Amy Bradley’s brother has expressed his distrust towards the police as the mystery of his sister’s disappearance remains unresolved.
Amy disappeared from a Royal Caribbean cruise on March 24, 1998, while on vacation with her family.
The last reported sighting of the Virginia native was on her cabin balcony around 5:30 am, just hours before the ship was due to dock at Curaçao from Aruba. Her father discovered her absence when he checked her cabin at about 6 am, but she was not there.
Despite extensive searches, the 23-year-old’s fate is still unknown, though she was declared legally dead in 2010. Her family, however, believes she may still be alive.
The documentary Amy Bradley is Missing on Netflix delves into the various theories surrounding her disappearance and the missed opportunities in the search for Amy.
During the documentary, her father Ron recounted the morning of Amy’s disappearance: “Something woke me up again, I don’t know what it was but when my eyes opened, I looked out again and she wasn’t there.
“The balcony door was open about 12-14 inches, I noticed her cigarettes weren’t out there and the shirt she was wearing that night was laying on the chair in her room.
“The first thing I’m thinking is she’s changed her clothes and went up, getting a cup of coffee, taking pictures because we were coming in to port.”
The family began searching the Rhapsody of the Seas cruise ship but found no sign of Amy.
Her case continues to be a topic of speculation, with some suggesting she was abducted and trafficked, while others think she might have accidentally fallen overboard.
Criticism has been directed at the police and the FBI for their inability to resolve the case. Amy’s brother, however, remains skeptical about their involvement and shared his reasons.
In an interview with Nate Eaton, a journalist specializing in true crime, for East Idaho News, Brad was asked about the possibility that Amy is in Aruba.
“If she has been stuck on the island for all this time, why wouldn’t the police or government say something?” the journalist questioned. Brad responded: “I personally believe the police or government are involved in some of these operations.
“We’ve learned a lot of things and we’ve been told by a number of people that customs officials are in on things, harbor police are in on things, local police are in on things, and who knows about the government.”
He added: “These cartels that run drugs through these islands get a hold of whoever they want to get a hold of to make sure that their operations go the way they need to go, so I don’t think you can trust local officials.”
A major theory suggests that Amy was trafficked as part of a larger operation involving kidnapping and selling women to clients globally.
Proponents of this theory believe that influential people, including police, government officials, and wealthy individuals, are involved.
Unfortunately, no concrete evidence has emerged to confirm any theory, but the family continues to hold out hope for answers.