Amy Lynn Bradley, a 23-year-old woman, was filled with excitement as she boarded the Rhapsody of the Seas cruise ship, eager to set sail on the adventure of a lifetime with her family. Accompanied by her parents, Ron and Iva, as well as her 21-year-old brother, Brad, Amy was anticipating a delightful week cruising around the Caribbean Islands.

During the third evening of the voyage, Amy and Brad spent time at the ship's nightclub, where they enjoyed the live music from the band Blue Orchid. Footage captured from that night displayed Amy, who hailed from Petersburg, Virginia, laughing and dancing enthusiastically on the dance floor.

Amy and her brother went back to their family cabin at 3 am after partying. They talked on the balcony before Brad went to sleep. Around 5:30 am, Amy's father, Ron, woke up and saw her sleeping on a chair outside. However, when he woke up again at 6 am, Amy was gone. 

The only things missing were her cigarettes and lighter, but her sandals were still in the room. Ron was worried because he knew that Amy wouldn't leave without telling anyone.

Worried about Amy's sudden disappearance, Ron searched the public areas of the ship in an attempt to find her. After failing to locate her, he informed Iva and Brad about the situation. Without wasting any time, they notified the ship's crew and pleaded with them to make an announcement and prevent anyone from leaving until Amy was located.
“Don’t let anybody off this boat. Someone has got my daughter,” Ron said.

However, the ship's crew informed Amy's family that it was too early to make a ship-wide announcement, and consequently, passengers and staff were allowed to disembark when the ship docked in Curaçao. This created a prime opportunity for Amy to escape or for someone to abduct her if that was the case.

At 7:50 am, an announcement was finally made, asking Amy to come to the front desk. However, by that time, most of the passengers had already disembarked. Although the crew searched the public areas of the ship, they did not search any of the passenger or staff rooms.

There was no indication that Amy had fallen overboard, and given that she was a proficient swimmer, it was improbable that she would have drowned so close to the shore. Due to these circumstances, the Bradley family started to feel doubtful about the crew's actions and began to suspect them.

“We noticed immediately there was a tremendous amount of attention toward Amy from the crew members,” Iva later told talk-show host Dr. Phil.

Ron recalled an incident where a waiter inquired about Amy, claiming that the crew wanted to take her to Carlos and Charlie's Restaurant when the ship reached Aruba. Ron approached Amy about it, and she expressed her refusal to go, stating that the crew "give me the creeps."

A passenger named Crystal Roberts informed the family that she had spotted Amy on the ship's deck at around 6 am.

Interestingly, the night before Amy went missing, Iva went to see the photos taken by the cruise photographer during dinner. However, the photographer informed her that although he remembered printing photos that included Amy, he could not find them. This indicated that someone had taken the photos without authorization.

Despite the crew's insistence that the cruise must continue for the sake of the other passengers, Amy's anxious family chose to remain in Curaçao and contacted the authorities, who initiated a four-day search of the surrounding area and sea.

The case remained unsolved for five months until Canadian engineer David Carmichael reported witnessing a woman being accompanied by two men on a beach in Curaçao.

According to David Carmichael, the woman he saw on the Curaçao beach appeared scared and was seemingly about to say something when one of the men with her gestured for her to leave. Carmichael also recollected that the woman had two unique tattoos - a gecko and a Tasmanian devil - which matched the tattoos that Amy had.

Although investigators promptly returned to the area to search for Amy after David Carmichael's report, they were unable to find any evidence of her.

In addition, another man who was serving in the US Navy during that period reported being approached by a woman named Amy while he was at a brothel in Curaçao, who asked for his assistance. However, he did not report this sighting until many years later, after he had retired and had seen a photo of her in a magazine.

In 2005, Judy Maurer came forward as a witness, claiming to have seen Amy in a department store in Barbados with three men. According to Maurer, when the men briefly left, Amy approached her and identified herself as being from Virginia. However, when the men returned, they led her away.

That same year, after seven years had passed since Amy's disappearance, the most significant and unsettling lead emerged.

Photos of a woman known as 'Jas' were sent to the Bradley family. In the images, she appeared dazed and was dressed in lingerie. The photos had originally been posted on a now-defunct website advertising adult vacations in the Caribbean.

Had Amy Lynn Bradley been taken and sold as a sex slave?

independent forensic experts confirmed that the pictures were a perfect match for Amy.

“When I first looked at the picture, it wasn’t the Amy I know,” Iva told Vanished. “The picture looks like a harsh and tormented Amy.”

The photos brought hope to the Bradley family that Amy might still be alive.

“We’ve maintained from the beginning that someone saw Amy and took Amy from that ship in some way,” Ron told NBC.

Despite the lack of witnesses and the absence of a body, authorities declared Amy Lynn Bradley legally dead in March 2010.

Now almost after 25 years since Amy's disappearance, her family still does not have any answers. The FBI website still lists a reward for information that could lead to Amy's recovery, along with photofit drawings of an older Amy.