Her father saw her sleeping on the balcony at 5:30 a.m. By 6:00, she was gone.
Amy Lynn Bradley, a 23-year-old recent college graduate, vanished from the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Rhapsody of the Seas on March 24, 1998, while sailing with her family in the Caribbean. More than 25 years later, she has never been found, and a 2025 Netflix documentary reignited major new interest in the case.
A Family Cruise
Amy was cruising with her parents, Ron and Iva, and her younger brother, Brad. On the third night of the trip, Amy and Brad spent the evening dancing at the ship's nightclub. They returned to the family cabin around 3:40 a.m. Ron woke around 5:30 a.m. and saw Amy asleep on a chair on their cabin's balcony. When he woke again around 6:00 a.m., she was gone. Only her cigarettes and lighter were missing; her sandals remained in the cabin.
A Delayed Response
Amy's family alerted the ship's crew immediately, but a ship-wide announcement wasn't made until 7:50 a.m., by which point the ship had docked in Curaçao and many passengers had already disembarked. Crew members searched public areas of the ship but did not search passenger or staff cabins. A four-day search of the surrounding waters by Dutch Caribbean authorities found no trace of her.
Reported Sightings
In the years since, the Bradley family has received a number of unconfirmed reports suggesting Amy may still be alive, including a 1998 account from a witness who described seeing a distressed woman matching Amy's description and tattoos on a beach in Curaçao, and a 2005 sighting reported from a department store in Barbados. That same year, photographs of a woman resembling Amy, using the name "Jas," surfaced from a now-defunct website advertising adult entertainment in the Caribbean; the Bradley family has said independent forensic analysis found the photos to be a strong match. None of these sightings have ever been independently confirmed.
Legally Declared Dead, Case Still Open
Amy was declared legally dead in March 2010, though the FBI has continued to list her case as open, along with a standing reward for information. The family has consistently maintained their belief that Amy was taken from the ship rather than having fallen or jumped overboard.
A Netflix Documentary Reopens the Case
In July 2025, Netflix released a three-part documentary series, "Amy Bradley Is Missing," which explored the case's competing theories in depth, including renewed scrutiny of a ship entertainer seen dancing with Amy that night, who has denied any involvement and voluntarily took an inconclusive polygraph test. The documentary generated an enormous public response, reportedly prompting the FBI to reopen the case under a new agent and generating thousands of new tips from around the world. Podcast host Ethan Klein separately pledged a $1,000,000 reward for information leading to Amy's safe return. As of the most recent reporting, investigators are reviewing several newly surfaced leads, including a previously unknown witness and unconfirmed claims that Amy may have had a child while missing, though none of this has been independently verified.