CNN
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The mother of a Chicago woman who has been missing in the Bahamas for nearly two weeks is pleading with the U.S. government to intervene in the case and help find her daughter.
According to the Royal Bahamas Police, Taylor Casey, 41, was last seen on June 19 while attending a yoga retreat near Paradise Island, a small resort town off the coast of New Providence.
Casey’s mother, Colette Seymour, returned to the United States after spending three days in the Bahamas meeting with U.S. embassy officials, organizers of the Sivananda Ashram yoga retreat where Casey was reported missing, and members of the Royal Bahamas Police.
“We had to take our daughter and return home – every mother’s worst nightmare,” Seymour said in a news release issued through a representative for her family. “We felt the urgent need to return home because without the assistance of the U.S. government, we may never know what happened to our daughter, Taylor.”
The family is now calling for the FBI to take over the investigation into Casey’s disappearance.
“We want to be clear to the US media, public and government officials: we are not satisfied with the way this investigation has been conducted so far, and what we have learned and observed in our meetings with authorities and ashram leadership is disturbing and upsetting,” Emily Williams, a friend of Cayce’s who accompanied him on the trip, said in a statement.
According to the statement, Casey’s family and friends spoke with FBI officials by phone after he returned to the country, but those calls did not lead to the bureau intervening in the case.
A State Department spokesman told CNN the department was aware of reports of Americans going missing in the Bahamas, but declined to comment specifically on Casey’s case, citing privacy concerns.
When a U.S. citizen goes missing, the State Department works with local authorities and communicates openly with family members, the spokesman said.
When reached for comment, the FBI referred CNN to the Royal Bahamas Police.
By Claudia Garcia Roja
Taylor Casey’s cell phone was found in the water near this pier.
An ‘uneasy’ visit to the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat
The press release also described a “deeply disturbing” visit by Seymour to the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat on June 27, which left Seymour’s team concerned about their safety.
According to a statement from the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat obtained by CNN last week, retreat organizers have asked Bahamian police to investigate Casey’s disappearance.
According to the statement, the Retreat learned of Casey’s disappearance when she failed to attend a morning class on June 20. She was last seen late on the night of June 19, and “the organization has also notified the U.S. Embassy and Taylor Casey’s family,” the statement said.
When Seymour and his team arrived at the property, the scene had been largely unprocessed by authorities, the release said. Among Casey’s belongings were a Bible, other books, a sketchbook with drawings, a commitment card, clothing and toiletries.
“When I met with the Sivananda Ashram leadership, it became apparent that they were struggling to maintain a consistent and coherent narrative regarding Taylor’s disappearance,” Williams said.
Ram Soskin, head manager of the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat, told Casey’s family that on the Monday before she disappeared, an unidentified man carrying a walkie-talkie was seen walking on the same platform where Casey’s tent was located, according to the release.
According to the release, on the day Casey was last seen, a retreat attendee told Seymour’s team she was sitting alone on the beach when she was approached by a stranger. “The unidentified man was wearing all black and a Celtics baseball cap. He said he was from Chicago and wanted to join a yoga class. He followed her onto the property,” the release said.
Seymour said she was advised by police not to speak to guests at the retreat, and authorities noted that not all guests knew about Casey’s disappearance. Seymour described the retreat as “cult-like” and claimed students were “forced to obey” the retreat’s leaders “even if it means hiding information about my children,” according to the release.
Staff met with Taylor’s mother and friends once at police headquarters and once at the retreat facility, ashram director Jonathan Goldbloom said in a statement to CNN.
“To be clear, police advised that they could encourage members of the community to speak to them, but that it had to be their choice, so we made Taylor’s classmates and teachers aware of their existence and invited anyone who wanted to meet with them to come forward,” Goldbloom said. “Many members of the community chose to speak to them, and the ashram did not intervene in terms of individuals speaking out. They were encouraged to speak freely, and if there was any hesitation it may have been due to their own grieving process.”
Goldbloom said the retreat is reaching out to people through multiple channels and providing regular updates to guests.
“We are all heartbroken by Taylor’s disappearance and our hearts go out to her family and friends,” Goldbloom said.
By Claudia Garcia Roja
Seymour retrieved some of Cayce’s belongings from the retreat, including a Bible, other books, affirmation cards, clothing and toiletries.
“After observing the conditions at the ashram and the narrative control, Seymour’s team became concerned for their safety and altered their flight to return home early,” the statement said.
Some retreat attendees contacted Seymour to say they had not been notified by the retreat about the investigation into Casey’s disappearance, the release said, adding that they had left the retreat out of safety concerns.
“Police asked participants at the ashram yoga retreat to provide statements about Taylor but did not say whether any interviews had taken place,” the statement said. “Police also refused to tell the family team how many statements they had collected or provide the names of the participants.”
Authorities said Casey’s cell phone was found in the water, but it’s unclear how far she had been from the yoga retreat.
“We have conducted a thorough investigation into this matter,” Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings of the Royal Bahamas Police Force said at a press conference last week. “Our number one priority is finding Taylor and making sure that she is well.”
Police refused to give Casey’s cellphone to her mother, but she said she “believed that the phone may have information that we needed,” the family’s news release said.
Asked for comment, the Royal Bahamas Police provided CNN with a news release saying Casey’s cell phone and diary had been found, but police have not yet found his passport.
Mr Skippings said last week that police were using drones, search and rescue dogs and divers in the investigation and were working with Casey’s family to review security footage and interview people who attended the retreat.
Casey’s family said they were told police only searched the area between the Ashram Yoga Retreat and the nearby Atlantis Resort. CNN has contacted the Atlantis Resort for more information.
“We have been told that Taylor’s description was provided to Atlantis security and that they reviewed the security camera footage,” Williams said in a statement. “We have interpreted this to mean that detectives have not reviewed the footage themselves.”
According to the release, retreat leaders and local police also failed to post missing person posters for Casey in the area.
A missing person information flyer distributed by police did not provide further details about the circumstances of her disappearance or whether any suspicious activity was suspected.
CNN’s Amanda Musa, Kylie Atwood, Jamie Lynch, Amanda Jackson, Lucy Kafanoff and Holmes Lybrand contributed to this report.
