familiar with this bar. It's called Carlos and Charlie's, the same bar Natalie Holloway would go missing from seven years later. But for now, Carlos and Charlie's was simply known as one of Aruba's most popular spots, and these waiters on the cruise wanted Amy Bradley to go with them once they docked.

Now, Iva and Ron were very uncomfortable with this invitation. Although Amy was an adult who could make her own decisions, they didn't want her leaving to go party with strangers. And Amy seemed to be on the same page. When the waiters left the table, Amy told her mom, quote, I wouldn't go and do anything with those crew members. They give me the creeps.

The following morning, as the sun peaked over the horizon, the cruise ship finally docked in Aruba, and everyone on board got up and started preparing for the fun day ahead. Now, when a cruise ship docks, everyone on board can pretty much go do whatever they want. Some people will go snorkeling, sightseeing. You can pay a lot of money to go party at resorts.

Or you can go the cheaper route and find a beach to lay out on. It's all up to you, as long as you're back at the dock once the ship leaves. So once the Bradley family stepped foot in Aruba, they decided to go shopping, and they even rented a Jeep so they could go explore the island. While they were out, Amy even stopped at a few shops to buy her friends some souvenirs. They had a beautiful time in Aruba, and after a long day of exploring, they were pretty tired, so they decided to board the ship a little early.

For the next few hours, the Bradleys decided to relax on board, but their night wasn't over just yet. That evening, a band called the Blue Orchid was set to perform for the cruise's nightclub, so Amy and Brad planned to attend that later that night. Now keep in mind, the ship was still docked in Aruba at the time, and some performers from the island came on board to perform a dance routine.

But interestingly enough, some Aruban locals also came on board to watch the dancers, which is weird because they weren't supposed to be on board. This also upset some people. Iva would later say, "How could they be allowed to board a ship and just stand around watching the performance with paying passengers?"

Now, eventually, the dancers and the locals would get off the ship. And soon enough, the crew sailed away from the Aruban shore and made its way towards the next destination, which was the island of Curacao.

That night, Amy and her mom would go to the ship's photography set to look at the pictures they had taken over the past few days. And if you've ever been on a cruise, you know that they have so many photographers walking around that'll take pictures of you and your family, and they then display them on these huge boards so you can buy them if you want. But interestingly enough, when Amy and her mom went to look at their pictures...

They couldn't find any of Amy's. Ivan would later say, we asked the person in charge at the gallery where Amy's pictures could be posted. He said he remembered placing them with the other photos taken at the same time, but acknowledged he couldn't find them either. I asked him if he could have them redeveloped and he agreed, claiming they would be available the next day.

Now this was very strange. Every single photo taken is posted up on those walls. So the fact that Amy's pictures were missing meant that someone else had to have taken them. So was this a simple misunderstanding? Or did someone intentionally take Amy's pictures? They didn't know, but it was weird.

However, they didn't jump to any nefarious conclusions just yet. And from there, they continued to enjoy their night out at sea. Later that evening, the ship's nightclub threw a Kalispo party where the band The Blue Orchid performed for the crowd. It had been a really fun night. Amy and her brother even won a limbo contest.

Now Amy's parents, Iva and Ron, were also at this party. And while they sat in the back and watched their children dance and have fun, they noticed someone approached their daughter. It was their waiter that had invited Amy to Carlos and Charlie's the night before. Iva watched them talk for a while, and at some point, she noticed the waiter was looking up at one of the band members.

It was the bassist, whose name was Alistair Douglas. And strangely enough, as the waiter and bassist made eye contact, she watched the waiter give him a nod. Maybe it was innocent, and they were just saying hello. Iva didn't pay much attention to it at the time, but later, she would think back on it with scrutiny.

Shortly after 1 a.m., Iva and Ron were getting tired, so they decided to call it a night. Before leaving, they walked over to Amy and Brad and kissed them goodbye, told them to have a good night and that they loved them.

Iva believed her daughter was safe, especially in the company of her brother. And with that, they went back to their room. But Amy and Brad weren't ready to go to bed just yet. In fact, most of the young people on cruises will stay out until almost 6 a.m., partying and having fun. Now, after their parents left, Amy got herself a drink and went to the dance floor, where she was later joined by the band's bassist, Alistair Douglas.

The two shared a few drinks and a few slow dances together before they were joined by their waiter, who had been flirting with Amy. But from what we could tell, Amy was really enjoying her night with them. She didn't look afraid. It didn't seem like she wanted them to leave her alone. So her brother Brad didn't think anything of it. However, a little after 3 a.m., both Amy and Brad were pretty exhausted after the long day. So they decided to say their goodbyes and make their way back to the room.

Brad arrived around 3:30 a.m. with Amy following about five minutes later. Now, their parents were asleep at the time. So instead of going straight to bed, they decided to go chat on their private balcony and have a 3:00 a.m. drunk cigarette. While they were out there, Amy and Brad smoked their cigarettes and talked about what they planned to do the next day when they arrived in Curacao. After a few minutes, Brad was getting tired.

So he went back inside, telling his sister that he loved her before leaving her alone on the balcony. Apparently, Amy was feeling a little nauseous, so she wanted to stay out there and get some fresh air. But after a few minutes, she drifted off to sleep in the lounge chair. Now, about two hours later at 5.30 a.m., Amy's dad, Ron, randomly woke up.

As he opened his eyes, he glanced around the room to make sure his kids were back. Brad was fast asleep in his bed, but Amy's bed was empty. However, when he looked on the balcony, he could see Amy's legs from the hips down. The balcony door was closed and her cigarettes and lighter were lying next to her. So knowing she was nearby and safe, he closed his eyes and went back to bed.

But then around 6 a.m., Ron woke up again. He wasn't sure why he woke up, but he thought he heard the sound of a door closing. However, this time when he looked around, Amy wasn't in her bed and she wasn't on the balcony either. But the sliding glass door leading to outside was open about a foot. He was also certain that the door wasn't open when he had first woken up.

If it was, he said he would have gotten up to shut it. But seeing that Amy wasn't on the balcony and she wasn't in her bed, he got up and started looking around the cabin for his daughter. Maybe she was in the bathroom, but the bathroom was empty. As he looked around, he also noticed that the shoes Amy had been wearing were still outside on the balcony, but her lighter and cigarettes were gone.

Now, the ship was getting close to their next destination, the island of Curacao. So maybe she went out on the upper deck to smoke a cigarette and watch the ship approach the island. A lot of people actually do this to see the beautiful sunrise. But the more he thought about it, the situation was strange and Ron was beginning to feel uneasy. He knew that Amy and Brad went to bed super late after a night of drinking.

So it wouldn't make sense for her to wake up at 6:00 AM and leave the room just hours after she fell asleep. Knowing that something wasn't right here, Ron decided to get dressed and go look for her. By the time he made it onto the upper deck, the island of Curacao was just on the horizon. Over the next hour, Ron frantically searched all of the common areas for his daughter. However, she wasn't anywhere to be found.

He searched the decks, the hallways, the nightclub she had been at the previous night, but nothing. And he knew then that he needed to alert the staff. Ron ended up running into the head of security, Lou Costello. But when he informed him that his daughter was missing, there wasn't a lot of urgency. I'm sure crew staff deals with this kind of stuff all the time.

I mean, they have hundreds of young people getting drunk and staying out late where their parents can't find them. And most of the time, they are just in someone else's room. Or they're still out drinking, having fun.

And when the security guard heard that Amy was 23 years old, he was even more sure that she was probably just on the deck watching the sunrise. Ron tried explaining that he's already looked everywhere and that Amy is gone, but again, there didn't seem to be any concern. The security guard did say that he would keep an eye out for her, but he clearly wasn't going to be of much help. So from here, Ron goes back to their cabin to wake up Iva and Brad. Iva later said that when Ron woke her up, he didn't even look like himself.

His face was contorted with complete terror and desperation. I've asked your husband what was wrong, and he replied, I can't find Amy. This was at 7 in the morning, over an hour since he last saw his daughter sitting on the balcony. So from here, the Bradleys make a beeline for the captain of the ship.

Once they got in contact with the captain, they begged him to make an announcement over the ship's intercom, but he refused. He said it was too early in the morning to make an announcement, and alerting the passengers to a missing person would cause a mass panic. And they weren't even sure Amy was missing just yet. But at this point, the Bradleys were considering the worst.

It wasn't like Amy to disappear, and she wouldn't vanish on her own volition. Now by this point, the ship had officially docked at the port, and people were beginning to leave the ship to go explore the island.

which only made the Bradleys even more worried. What if someone had Amy and they took her off the boat into this foreign land? Suddenly, Iva and Ron started thinking about all of the strange crew members who had been flirting with Amy. Could one of them have kidnapped her? The thought of all of the passengers leaving the ship sent them into a panic. The Bradleys even begged the captain to not let anyone leave until Amy was found.

But of course, he wouldn't allow that. And with that, thousands of people left the ship to enjoy the island, while the Bradleys were right in the middle of their worst nightmare. To add insult to injury, not only did the ship refuse to make an announcement about Amy's disappearance, but they also told the Bradleys that they couldn't put up any photos of her around the ship.

The only thing they agreed to do was make an announcement for Amy to come to the purser's desk, but they refused to mention anything about her being missing. And with the Cruises' refusal to help the Bradleys, the chances of finding their daughter began to dwindle. After a few hours with no sight of her, Iva and Ron began to assume the worst, that their daughter had been kidnapped.

Some of the employees suggested that maybe she found someone on the ship and they were off on the island enjoying the day together. But the Bradleys knew that that wasn't the case. Amy wouldn't have left with a stranger, especially without informing them first. So to ease their minds, the captain and head of security told the Bradleys that they were going to do their own search of the ship and that they would let them know if Amy was spotted.

And while they did that, the Bradleys kept looking themselves. And as each minute passed, the Bradleys were even more convinced that something horrible had happened to their daughter. And by noon, Amy was still nowhere to be found. Ivo would later say, "Around lunchtime, again, the captain of the cruise ship told us that he would not make an announcement that she was missing or post a photo for other passengers to view as this would alarm the other guests, and he was not prepared to do that."

He told us that every nook and cranny of the ship had been searched for Amy, all 10 decks and 999 rooms. But what they failed to tell the Bradleys was that they only searched the common areas of the ship. They never checked the staff and passenger cabins. If Amy was being held in a passenger or staff member's cabin, they wouldn't have found her because they didn't look. But the family, none the wiser, believed Amy was no longer on the ship.

Now it's at this point when the crew asked the Bradleys if Amy could have jumped overboard. However, that thought never even crossed their mind. Amy wouldn't have done that.

She had just gotten a new job in Virginia, a new apartment, and she had just adopted that dog that she already loved dearly. The Bradleys were certain that Amy wouldn't run away and leave everything she loved and worked for behind. Even further, Amy was happy and had an exciting new life ahead of her. She wouldn't have ended it before it began. So the crew offered up another idea.

Maybe she fell overboard. But that theory didn't make sense either. Yes, Amy had been drinking, but the railings on these ships are specifically designed so that people can't fall over unless they are being reckless and climbing on the rails. And Amy wouldn't have done that. Like we mentioned earlier, she was afraid to even get close to the railings. But let's just say Amy did accidentally fall overboard.

By that point, the ship was close enough to shore where she definitely could have swam. Amy was a really good swimmer, a trained lifeguard. So if she had fallen overboard, she would have swam to shore already and they would have found her by now. All of these scenarios just didn't make sense. Her family wasn't convinced that she jumped over to die by suicide or that she went into the water by accident.

Plus, no one on the ship mentioned anything about seeing a woman fall from the decks. But just in case she was in the water, the captain called the Netherlands Antilles Coast Guard to search the surrounding waters.

By this point, after searching for hours with no sign of Amy, the Bradleys were pretty confident that she wasn't on the ship. So one of the crew members suggested they get off the boat and look on the island. Maybe she got off and was just out enjoying herself. So that's what they did. Ivor, Ron, and Brad went out into Curacao and looked at all the popular tourist spots. But Amy wasn't at any of them. So at this point, the Bradleys contacted the Curacao authorities and the U.S. Embassy, who was able to get them in touch with the FBI.

the only problem was that the fbi wouldn't be able to get to curacao for another 24 hours and by then the cruise ship would already be on its way to the next location st thomas so the bradleys were faced with an impossible choice do they stay in curacao and wait for the fbi or do they get back on the ship by then the captain had assured them that amy wasn't on the ship they looked everywhere they said so the bradley's made the difficult decision to stay in curacao iva would later say it was one of the hardest decisions of their lives

Later that day, the Bradleys watched as hundreds of people walked back onto the ship and they were praying that they would see Amy among the crowd. Maybe she did get off the ship that morning. Maybe she spent the day having fun. And this would all be a funny story that they would tell for years to come. But as they scanned the faces of all of the people drunk and laughing after a fun day, they still didn't see their daughter. And soon enough,

The Rhapsody of the Seas pulled up its gangplank, closed its doors, and then slowly pulled out of port. Watching the ship fade off into the ocean was extremely difficult for the Bradleys. The Rhapsody of the Seas was the place where their daughter vanished, and it felt as if the cruise ship cared more about sticking to their schedule than they did finding their daughter.

But they couldn't dwell on that right now. The Bradleys had a mission, and until the FBI arrived, they were going to do everything they could to search the island. With their little resources, the Bradleys took to the streets to look for Amy. They showed people photos, asked the islanders questions, and combed the area for any sign of her. Yet, as the hours passed,

Without finding their daughter, they began to feel even more helpless and frantic. The island Curacao was absolutely breathtaking. But unbeknownst to the Bradleys at the time, it does have a dark side. It was once the central hub of the Dutch Caribbean slave trade, a dark stain on the beautiful island's history.

Crime writer J.H. Moncrief states that even today, there's a decent amount of animosity between tourists, wealthy residents, and the natives of the island. These natives are generally much less well-off financially and have low-paying, menial jobs, while the country survives off of its tourism. Moncrief further states that while the island looks beautiful from the outside and has

it has an edge indeed the foreign travel advice page for the united kingdom states that while curacao may seem safe and pristine by day travelers should take care to avoid isolated areas including beaches after dark the site also mentions curacao's propensity as a drug smuggling hub where criminals transport drugs to the dutch caribbean from south america to europe and north america the site advises that no one accept any packages from a stranger and that travelers should never leave their luggage unattended

But far worse than Curacao's drug smuggling and petty theft is their record for sex trafficking. It was marked in 2022 to be at Tier 3, the lowest rating a country could have for preventing human trafficking. Tier 3 means that a country's government doesn't comply with minimum standards of prevention and that it is making no significant effort to meet the standard. In fact, Curacao has one of the largest brothels in all of the Caribbean, where women from all over were brought there to work.

Disturbingly, in the 90s, people would come to Curacao specifically to visit these brothels, and many of the sex workers were there against their will. Eventually, the Bradleys would learn about this dark side of the island, and they were terrified at the thought that Amy could have been kidnapped and sold into a sex trafficking ring.

But the whole disappearance just didn't make sense to them. Ron saw Amy on their balcony at 5.30 that morning. Then by 6 a.m., she was gone. How does one disappear on a ship within 30 minutes? And the more they thought about it...

the more they questioned their decision to stay in Curacao. Soon enough, the FBI would arrive to assist them in the case, but they did run into some problems. Now, this can get a little confusing, so bear with me. But let's just say you board a cruise ship out of Florida. The cruise ship takes you out into the middle of the Caribbean Sea, and someone murders you out there.

Now, you would think that the U.S. would have jurisdiction over your case because it's a U.S. cruise line. But that's not the case. At the time of Amy's disappearance, the jurisdiction actually fell under whichever country the cruise is registered to. And in this case, the Rhapsody of the Seas was registered in Norway. Now, let's say this cruise is on its way to an island.

If you were murdered within 24 hours of that island, the island now has jurisdiction over your case.

So in this story, even though the Rhapsody of the Seas was operated out of Miami, Florida, it was registered to Norway. And because it's believed something happened to Amy within miles of the Curacao shore, technically, Norway and Curacao have jurisdiction over Amy's case. And sadly, there isn't much the US government can do unless they get permission to assist in the case.

Now, luckily in this story, the FBI was willing to help in whatever way they could. And when they arrived in Curacao, they suggested that the Bradleys get back on the ship immediately. Based on the timeline of everything, they didn't think Amy was in Curacao. The FBI also spoke directly with the cruise line and they learn that they didn't actually search the entire ship for Amy.

In reality, they only searched the common areas. They didn't look through any of the passenger rooms or the crew rooms. And when the Bradleys heard this, they were infuriated. The captain had told the Bradleys that every nook and cranny of the ship had been searched, which was a blatant lie.

And if they would have known this, they would have never even left the ship. So now they realized that Amy could very well still be on board the Rhapsody of the Seas. What if someone had kidnapped her and trapped her in their room? And so many thoughts were running through their heads. Was she alive? Was she scared? Did she hear them call her name over the intercom, but was unable to get anyone's attention?

They didn't know, but their next course of action was to get back on that ship. So on Thursday, March 26th, accompanied by FBI agents, Ron, Iva, and Brad flew to the cruise's next stop, St. Thomas, in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Bradleys demanded to be let back on the ship, and as soon as they got onto the vessel, Iva ran into the ship's superiors. She furiously confronted the captain, calling him a liar, saying that the ship had not been searched for Amy as thoroughly as they had promised. She also demanded that they allowed the FBI aboard to help look for her, and under pressure, the captain buckled.

And from here, the FBI boarded the ship to look for Amy Bradley.

By then, the rumors had circulated around the ship that a woman had died by suicide from jumping into the water. But that theory was becoming unlikely as the waters had been thoroughly searched with no sign of Amy. So the FBI agents on board did their own search. They looked in the Bradley's cabin and on the railing to see if there was any evidence of her jumping off. Nothing came of it. But the next thing they wanted to do is talk to the people who interacted with Amy on the trip.

So they interviewed the waiters that had been flirting with her, as well as other crew members who were seen speaking to her. But the main person they wanted to talk to was Alistair Douglas, the bassist seen dancing with Amy on the night of her disappearance. And they ended up giving him a polygraph exam. During the exam, Alistair said he didn't know what happened to Amy Bradley. He said that they danced, had a few drinks together, and then she left.

Now, while this polygraph exam was being conducted, Ron Bradley was actually standing outside the room. And when Alistair walked out, he looked at Ron, flashed him a smile, and then gave him a thumbs up. Ron really didn't know what to think of this, but he assumed that the thumbs up meant that he passed the exam and was in the clear.

But soon enough, more suspicion would fall on Alistair. While the Bradleys were on the deck one night, two college-age girls approached them and said that they had seen Amy right before she disappeared. They said that at around 6:00 a.m., they were standing by an elevator near the disco party when the elevator doors opened. The girls said that they watched Amy walk out of the elevator with none other than Alistair Douglas.

Now from here, Amy and Alistair went over to the bar where they had a dark colored drink. Then before they knew it, the two were gone. The girls said that 10 minutes later, they saw Alistair come out of the elevator again, but this time he was by himself.

Now as these girls are witnessing this, Ron is upstairs in their bedroom concerned about his daughter. And soon after, he would come out on the deck to look for her. But by then, Amy was gone. Now many people wondered why it took the girl so long to come forward. But keep in mind, the ship never even announced that someone on board was missing. By then, there had just been rumors circulating that someone fell overboard.

The girls also said that they had been looking for the Bradleys so they could give them this information, but they hadn't been able to find them until now. And the FBI actually administered a polygraph to both of these women and they passed. Another suspicious part of this story is that when Alistair was interviewed, he said that the Cruises security knocked on his door at 6:00 AM looking for Amy. And he said that the knock woke him up from his sleep.

but it would later be proven that security didn't knock on his door until 7 a.m so why did he lie about the time was he trying to make it seem like he was asleep at the time amy went missing and even further those girls saw him walking around at 6 a.m so he definitely wasn't asleep like he claimed plus the security couldn't have knocked on his door at 6 a.m because

Because at that time, Ron hadn't even alerted security to Amy's disappearance. Now I will say, I don't know if the FBI confronted Alistair with these inconsistencies. I'd imagine they did, but I wasn't able to find anything on what his explanations were. But little by little, Alistair Douglas was looking more like their main suspect.

Now, interestingly enough, the cruise had hired a videographer named Chris Fenwick, who spent the week taking footage of everyone on board so he could make a video at the end that passengers could purchase. When he heard rumors that a woman had likely died by suicide on board, he started looking through his footage to see if he took any videos of Amy. But while he did this, he was told by the cruise's security to make sure no images of Amy were in the final video he put together.

which seemed strange to him. Now, Chris did end up finding footage of Amy from that night, and in the videos, she was seen dancing with Alistair at around 3 a.m. He noticed that they were touchy with one another, and in one video, they were even holding hands. In the last video recorded of Amy, she was seen by the video at 3.35 a.m., and minutes later, Amy would go up to her room.

Now, Chris ended up giving this footage over to the Bradley family, hoping it would help in the investigation. And they gave the footage to the FBI. But interestingly enough, soon after he gave the tape over, Chris was called by the ship's head of security, Lou Costello. Chris would later say,

at that point he told me he was going to have to get that tape from me i informed him that there was no way i was going to give up my master tapes i never give these away and that besides that it was on a tape format that i'm sure he didn't have access to he then informed me that the fbi was involved in this and they would want the original tapes i told him that if that was the case and the fbi wanted my master tapes then they would have to contact me but the fbi never reached out for the original tapes

Soon enough, the Rhapsody of the Seas would return back to Puerto Rico, and the Bradleys still had no idea where their daughter was. But looking back on the trip, they couldn't help but think about the nightmare they had just lived. They also thought about how Amy's pictures were missing from the photo gallery just hours before she disappeared.

Hers were the only photos unaccounted for, so they couldn't help but wonder, was the person responsible for her disappearance the same person who took those photos? They didn't know, but as the ship docked in Puerto Rico, the Bradleys couldn't help but feel discouraged. The cruise line, clearly in an effort to save themselves from bad press, spoke out to the media,

saying that they had fully cooperated with authorities and that they believed Amy fell over the railing while intoxicated and that no foul play was suspected. And it is true that people fall overboard on cruises all the time. In fact, recently there was just a video that circulated online where a young man jumped overboard late at night. There was a video of him swimming in the water and he was never found.

But in that case, he purposefully jumped. And that's usually the case when people fall overboard. They're usually climbing on railings, being reckless, or they're jumping intentionally. It's nearly impossible to accidentally stumble over the railing.

So the Bradleys were not convinced and neither was the FBI. But again, even if Amy had fallen overboard, the ship was close enough to the island where she could have swam to shore. The weather conditions that day had been clear and she was a good swimmer. But even if she had died at sea, why didn't they find her body? There had been thorough searches of the waters surrounding Curacao with no sign of her

So what really happened? Soon enough, the Bradleys were on a flight back to Virginia without their daughter, which was one of the hardest things they had ever had to do. By then, they were pretty confident that Alistair Douglas had something to do with Amy's disappearance. However, the FBI didn't have enough evidence to charge him with anything, so there wasn't much they could do. But he was actually fired from the cruise line once they found out that he had been mingling with one of the passengers, which wasn't allowed.

Feeling helpless, the Bradleys continued in their pursuit of justice. They weren't going to idly sit by and wait.

So once they got home, they set up a tip line and offered up a $250,000 reward for information leading to Amy's return. And eventually, they would get a lead. It was from a taxi driver in Curacao. He claimed that on the morning of Amy's disappearance, a woman matching her description ran up to his taxi in a panic.

and she asked him where the nearest payphone was, but he said that she quickly ran away. This taxi driver described her in detail, even saying he would never forget her vibrant green eyes. With this detail, her family believed that maybe Amy was still on the island, but if that was the case, why couldn't anyone find her?

A few weeks later, Ron received a frantic call from his wife, Iva The harbor chief at Curacao had found a body washed up on the shore At first, they thought it could have been Amy But as it turned out, the skeletal remains were that of a male And although the family was relieved that the body did not belong to their child They still wondered how much longer it would be until they received a clue about what happened to Amy Months began to roll by with no word And Ron and Iva continued to make desperate pleas to media sources Begging for information about their daughter to be brought forward

The Bradley family had tried to take matters into their own hands, writing to congressmen, the White House, and foreign officials. They wanted more awareness to be brought to the search for Amy, not just in the US, but worldwide. They contacted the media on all fronts, continuously appearing on the news. The FBI was also continuing their own investigation, but they hadn't turned up anything new.

When nothing came of their efforts, the Bradleys decided to hire an undercover detective to actually go on the Rhapsody of the Seas cruise ship to see if they saw anything suspicious. But nothing happened. They even spoke with psychics to see if they could find what happened to their daughter. But every single thing led to a dead end.

But by now, Amy's description had been posted everywhere. She was described as having short brown hair, green eyes. She was 5'6", 120 pounds. And she also had some identifiable tattoos. There was a Tasmanian devil spinning a basketball on her shoulder, the sun on her lower back, a Chinese symbol on her right ankle, and a gecko lizard on her navel.

But months and months would pass with no promising leads. That is until August of 1998. That month, two Canadian tourists were cleaning their scuba gear on the beach in Curacao when they said they saw a woman who matched Amy's description. The witnesses said she was walking with two men and when she heard the tourists speaking English, the woman picked up the pace, quickly walking towards them.

She looked scared, they said. They also said that she was within feet of them when the two men pulled her away into a nearby cafe. The tourist who saw her, David Carmichael, said that he was certain the woman was Amy Bradley, but at the time he had no idea she was a missing person until he saw her case later on a TV show.

When he finally saw the program and Amy's face popped up on his screen, he called in the sighting, hoping it would lead someone to the lost young woman. Carmichael would later say, quote, The minute I saw her picture and saw her face on the program, I realized that was the girl on the beach. I am haunted by that encounter with Amy. I know it was her, end quote.

The Canadian man tried to get in contact with the Bradleys in several ways. He also did his best to get in touch with the FBI. Carmichael was horrified when he learned that he had seen Amy Bradley, been two feet away from her, and let her slip between his fingers. Carmichael even flew down to Richmond, Virginia to speak with the Bradleys directly. After he revealed to the family what he had seen, the Bradleys were now certain that Amy had been kidnapped and was being held captive in Curacao. And though Curacao authorities were informed, sadly, nothing came of the sighting.

But by now, the Bradleys had a theory on what happened. On the morning of her disappearance, they think Amy left their family's cabin and ran into Alistair Douglas, the bassist from that band. From there, they were seen getting out of the elevator by those two girls, and Alistair led Amy over to the bar where she was seen drinking that dark colored drink. Now the Bradleys believe that the drink contained some sort of drug,

And like those two witnesses said, shortly after she was seen drinking it, she and Alistair walked away together. The Bradleys think that Alistair took Amy through the staff elevator and took her to a lower level of the ship, where she was then put in either a trash bag or a laundry cart.

Now, apparently at the time, the ship's staff could exit the boat without having to deal with customs. So the Bradleys believed that Amy was snuggled off the ship in one of these containers and sold into sex trafficking. Iva would later say, somebody saw her, wanted her, and had to have her.

She would have been a trophy. Amy would have been someone that I believe would have been picked out and fingered to move off that ship. She could have been held and hidden. She could have been possibly drugged and taken from that ship. But again, there was no evidence to prove any of this. So her family continued to plead with the media, hoping that Amy's kidnappers could hear them, saying, The family of Amy Lynn Bradley, who has been missing since March 24, 1998, from the cruise ship Rhapsody of the Seas as it arrived at port in Curacao,

Soon enough, the year 1998 would turn to 1999, and by then Leeds had pretty much dried out.

but the Bradleys would soon get one that seemed to have answered all of their prayers. The email was from a man named Frank Jones, who said he was a US Army Special Forces officer. He said that he had a large team of ex-Navy SEALs and Army Rangers who wanted to help find Amy. Frank said that after the multiple sightings of Amy in Curacao, he believed she was still there, being held against her will.

and that he and his team were willing to go there and look for her. Ivo would later say, quote, "He told me he would put Amy on his own back and swim her out of there. His team had the experience and credentials to rescue Amy," end quote.

So hearing this, the Bradleys agreed to hire him as their new private investigator. Soon enough, Frank and his team went to Curacao and set up a post near the locations where Amy had been seen. And to the Bradley's surprise, they later got word that Frank actually saw Amy himself. According to him, Amy was being held by armed Colombians in Curacao.

She was trapped in a housing complex surrounded by barbed wire, but he also said that Amy had been allowed to leave at certain times. He even saw her going on shopping trips to the grocery store and to go work out at a gym, but she was never alone. She was always accompanied by a man with long blonde hair and a full sleeve of tattoos on one arm.

Now hearing this, the Bradleys were ecstatic. They wanted Frank and his team to go in immediately and bring home their daughter. But Frank informed them that they weren't able to do anything just yet. At one point, they had even got close and a group of men started shooting at them. So Frank said they needed to make sure everything was safe and perfectly planned so that the kidnappers wouldn't get spooked. So the Bradleys had to be patient.

Now of course, they were terrified for their daughter, but at the same time, they were so relieved that she was alive and it would only be a matter of time until she would get to come home. Over the next few months, Frank and his team kept their eyes on Amy. Their mission was being funded solely by the Bradley family, but it was worth it. And luckily for them, he finally informed them that he was ready to go in and rescue her.

All he needed was his final payment for the job. Now, the Bradleys were more than willing to send over the money, but before they did, they wanted some kind of proof that it was actually their daughter. And Frank would deliver that proof. He sent Iva and Ron a picture of a young woman on the beach, and she was next to a blonde-haired man with tattoos.

Now, the woman had a hat on in the picture, so it was difficult to tell if it was their daughter. But once they looked closely and saw the tattoos, they knew it was her. One was of a Tasmanian devil on her shoulder, and there was also a Chinese symbol on her ankle. Ivo would later say, quote, when I got the pictures, I knew Amy was okay, and it was just a matter of time, end quote.

So with that, the Bradleys sent over their final payment to Frank Jones, and he told them he would call once he had Amy and the mission was complete. This was the moment they had all been waiting for. Ron's boss even arranged a private jet for them so that when Amy was rescued, they could fly out to be with her.

But that day would pass, then another, and another. And after a week, there was still no phone call from Frank Jones. So many thoughts rushed through the Bradleys' minds. Did something happen with their mission? Did Frank and his team get killed?

Now Ron's boss saw that the Bradleys were so distraught over this, so he decided to hire his own guy named Tim Buchholz to fly out to Curacao to find Frank and see what was going on. And sadly, it only took Tim about three hours to determine that Frank Jones had been scamming the Bradleys all along. When the Bradleys received this call, their hopes were crushed immediately.

The Bradley family had drained their entire life savings and the money that people had donated, totaling $210,000, all paid to a man who was simply hanging out in Curacao, using their money to drink and party. Frank Jones had never even served in the Special Forces. He was only a con artist. In the end, there had been no sightings of Amy.

There was no rescue mission. And that photo of Amy that he sent to them as proof of her existence, Frank had actually hired those people to pose for the photo and he even got the girl to stencil on the fake tattoos. Everything about the story had been fabricated. Frank Jones saw a grieving family and he chose to take advantage of their grief and desperation for his own sick gain.

Frank Jones was prosecuted in 2002 by federal prosecutors in Richmond, Virginia. He pled guilty to mail fraud and was sentenced to five years in prison, then ordered to repay the money. The judge gave Jones twice the maximum sentence for his crime. But after all of this hit the media, many people judged the Bradleys for being so naive. They wondered how they could have even believed Frank's story in the first place. Ron Bradley would later speak out and say, if there's a chance, I mean, what else do you do? If it was your child, what would you do?

Over the next few years, there were even more sightings of Amy. One came from a U.S. sailor who had visited Curacao in January of 1999. He said that while there, he stopped by a brothel

and there was a woman there who said her name was Amy Bradley. Now at the time, he had never heard of the name and he had no idea there was a missing Amy Bradley, so he didn't think much of it. But the woman at the brothel told him that she needed his help, although she never exactly said what she needed help with. The woman also said she wasn't allowed to leave the building.

And soon after that, a man came by and pulled her away. Now there were strict rules about members of the military visiting these brothels. So he never got her any help out of fear of getting in trouble. And it wasn't until he returned to the US and saw Amy Bradley's story in People magazine when he knew he needed to call this in.

The sailor also said he didn't want any of the reward money. He just wanted to inform authorities about this so it wouldn't weigh on his conscience. And interestingly enough, when investigators looked into this brothel, they found that it had burned down, which meant if it were true and if Amy had been there, any hope of her rescue had burned down with it.

The tips seemed credible, and the Bradleys doubted that the sailor was lying. It was clear by that time that Amy had been sold into sex trafficking. It's what the Bradleys had suspected all along. And this is something that, sadly, occurs more often than most know about. Curacao is known for the exploitation of women and girls, especially those from within the country, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela.

But it isn't unheard of for women from other countries to be kidnapped, especially tourists. If this is indeed what happened to Amy, she was in custody in a foreign country and was being subjected to true horror. Yet the Bradleys could only wait and hope for more news to come to them. For years after this, Amy Bradley's case went cold. There were no new sightings of her and no new promising leads.

But then, in 2004, the Bradley family received a disturbing anonymous email that contained a photo of a woman taken from an escort website out of the Caribbean. The website had hundreds of pictures of naked women posted so that men could pick out which one they liked the best. But the woman in the photo that was sent to the Bradleys looked a lot like Amy, but

but older. In the picture, the woman is lying on a bed in her underwear. The woman was identified on the website as Jazz and was a sex worker in the Caribbean. So the Bradleys, after so many letdowns, contacted a forensic analyst who later confirmed that the woman in the photo could in fact have been their daughter. The Bradleys studied the picture and they were heartbroken.

The girl in the photo did not have the sweet innocent face like the Amy they remembered. She looked tormented, like she had gone through unimaginable pain. Investigators tried to trace this email by looking at the IP address, but it didn't lead them anywhere.

But the next year, in 2005, there was another sighting of Amy. This time it came from a woman in Ohio named Judy Moore. She said that she had been vacationing in the Barbados, several hundred miles away, when she went into a department store bathroom. While she was in there doing her business, she said she suddenly heard raised voices. Then before she knew it,

several people stormed into the bathroom, including multiple men and one woman. Judy was initially terrified, thinking she was about to be robbed or attacked.

She said that the woman was being threatened by these men and that they mentioned something to her about how she needed to follow up on this deal or she would get hurt. Now, Judy didn't want any part of this, so she continued to hide in one of the bathroom stalls. But then the voices went quiet and she heard the men walk out, so she quietly slipped out of the stall.

In there, she saw the woman tearfully standing by the bathroom mirror. The girl was clearly distraught, so Judy asked if she was okay.

She then asked what the girl's name was, and in a soft, quiet voice, she responded with, quote, Amy from Virginia. Wanting to lighten the mood, Judy loudly proclaimed that her own daughter was named Amy. But as soon as she said this, the woman's eyes widened as she put her finger up to her lips, warning Judy to be quiet.

Judy didn't realize the severity of the situation. And just moments later, the men began pounding on the bathroom door. Amy was frozen in fear, but Judy just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

When she ran out of the bathroom, there were four men standing outside of the door. And Judy knew deep down that Amy from Virginia was in danger. She tried to look for security, but by the time she did, the men and Amy had already disappeared out of the back of the store. Judy didn't see the woman again until nine months later when she was watching television.

The Bradleys had shared that picture from the escort website that was sent to them, and the picture of the woman named Jazz had been circulating in the media.

But when Judy saw the picture flash on her screen, she knew without a shadow of a doubt that that was the woman she encountered in the bathroom, Amy from Virginia. When Judy contacted the authorities with this information, it only confirmed to the Bradleys that their daughter had been sex trafficked.

First, she is seen accompanied by two men on a beach, desperately trying to flag down a tourist. Next, she's claimed to have been seen in a brothel, begging for help. And now, she's being escorted by multiple men on an island hundreds of miles from Curacao for some sort of clandestine deal. The FBI took the eyewitness lead and created composite sketches of not only Amy, but three of the men that had her in custody.

It lifted the hopes of the Bradleys, as they knew she was alive. Yet when investigators contacted the department store where Amy had been seen, the lead ran dry.

No one would say they knew anything about Amy. No one remembered her or the faces of the men who were with her. And sadly, this is where the clues ran dry for many years. The same year that this lead circulated, Natalie Holloway disappeared from Aruba. And throughout their shared tragedy, the two families became close. Both of their daughters had gone missing in the Caribbean, and both have never been seen since. Beth Holloway even featured the Bradleys on a television show called "Vanished with Beth Holloway."

In the end, it features Tim Buchholz, the private investigator who caught Frank Jones in his elaborate lies. Tim continued to search for Amy, believing that there was still news to be found of the woman. He placed his bets that Alistair Douglas knows what became of Amy Bradley, that he had something to do with her disappearance. Since then, there have been no more promising revelations in the case. But in 2011, CNN reported on a human jawbone that washed up on the beaches of Aruba.

And he believed it to be Natalie Holloway's Though it was later disproven It led to some speculation that it could be Amy's Though it held only one tooth And has never been positively identified

Over the years, there have been many theories on what could have happened to Amy. Some people say she fell overboard. Others say she jumped, wanting to end her life. But for the Bradleys, they are still confident that Alistair Douglas had something to do with her disappearance and that Amy was sex trafficked.

Her case has been covered by many huge shows, including Dr. Phil, America's Most Wanted, Troubled Waters, and Disappeared. Yet even with all of this publicity, she still hasn't been found. In 2017, the FBI posted age-progressed photos of Amy to increase the chances that she would be spotted all these years later.

Today, Amy Lynn Bradley would be almost 50 years old. And as of March 24th, 2024, she has been missing for 26 years. Amy was legally declared dead 12 years after she vanished, but her family still holds on to hope that she's still out there. Her mom, Iva, would later tell the show, "Crewship Killers," quote, "This is not a conspiracy. We have facts. We've got things that have happened.

With that many people on the boat, with that many eyes, with that many ears, with that many parents, that many crew members, we beg for anybody who knows anything, even if you don't think it matters, please contact the FBI tip line and help us. We know she did not leave us. We know she did not jump off that boat.

To this day, somebody saw her, somebody wanted her, and somebody took her. We have no reason to believe that she's not out there. So we get up in the morning and we say, "Maybe today,

And the big sun comes up and we try to focus because she's counting on us. Then when we go to bed at night, me and Ronnie share a kiss and we say, maybe tomorrow. So we ask from the bottom of our hearts, if you know anything or know anybody who knows something, please help us. Please help Amy." Now to wrap this story up, we want to share an alarming statistic.

According to the International Cruise Victims Association, from 1995 to 2012, 170 people went missing while on a cruise ship, which is a terrifying thought.

According to the U.S. Coast Guard's website, Congress found that serious incidents, including sexual assault and the disappearance of passengers at sea, have occurred on cruise vessel voyages. The passengers lack adequate understanding of their vulnerability to crime on board cruise vessels, that inadequate resources are available to assist cruise vessel crime victims, and that detecting and investigating cruise vessel crimes is difficult.

But luckily in 2010, President Obama signed off on the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act, which, surprisingly, is the very first law designed to improve security and safety for cruise ship passengers here in the United States. But even with this act, people are still disappearing from cruise ships to this day.

So when traveling on these ships, be vigilant. Iva Bradley would later say, quote, "'I just want people to know that when girls disappear outside of the country, they're disappearing for a reason. And slavery and sex trafficking is so alive and well, it would absolutely blow you away. We believe with every fiber in our being that somebody took Amy and we want her back.'"

Hey, everybody. It's Colin here. Thank you so much for listening to today's episode of Murder in America. Right now, I'm a little bit sick. You can probably hear it in my voice, but this story is wild. I cover on TikTok a lot of stories about sex trafficking and pedophiles and stuff like that. And yeah, this is one of those cases that definitely breaks your heart. And those images are just haunting. They're very, very haunting. I want to shout out some of our new patrons this week, Tamara, Laura, Morgan Reed,

As a lot of you probably know, Courtney and I's time is already really stretched thin. We have multiple projects that we're working on. I'm working on a documentary. We're posting a video every week on YouTube, a podcast, a second podcast. So we don't have a lot of extra time in our lives, especially when it comes to cooking. I know that for myself at the end of a long workday, the last thing that I want to do is get in the kitchen and cook myself something. And meal planning, grocery shopping, and cooking can be a huge hassle.

But Hungry Root makes it possible to spend less time doing all of that and more time doing what you love. Hungry Root is simply the easiest way to eat healthy. They send you fresh, high-quality groceries, simple, delicious recipes, and essential supplements.

It's like having someone else do all the planning and shopping so you don't even have to think about it. And something that Courtney and I love is that Hungry Root gets to know your personal health goals, dietary restrictions, favorite foods, how much time you want to spend cooking, and more. Then they build you a personalized cart with all your grocery needs for the week, including easy four-ingredient recipes to put those groceries to use.

Each order is fully customizable, so you can take their suggestions or just choose anything you want. They've got fresh produce, high quality meat and seafood, healthy snacks, smoothies, sweets, ready to eat meals, kids snacks and meals, vitamins and supplements, and much more. The groceries that Courtney and I received from Hungry Root were of the highest quality and the meals that we made from them not only were quick and easy, but they were delicious to boot. And that's because everything from Hungry Root follows a simple standard.

It's got to taste good, be quick to make, and contain whole trusted ingredients. Right now, Hungry Root is offering Murder in America listeners 40% off your first delivery and free veggies for life. Just go to HungryRoot.com slash MIA to get 40% off your first delivery and get your free veggies. That's HungryRoot.com slash MIA. Don't forget to use our link so they know we sent you. Anyways, let's get back to today's episode.

This episode is brought to you by Shopify. Whether you're selling a little or a lot, Shopify helps you do your thing, however you cha-ching. From the launch your online shop stage, all the way to the we just hit a million orders stage. No matter what stage you're in, Shopify's there to help you grow. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at shopify.com slash special offer, all lowercase. That's shopify.com slash special offer.

Hey, it's Kaylee Cuoco for Priceline. Ready to go to your happy place for a happy price? Well, why didn't you say so? Just download the Priceline app right now and save up to 60% on hotels. So whether it's Cousin Kevin's kazoo concert in Kansas City, go Kevin! Or Becky's bachelorette bash in Bermuda, you never have to miss a trip ever again. So download the Priceline app today. Your savings are waiting. ♪ Go to your happy place for a happy price ♪

Go to your happy price, Priceline.

For $10 a month, you get access to the early and ad-free episodes, plus two full-length bonus episodes of the show. And for $20 a month, you get access to four full-length bonus episodes of the show, plus the early ad-free episodes. So if you like Murder in America, you love what we're doing here, definitely consider joining us on Patreon if you join today.

And you're new, you'll have like, I think, 100 plus episodes to go listen to. So yeah, it's definitely a way to help support us. Also, go follow us on Instagram at Murder in America. Guys, we are so blessed, so thankful to have everybody out there listening every single week. The family grows every single week. Courtney and I love y'all. Thank you for tuning in, and I'll catch you on the next one.

Hey everyone! I'm Joe. And I'm Trace. And we're the HorrorQueers. Every week we do a deep dive into a different horror film and look at it through a queer lens. This could mean pointing out queer creatives that worked on the film. Or applying a queer reading to some of your favorite horror movie characters. Episodes can be serious and academic. Or fun and frivolous. It depends on the movie! And no movie is off limits. The film could have explicit queer themes. A high camp quotient. Or both. Or not at all!

We believe that representation matters, and since queer folks haven't always had the best representation, we're here to help fix that. So what are you waiting for? Subscribe today to start getting your weekly dose of queer horror. Horror Queers, available wherever you get your podcasts. Or find us online at bloody.fm.

Hey there. Are you in need of a new weekly fix of horror gaming discussions? Then look no further than Safe Room, Bloody FM's horror video gaming podcast. I'm your host, Jay Krieger. And I am the other one, Neil Bowen. And every week, Neil, myself, and the occasional guest get together to chat about classic and contemporary horror games and the elements that make them a standout amongst the hordes of horror games being released seemingly every day now.

In addition to celebrating anniversaries and new releases, we also interview influential horror developers such as Amnesia the Bunker's creative lead, Frederick Olsen, and even the maestro of lo-fi horror, Erdorf, the developer behind the Faith trilogy. And finally, on Thursdays, we release episodes of Horror Bytes, our bite-sized indie horror showcase in which Neil and I share a game that we discovered on Itch.io from an up-and-coming developer.

So if this sounds like the podcast for you, please consider checking out Safe Room on your preferred podcast platform, and be sure to give us a follow on Twitter, at Safe Room Pod, for show updates. Welcome to the All 80s Movies Podcast. I'm Bill. And I'm Jason. And this is the podcast where we talk about the blockbusters, the flops, and everything in between from one of the freshest decades for movies, the 1980s. So whether you're a brain, a jock,

a valley girl, or a Jedi, we've got some 80s classics for you. Do these movies stand the test of time? Are we discovering something new? Is there an 80s movie we are finally watching for the first time? Join us each week as we dive into the cinematic nostalgia that inspired and influenced a generation. From the hits to the cult classics, we'll discuss our earliest memories, favorite scenes, fun facts, and our not-so-favorite movie moments, too. You can find the All 80s Movies Podcast wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Please follow and happy listening.