Amy Bradley went missing 27 years ago whilst enjoying a holiday on board a Royal Caribbean cruise with her brother Brad and parents Iva and Ron Bradley.
Her disappearance became a national news story, one that took on a second life earlier this month after the release of Netflix’s new docu-series, Amy Bradley is Missing.
Many fans were shocked to discover, both in the Netflix doc and in the subsequent discovery of the major details left out of the documentary, that despite having taken place 27 years ago, Amy’s disappearance has received several updates.
The initial investigation carried out following her disappearance saw Royal Caribbean take several steps to try and find her, along with an FBI search of the ship two days later.
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The ship had been travelling from Aruba to Curaçao, with the Royal Caribbean ship continuing its journey to the Dutch-owned island, despite Amy’s family having raised the alarm.
Local authorities in both Aruba and Curaçao searched for Amy or signs that her body had gone overboard, however, neither were found. Whilst this would be where investigations ended for many cases, Amy’s is a particularly unique one, with numerous people in the year that followed claiming that she had been spotted in Curaçao.
1999 - ‘Navy Seal’ claims he has found Amy in Curaçao
In 1999, just a year after Amy’s disappearance, self-proclaimed Navy Seal Frank Jones reached out to the Bradley family via email, claiming he had a team of ex-military guys ready to head to Curaçao and help the family find her.
Her family, who have long believed that Amy was somehow kidnapped and trafficked off the boat with someone taking her to Curaçao, leapt at this opportunity, sending money to Jones to fund his ongoing surveillance of the island.
He claimed his men had seen her multiple times being held under duress, sent a fake photo, and at one point told her that an operation was underway to rescue her.
Jones told Amy’s family to wait by the phone for his call to tell her she was on her way home, but instead, one of Jones’ men blew the whistle and his deception fell apart.
Jones had never seen Amy, had no operation underway to save anyone, and in the process had defrauded Amy’s family and a non-profit dedicated to finding her out of $24,444 and $186,416, respectively.
2005 – Pictures thought to be of Amy discovered on Sex Workers website and a jawbone washes up on nearby shore
2005 was an eventful year of updates in the Amy Bradley case. This began when pictures were emailed to the Bradley family purporting to show Amy being featured on a sex workers website based out of the Caribbean.
The photos look shockingly like Amy, with the FBI investigating the source of these images and one forensic expert reportedly stating that after analysing the photos they very well could be her.
The FBI had to drop this thread of the case after being unable to track down the IP or find anyone linked to the photos, however people debate the photos to this day.
Reddit in particular is split, with one image comparison seeming to all but confirm they are her and another thread seeing fans find extra pictures from the same photoshoot that ‘prove’ they’re not of her.
2005 also saw the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, an 18-year-old woman who went missing in Aruba.
In the search for her, a jawbone confirmed to belong to a Caucasian woman and not belonging to Natalee, washed up on shore.
Though some have queried whether this could be Amy, no DNA testing has ever been done.
2010 – Amy is declared legally dead
Amy was declared legally dead in 2010, despite a body never being found and her family maintaining she is still alive.
This was done due to her being declared ‘dead by abstentia’, something which occurs after seven years in many American states.
Despite this, the FBI maintain a missing persons case for her, which includes simulations of what she would look like now.
Due to the renewed interest in the case, the FBI once again have shared the page, calling for anyone with knowledge or tips regarding her whereabouts to come forward.
As of 2025, however, her disappearance remains a mystery.
AMY BRADLEY IS MISSING is available to watch on Netflix now.
Topics: Amy Bradley, Netflix, True Crime, Royal Caribbean, TV and Film, TV, Documentaries
Michael Slavin