- author, Bernd Debsmann Jr.
- role, BBC News, Washington
The family of a Chicago woman who went missing last week while on a yoga retreat in the Bahamas is pleading for her safe return to the United States.
Taylor Casey, 41, was last seen on June 19 near Paradise Island, near Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas.
The Royal Bahamas Police are searching for the missing woman and have met with her family, who travelled to the Bahamas this week.
In January, the U.S. State Department issued a travel advisory for the Bahamas, citing violent crimes and sexual assaults.
Colette Seymour, BBC’s US bureau partner and Casey’s mother, told CBS she realised something was wrong when retreat organisers called last week to ask whether she had heard from Casey.
Seymour said the last time he exchanged messages with Casey was on June 18, the day before she was last seen.
“Taylor sent me a picture of her in the Atlantic Ocean and she was like, ‘I miss you mommy. I miss you. Look, I’m on the beach.'”
The organization that organized the retreat, Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat Bahamas, told CBS that they had contacted her family and the US Embassy after she failed to show up for a morning class on June 20.
She had been spotted at the resort the previous evening.
Retreat organisers said on Facebook that they were urging anyone with information to contact police and that they were working with local authorities to investigate.
“The story we’re hearing isn’t Taylor’s. We need more information,” Casey’s friend Emily Williams told CBS.
Bahamian police met with the family on Wednesday.
On January 26, the U.S. State Department issued a travel warning for the Bahamas, noting that “violent crime, including theft, armed robbery, and sexual assault, has occurred in both tourist and non-tourist areas.”
“If you are staying in a short-term vacation rental property that does not have a private security company on-site, please remain vigilant,” the warning adds.
