White Slave: a Novel
Wayne S Gilbertson
Amy Bradley
Amy Lynn Bradley (born May 12, 1974) is an American citizen who went missing during a Caribbean cruise. She is yet to be found. Amy, her parents, and her brother were vacationing on the Royal Caribbean International cruise ship Rhapsody of the Seas.
At 5:30am on March 24, 1998, Amy's brother left his sister sitting on the outdoor balcony and entered his cabin. She was seen a short time later by other passengers riding in the ship's elevator with a member of the ship's band, Blue Orchid, known by the alias "Yellow." The ship was en route to Curaçao, Antilles at the time she was last seen. The ship docked in Curaçao shortly after she was discovered missing. Extensive searches on the ship and at sea produced no signs of her whereabouts.
Police investigated and discarded many theories regarding her disappearance. It is regarded as unlikely that she fell overboard and drowned, given that she was a trained lifeguard and the ship was close to shore at the time of her disappearance. It is also considered unlikely that she voluntarily disappeared to start a new life. She had recently graduated from college and was anticipating starting a new job after she returned to her home in Chesterfield County, Virginia.
There were possible sightings of Bradley in Curaçao in 1998 and 1999. Two Canadian tourists reported seeing a woman resembling Amy on a beach in Curaçao in 1998. The woman's tattoos were reportedly identical to Bradley's. She has a Tasmanian Devil spinning a basketball tattoo on her shoulder, the sun on her lower back, a Chinese symbol on her right ankle, and a Gecko lizard on her navel. She also has a navel ring.
In 1999 an American sailor reported that he went to a brothel on Curaçao and was approached by a young woman. She told him her name was Amy Bradley and asked for his help. At this point, two men in the bar escorted her upstairs. By the time the witness reported this to police several months later, the brothel had burned down.
She was also potentially spotted in 2005, when a witness claimed she was seen in a department store restroom in Barbados.
An image of a young woman resembling Bradley that was emailed to her parents was shown on the Dr. Phil show, and it suggests that she may have been sold into sexual slavery.
There is a $250,000 reward for information leading to Bradley's return. Her case has been featured by America's Most Wanted and by the television show Vanished.
Renewed attention was paid to her case after the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in 2005. In January 2011, CNN Justice raised speculation that a jawbone found in Aruba might belong to Bradley.