- Taylor Casey, a Chicago native, was last seen on the evening of June 18th.
- Her family has described her disappearance as highly unusual.
- Bahamas issues ‘Level 2’ travel warning for US citizens amid rising crime
A 41-year-old Chicago woman has “mysteriously disappeared” from a luxury yoga retreat in the Bahamas, months after the State Department updated its travel warning for visitors to the islands amid a surge in violent crime in the region.
Taylor Casey’s mother said on a Facebook page set up to support the search effort that she was “deeply concerned” about her welfare. “We love Taylor and we want her to come home,” Collette Seymour added.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force said in a statement that Casey, nicknamed “Cat”, was last seen on Wednesday, June 19, in Paradise Island, also known as Nassau, a resort town off the coast of New Providence.
Gwyneth Paltrow’s magazine Goop described the retreat as “otherworldly” because it’s “surrounded by lush tropical gardens and white sand beaches.”
In January, the State Department raised its travel advisory for Americans heading to the Bahamas to Level 2, advising Americans to “exercise increased caution” due to rising crime rates.
New Providence, along with Grand Bahama, is one of the islands identified as potentially dangerous for tourists.
According to the missing person poster, Casey has been practicing yoga for 15 years and was attending the retreat “to achieve a long-term goal of deepening her yoga practice.” Casey was traveling alone and arrived on the island on June 3.
“There’s no way Taylor could just disappear like that,” Seymour said, adding that her daughter is eager to share what she learned at the retreat with her friends once she returns to Chicago.
Seymour told CNN that she and other family members plan to fly to the Bahamas on Tuesday to help with the search effort.
The Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat in the Bahamas announced Monday that Casey was missing and that they were working with law enforcement authorities.
The alert was raised after Casey failed to attend a morning session on June 19. The centre said she had last been seen the previous evening.
“The ashram urges anyone with any information about Kaycee to contact local police and will cooperate with authorities in their investigations,” the centre said.
Sivananda Yoga organizations have similar locations in New York, California, India, France and Austria.
According to the missing person poster, Casey is described as a “light-skinned black female, approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing 145 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Her hair is natural and is often covered by a hair cap.”
Casey is originally from Hazel Crest, a suburb about 20 miles south of downtown Chicago.
Following Taylor’s disappearance, CBS News travel editor Peter Greenberg blamed the rise in violence in the Bahamas on gang activity.
“The reason the State Department issued this advisory is because gang crime is on the rise in the Bahamas. Gang crime is on the rise in places like Mexico and Jamaica. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t go there.”
“Trouble for American travelers may arise, for example, when they go out at night with friends or alone, rather than traveling in a group, in areas they do not know, understand or are unfamiliar with.”
“That’s when they could get into trouble,” Greenberg added.
Specific warnings to American tourists included not to take boat tours because they were “not consistently regulated.”
“The majority of crimes occur on New Providence Island (Nassau) and Grand Bahama Island (Freeport),” the advisory reads.
“Violent crimes such as theft, armed robbery and sexual assault occur in both tourist and non-tourist areas. Please be cautious if staying in a short-term vacation rental that does not have a private security company.”
Despite the warnings, the Bahamas remains a very popular destination for American tourists — it was the second most popular destination during spring break, travel insurance expert Megan Walch told WGN-TV in Chicago.
“Always be aware of your surroundings and do not open the door to your hotel or wherever you are staying if someone you do not know shows up,” Walch added.
