A poster shows Taylor Casey, of Chicago, who disappeared on June 19, 2024. (Royal Bahamas Police Force/TNS)
(Tribune News Service) — Two weeks after a Chicago woman disappeared from a yoga retreat in The Bahamas, little is being done to find her, according to her family and friends.
Taylor Casey, 41, was last seen June 19 at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat in Nassau. Retreat leaders reported her missing the next day when she didn’t show up for her classes.
Last week, Casey’s mother and other friends went to The Bahamas hoping to aid in the search for Casey, but left the islands outraged.
“Let me make this clear to the U.S. media, the public, and our government officials: We are not satisfied with how this investigation has been handled thus far,” Casey’s friend Emily Williams said in a statement earlier this week. “What we learned and observed during our time meeting with the authorities and Ashram leaders is disturbing and infuriating.”
Family and friends have since asked for U.S. authorities, specifically the FBI, to join in the search for Casey. But the FBI referred all questions about the case to the Royal Bahamas Police Force, according to NBC News.
Late last month, Bahamian cops found Casey’s cellphone in the ocean and located her journal and other personal effects near the yoga retreat. However, Casey’s family said the items were just sitting there when they arrived, showing little sign of any investigation.
Additionally, Casey’s mother, Colette Seymore, said there were no missing persons posters to be seen.
“They got a missing persons wall — why isn’t Taylor on it? “ Seymore asked Chicago ABC affiliate WLS.
Casey’s friends and family also said leaders at the yoga retreat had apparently either instructed other students to keep quiet about Casey’s disappearance or deliver a rehearsed story.
Casey’s allies said they eventually changed their flights home and left early because they “became concerned for their own safety.”
The Royal Bahamas Police Force, which remains in charge of the investigation, said it had deployed divers, a search dog and drones in the case. The force said finding Casey remained “a matter of priority.”
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