What happened to Amy Lynn Bradley, the 23-year-old who went missing on a Royal Caribbean cruise?

Nearly 30 years ago, 23-year-old Amy Lynn Bradley disappeared while on vacation with her family on a Royal Caribbean cruise. The intensity of the case undoubtedly shocked the entire world, eventually becoming one of the most jaw-dropping unsolved cases in the history of true crime.

In the early morning hours of March 24, Bradley unexpectedly disappeared while the Rhapsody of the Seas cruise ship was between the destinations of San Juan, Puerto Rico and Curaçao. Earlier in the night, before her sudden disappearance, Amy had attended the ship’s nightclub with her brother Brad. After the brother-and-sister duo returned to their room, they spent some time talking on the room’s balcony, with Brad eventually heading to bed while Amy stayed awake on the balcony. 

At around 6 am, Amy’s father Ron discovered that she was missing from the balcony, marking the last time that Amy was ever officially seen by her family. Despite pleas from the family for the ship’s crew to not allow passengers to leave while the ship was docked in Curaçao, the pleas were ignored. 26 years later, however, an abundance of theories and speculation continues to increase in regards to the case — with a large portion of folks wondering exactly what happened to Bradley that night.

The theories about Bradley’s disappearance, explained

Over the years, a plethora of theories have been suggested regarding Amy’s exact whereabouts. One major theory, which many consider to follow the tune of Occam’s Razor, suggests that Amy drank far too much alcohol while attending the nightclub with her brother. Back in the room, it is incredibly possible that Amy bent too far over the balcony while attempting to vomit, which would result in her falling over the balcony and landing in the ocean below. 

While the theory listed above is the most likely, true crime fanatics have argued that the ship was certainly close to the shore at the time, meaning Amy likely could have swam to the shore and saved herself — especially with her family insisting that she was an excellent swimmer. However, the rough waters or dangerous sea life could have easily dragged her under the surface and resulted in her unfortunate death.

That being said, several sightings of Amy have been reported by various sources over the years — including a U.S. Navy SEAL insisting he encountered Amy in a brothel back in 1999, just one year after she disappeared. Another sighting was at a Caribbean beach, while a photo of a prostitute named “Jas” was discovered on an inappropriate website and strongly resembled Amy’s facial features. These sightings have led a large community of people to believe that instead of falling overboard that night, Amy might have been drugged, abducted, and sold into sex slavery.

Will Amy ever be found?

As of right now, the last reported sighting of Bradley was back in 2005, which has led many true crime aficionados to believe she has likely passed. However, folks are split down the middle as to whether she passed that night from falling overboard and drowning, or if she eventually passed after years of exposure in a ring of sex trafficking. 

Either way, interest in this unfathomable case has certainly yet to waver.