Could Amy Bradley Still Be Alive? New Leads Shake Up Investigation

What happened to Amy Bradley? It's the. subject of a highly popular Netflix. docue series right now about a. 23-year-old woman who disappeared from a. cruise 27 years ago. But today in 2025, it is being reported that the show has. resulted in some very significant leads. Let's talk about them. Welcome to. Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm. Jesse Weber. [Music]. There is something amazing that is. happening in our world today. We're.

seeing it more and more. We are seeing. how renewed attention on an unsolved or. mysterious or cold case, particularly. through a show or a documentary that. that can bring new leads, new. developments, new answers. And that. seems to be exactly what we are seeing. right now with the case of Amy Bradley, or at least we can hope that is what is. going on. Now, that is a name that many. of you may recognize, especially now. given the Netflix docu series Amy.

Bradley is missing, which released in. July. At one point, it was on the top 10. charts for weeks. And I will tell you, it is being reported that due to this. series, there are significant leads into. what happened to this woman. March 24th, 1998, 23-year-old Amy Bradley from. Virginia disappears from a Royal. Caribbean cruise ship called Rap City of. the Seas while on board with her family. as it's making its way to Kurissau from. Aruba. And before she went missing, she.

was reportedly at the ship's disco with. her brother Brad. The next morning, she's gone. No evidence of her on board. Her body has never been found. One. person the Netflix three-part series. focuses on is Alistister Douglas, a. musician who was playing in the band on. the ship, allegedly danced with Amy only. hours before she vanished. The two may. have been seen together on the deck. This is according to Cosmopolitan. This. is potentially supported by surveillance. footage and witness accounts. To be.

clear, he has adamantly denied having. anything to do with Amy's disappearance. He has reportedly been questioned by the. FBI, took a polygraph. This is according. to the Netflix documentary Douglas spoke. last year on true crime journalist James. Rener's YouTube channel saying Amy. approached him that night that she told. him about her family and her life that. she was gay that her family forced her. on this vacation and quote about 5. minutes to 1 I said I have to go I have. to be out of the passenger area and I.

left. That was my last conversation last. time I saw her. Now, reportedly that is. not in line with witnesses who allegedly. say they saw the two together on that. upper deck that I mentioned between 5:30. and 5:40 a.m. He did go on to say. though, quote, "Aaround 7:00, I was. awakened by a call by the hotel manager. and he asked me, Douglas, do you have a. woman in your room? It was forbidden. It. was forbidden dating." And I said, "No.". And I asked why. And he said, "The woman. you were talking to last night in the. club, we can't find her." He explained.

how everybody was interrogated. lie. detector tests. At that time, they. didn't say anything much to me. They. took the wire off me. Now, Douglas added. that an FBI agent later interviewed him. on multiple occasions, telling him again. that he was clear. Quote, "I've lost so. many opportunities because of this. Once. my name was entered into Google, they. would say I had something to do with. this missing girl, and I would lose the. contract. The truth, no matter how long. it is, always surfaces." Now, according. to People magazine, over the years, there have been at least a half dozen.

alleged sightings of Amy. This includes. on a Caribbean island and in Aruba. The. FBI apparently looked into these. potential sightings, but nothing has. ever stuck. So, what are we talking. about here? Are we talking about an. accidental falling overboard? Maybe her. intentionally being pushed overboard? Maybe did she jump? Did someone kidnap. her? But this is what we want to talk. about. According to the Hollywood. Reporter, this Netflix series has. brought a lot of attention to this.

story, to this case, and there are now. reportedly new leads. In fact, there is. a source close to the production. claiming to the Hollywood Reporter that. there are three quote very significant. leads. more specifically that a female. bar server on the ship who apparently. doesn't speak much English on the night. Amy disappeared had screamed, "Seniorita. kidnapped. Seniorita kidnapped." Now, this source told the Hollywood Reporter. that the server was instructed to quote,

"shut up." That she was taken away by a. bartender. To be clear, this is new. It. wasn't in the show. That the server only. came forward after the series aired and. she is reportedly speaking with. authorities. However, I will tell you. that claim has seemingly been disputed. by Amy's family because according to. People magazine, Amy's mother, Iva. Bradley, says that this server has not. actually been found, not located, has. not been interviewed by investigators. But this idea that Amy was kidnapped,

that she was taken, possibly the victim. of human trafficking, that perhaps she's. still alive, that is a theory that has. come up over the years. And according to. the Netflix docu series, there is a. suspicious IP address that allegedly. logs onto a missing person's website. about Amy. In other words, whoever took. her is maybe staying up to date on the. investigation. So, the idea being she. was kidnapped, she was taken off the.

ship, and possibly sold into. prostitution. and authorities were. reportedly able to track that hit to an. IP address of a device on a boat in. Barbados. Now, that unidentified source. telling the Hollywood Reporter, "A lot. of trafficking of drugs takes place on. the water, so that's obviously highly. suspicious." I will say there's another. theory, too. There is also the theory. that it is actually Amy on that IP. address pinging the site and using it to.

stay in touch with her family because. apparently there are hits on that site. for specific dates that may have. connections to the family. According to. the Daily News, Amy may not really want. to come forward. Why? One theory is she. may have become impregnated and had a. child as a result of this sex. trafficking prostitution work. By the. way, the New York Daily News reporting. that a new FBI agent has been assigned. to the case, that the FBI has also. interviewed someone who allegedly saw.

Amy in Barbados. And speaking of the. FBI, in a recent statement to the. Hollywood Reporter, they said, "We have. nothing further outside of the seeking. information poster. Tips can be. submitted via 1800 call FBI or at. tips.fbi.gov.". As for Amy's family, they apparently. hired private investigators who are. reportedly working with the FBI and. Kurissau and quote other surrounding. countries. Amy's brother Brad who has. been adamant about his sister's. disappearance has been really focused on.

trying to get answers saying quote. people can't understand the level of. hope that we've maintained. We're still. waiting for that call. I will tell you I. interviewed Brad a few months back when. I was hosting Banfield on NewsNation and. I asked him after all these years, "What. makes you think she's still alive?" He. told me, quote, "It's just a gut. feeling." He believes she is a victim of. human trafficking, saying the chances. that she fell off that ship or jumped. off that ship are zero. Now, Brad also. sent a statement directly to Law and. Crime about the search and the new.

investigative lead, saying, "We have. been encouraged by some of the leads and. information that we have gotten since. the Netflix series aired." However, the. recent article that claims the bar. worker who Elizabeth Lewis testified. about has come forward is not true. As. far as we know, we still do not know who. she is or where she is. The claim about. Amy potentially mothering a child, in my. opinion, is speculative at best. We are. not aware of who the source was for the. information in that article, but we do. appreciate the attention and interest. that it has sparked. Through our efforts.

at the state and federal levels, there. will be two very important letters with. certain requests sent to Attorney. General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Cash. Patel, and Secretary of Homeland. Security, DHS, HSI Christy Gnome, by our. Attorney General Jason Mures, Governor. Glenn Yncan, Lieutenant Governor Winom. Sears, and Senator Chuck Grassley's team. at the Senate Judiciary Committee. There. are things that are in the works that I. cannot disclose at this point, but know. that we are continuing to follow up on.

each and every lead we are provided and. will not stop looking for Amy for. answers and for accountability to those. responsible for her disappearance. Now, obviously, this is a story that we. wanted to bring to you and we can do. that not only because of the amazing. support that we get from you all, but. also from our incredible sponsor, Morgan. and Morgan. This is America's largest. injury law firm. This is a firm with. over a thousand attorneys. You know why. they're so big? Because they win all the. time. They have recovered over $25. billion for more than $500,000 clients.

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can start a claim from your phone in. just eight clicks. So, if you're. injured, you can easily start a claim at. forthepeople.com/lcsidebar. by clicking the link below or scanning. the QR code on screen. As far as Amy, she would have been 51. years old today. When she disappeared, she was 5'6. She had a tattoo on her. shoulder of a Tasmanian devil spinning a. basketball, tattoo of the sun on her. lower back, a Chinese symbol on her. right ankle, a gecko lizard on her belly.

button. And as the FBI investigation. remains open with a $25,000 reward, anyone with information about Amy. Bradley is asked to contact their local. FBI office or the nearest American. embassy or consulate. Does any of this. make sense? Well, I'll tell you what. I. want to bring on an expert to sort it. out. I want to bring on right now. retired detective Lindseay Wade, who. served as a Tacoma police officer for 21. years, worked cold cases, is a member of. the National Institute of Justice cold.

cases working group. She created the. Washington State Cold Cases working. group. Uh thank you so much for taking. the time, Lindsay. Um this is a really. interesting situation we find ourselves. in. I talked about at the top of the. show that when you have a docu series, when you have a show, it sometimes. brings renewed attention to a case. Are. you encouraged right now after the. popularity of this series that we may be. getting more answers, that we may be. getting new leads, or is this a. situation where unfortunately there.

could be a swath of misinformation and. hard to judge what to make of it? >> I think both of those scenarios are. accurate. So, I think that uh having a a. show like the docky series that came out. with the far-reaching. um tentacles of Netflix and all these. people around the world that get to see. this documentary, I think you will have. that influx of new information and. people calling in tips. And so, that's.

getting her face out uh worldwide uh. which is probably a much larger reach. than this case has ever had before. Of. course, that is going to spawn lots of. new leads and and lots of new tips. coming in. Some well-meaning people, some people that just probably have. nothing but time on their hands. Um, so. I think that that is something that. while it could provide that lead that. investigators need to move this case. forward, it can also make it extremely.

difficult for law enforcement to try to. sort through that mountain of. information that's coming in to try to. prioritize those leads. >> How do they sort through it? In other. words, when you look at the bar server, right, the bar server account, the. family has come out and said there. doesn't seem to be much there. Is that. because authorities have already looked. into that? Um, is it because that's just. an outlandish idea that there's nothing. else backing it up? Does law enforcement. look into everything? I mean, that Let's. start there.

>> Yeah, I mean, this this appears to be a. huge investigation. The FBI has been. involved. Uh, sounds like there are. multiple agencies involved in the. investigation. So, I would suspect that. they have looked into every scenario and. uh run those leads down as best they. they can. While some of these um leads. may sound far-fetched, they have to. investigate them as as far as they can. Now, as far as sorting through and. filtering through all these leads that.

come in, you know, they're going to have. to look at what is actionable in the new. tips that are coming in today. So, some. of these tips may be, you know, just I. saw somebody that looked like her 5. years ago on a beach. Is that. actionable? Probably not. Uh, however, there are probably tips coming in today. with concrete information that can be. followed up by investigators. And so, I. suspect that is what they are focusing. on. when you you talk about her face. being out there now when even when you. look at the FBI poster, she could look.

radically different in your experience. with cold cases. Um, and let's say it is. a missing person who who is still alive. and is found. Isn't that a challenge to. actually know what she looks like now to. be able to find her, for someone to. identify her? I mean, I did mention some. of those identifying tattoos and. assuming she's still alive that those. tattoos would still be prevalent. Um, you know, I I imagine that's a big. challenge. >> Sure. Uh, people change. It's been a.

long time. She's been missing for. multiple decades. So, of course, her. um appearance today could be. dramatically different than what it was. back when she went missing. She does. have all those tattoos like you. mentioned, so that's helpful. Just going. solely based on appearances alone, you. know, that that that may make things a. little bit difficult. Now, she was an. adult when she went missing. So, that is. helpful because as adults, we don't. change as much as a child, let's say,

that goes missing at age five and now. you're looking at trying to locate them. as an adult. So, you know, different. scenario there, but uh of course, you. know, time is always a challenge in any. investigation, whether it be memories or. whether it be appearances and the way. people look. Does kidnapping, human. trafficking, drugs, does it possibly. make sense here that she was taken off. that ship and entered into this, you. know, this prostitution ring, let's say, or this prostitution network. Did is.

that a possibility? Have you seen cases. like that before? >> I personally have not investigated any. cases like that. Um, I I certainly have. investigated human trafficking cases, but they uh they involve a different. type of scenario, not something like. this where you're on a cruise ship uh. and someone is forcibly removed from the. ship. So that uh that's a a unique. um scenario and. uh I mean certainly it's worth looking. into and I know there have been many.

tips over the years that you she may be. trafficked and she you know may have. been abducted and taken off the ship and. there have been sightings of her on. these uh different islands. So I don't. think that uh that scenario can be ruled. out. Um but it's a hard one to follow up. on. At the same time, >> to be clear, if that is a possibility, is someone lost in that network o almost. forever? I mean, what are the challenges. of somebody being put into, you know, human trafficking? What are the. challenges of actually trying to locate.

somebody? I mean, you tell me. And. particularly, by the way, you're talking. about it in this particular region, >> right? And I am I am by no means an. expert in world worldwide human. trafficking. So, uh, as I mentioned, you. know, the kinds of trafficking cases. that I worked on were more local, uh, based where maybe the the, uh, women who. were involved, they might go from state. to state, but they certainly, um, you. know, they weren't being taken out of. the country. So, that that's a whole. other layer of difficulty when you're.

trying to investigate a case like that. because, you know, now you're talking. about other countries and and, you know, different policies and laws and things. of that nature. >> The the IP address, right? this IP. address that apparently made hits on the. Amy Bradley missing uh person website. Um hitting on American holidays or. important dates to Amy's family. If that. is true, what does that tell you? >> Well, there could be a few scenarios. It. could be someone who's very involved in. the case and very interested in.

following the case who is logging in on. certain days um you know because. they're truly interested in the. investigation. Uh but I guess we can't. rule out the possibility that it's. someone who has taken Amy and they are. the person that's logging in. And then I. think that third scenario that was. thrown out was the possibility that it. could be Amy herself logging in and um. you know looking to see what's going on. with her investigation.

>> It's interesting when you hear that. response from Brad that this idea of she. has a child, she's alive. Well, first of. all, he he believes that she's alive, but this idea that she may not be coming. forward because she has a child as a. result of this sex work, he doesn't. believe that. Do do you think there's. anything to that? I mean, again, it's. the idea of, well, if Amy's alive, why. wouldn't she come forward? Um, right. >> And and that one I struggle with that. one, too. >> Yeah. I mean, but think about uh the JC.

Duggard uh case, you know, for a second. You know, she was being held in the the. her abductor's backyard essentially. She. had, you know, by that time had children. with him. Um, and even when she was. rescued, you know, it took a while for. her to actually say who she was, right? Like she didn't just come right out and. and flag down the first police officer. police officer that she saw uh to tell. them who she was. So, I think it's hard. for us to imagine a scenario like that.

where if you did have an opportunity to. leave or or run away, you you just, you. know, why wouldn't you? But I think. we've seen in many high-profile cases. over the years, especially people that. have been abducted, um, that it's not. quite that simple. >> And I hate to ask a juvenile question. here, but DNA technology is very. different, very different today than it. was years ago. Is there anything from. familial DNA testing, genealogical. databases,

rapid DNA analysis, anything that can be. used to investigate a claim that Amy. Bradley has a child? right now. >> without Amy or the child um putting. their DNA into one of these databases. I. think it would be highly unlikely that. you would be able to utilize one of. these new techniques to determine if. that scenario is in fact valid, right? You'd have to have some somebody to. compare it to. the idea that she fell. off the ship. So whether she was pushed. off the ship, whether she jumped off the.

ship, whether she accidentally fell off. the ship, you're on this cruise ship in. a large body of water. Um, where do you. stand on that theory and the difficulty. in recovering a body, maybe that could. explain the lack of answers so many. years later? Uh, it is a possibility. that has to be considered. Um, where do. you stand on that one? You know, it's. interesting because I did watch the. documentary and I had a lot of questions. about um just the the last moments that.

she was seen by her family and you know. I just I wanted to know more and. unfortunately wasn't covered on the. documentary but I wanted to know more. about um you know those last moments. where she was seen out on the deck and u. and then the time um you know if she did. leave the the room um you know I guess I. wanted to know more about that like. nobody saw her come in off the patio. No. one heard her leave. Um, were her shoes. left on the on the the terrace area. Um,

you know, these are just all questions. that kind of popped into my mind as an. investigator as I'm watching this and. knowing, you know, I was just on a. cruise um several months back and I. experienced that when you open those. doors, those sliding glass doors, they. make a lot of noise, right? And so it's. like almost like a wind tunnel. And so I. was just also kind of curious about. that, like did anybody actually hear the. door open at any time when she was out. there um on the patio. So I think for me. personally, I have a lot more questions.

than answers with with this case. probably like everyone else. >> Um would I rule out the fact that she. could have, you know, fallen overboard? I mean, I don't think you can rule. anything out at this point. If it is. true that a new FBI agent has been. assigned to the case, reopened in a way, is that significant? >> Sure. That means it in my mind that. means that um you know there is some. urgency with this investigation and it. sounds to me like um the FBI is putting.

resources towards either a renewed. effort in this investigation or perhaps. they need additional resources because. of the influx of tips coming in. >> I want to get your opinion on the. statement from Brad her brother. Um, through our efforts at the state and. federal levels, I mentioned this before, through our efforts through the state. and federal levels, there will there. will be two very important letters with. certain requests sent to Attorney. General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Cash. Patel, Secretary of Homeland Security.

Christine Gnome, by our attorney. general, Governor, uh, Lieutenant. Governor, Senator Chuck Grassley's, uh, team at the Senate Judiciary Committee. There are things that are in the works. that I cannot disclose at this point, but know that we are continuing to. follow up on each and every lead we are. provided and will not stop looking for. Amy. Um, and it goes on a little bit. more as I mentioned before, but what. could that be? >> Well, it sounds like you mentioned. earlier that they've hired their own. team of private investigators. So, it's. very possible that they have uncovered.

new information within their own team of. investigators and uh you know, perhaps. they're looking for additional. assistance from these agencies that. you've mentioned. >> Do you feel confident that we are going. to get some sort of update in this case? We're going to get some sort of answer. regarding Amy Bradley um what 27 years. later now? Um you tell me. I mean, it's. I know it's hard to to guess, but you. tell me. It is. I mean, I think.

statistically speaking, um, you know, it's it's a rare occurrence when a case. that is this old does, you know, finally. break open and you find out what. happened or you locate the person. But. that being said, we know it happens. It. does happen. So, uh, for her family, you. know, they're not they're not giving up. hope and they want answers and they want. to find her and and I don't blame them. If it was, you know, my sister or my. loved one, I would be in the exact same. boat. >> Yeah. Lindsay Wade, thank you so much. for taking the time. Really appreciate.

it. >> Thank you. >> And that is all we have for you right. now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank. you so much for joining us. And as. always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you get. your podcasts. You can follow me on X or. Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll see you. next time. [Music].