Family and friends of Taylor Casey, the Chicago woman who disappeared last month while attending a yoga retreat in the Bahamas, are set to hold a press conference downtown Thursday morning as they continue to press for answers from authorities.
“My child has been missing for almost 3 weeks,” Casey’s mother, Collette Seymour said in a press release. “My family, friends, and I are distraught! I am pleading with everyone to call your elected officials and demand the FBI lead this investigation and bring her home safe and sound.”
Casey, set to turn 42 Thursday, was last seen the evening of June 19 at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat, on Paradise Island in Nassau, where she was completing a yoga certification course. She was reported missing June 20 after retreat employees that said Casey “did not attend morning classes.”
Five days after she was reported missing by police, organizers of the yoga program posted a message to Facebook about the disappearance.
“A participant from our yoga certification program, Taylor Casey is missing,” The Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat posted to Facebook. “She was last seen at the retreat late on the evening of June 19th.”
Several days later, a contingent including Seymore traveled to the Bahamas to meet with local officials and program leaders. The trip left Seymore with more questions than answers, as Seymore described her experience as “unsettling,” “disturbing” and “infuriating.”
In an interview in NBC Chicago, Seymore said something sounded “off” in her daughter’s voice when the two spoke the day before Casey disappeared.
“I got an eerie feeling after hanging up the phone with my child,” Seymore said. “And I sensed through the phone that something was wrong.”
Seymore also raised concerns about the integrity of the case, saying her daughter, a transgender woman of color, isn’t receiving the proper investigation or attention because of who Casey is.
“I just feel like they are hiding something, covering up something, and they separated, isolated my child,” Seymore said. “My child was the only African American in the instructor’s class.”
Thursday’s press conference, scheduled for 8:30 a.m., comes days after the Royal Bahamas Police Force provided an update on their investigation.
Police Commissioner Clayton Fernander said searches using divers and submersible drone technology were conducted near the area Casey’s cell phone had been found, but that no new evidence had been discovered.
“They came up negative with additional information,” Fernander said, adding that officers, canines and marines were continuing to search the area.
Fernander noted that the force was also investigating another missing persons case involving Devon Issacs, a local 17-year-old boy who disappeared more than seven weeks ago.
“That is a concern for us,” Fernander said. “No kind of indication, no calls came in that they had any sighting of him.”
Both investigations come as Michael Johnson, Chief Supt. of the Royal Bahamas Police Force, on July 5 was placed on “garden leave” following recent social media circulation of “voice notes” involving Johnson.
“The Royal Bahamas police force has a proud history of service,” Fernander said during the update. “Unfortunately, there may be instances where individuals fall short of our standards of integrity. This is painful, especially if found within senior ranks, nobody, and I repeat, nobody is above the law.”
What is the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat?
The retreat, on Paradise Island in Nassau, is described as a “vibrant yoga ashram offering vacations, courses, and teacher trainings as well as cleanses, detox programs, healing arts trainings, family programs, kirtan and more,” according to the group’s Facebook page.
Visitors are able to rent a variety of accommodations when staying at the Ashram, including rooms, huts and tents, the group’s website showed.
Earlier this year, the retreat was featured as part of a “Wellness Retreats & Destination Spas” guide from Goop, Gwyneth Paltrow’s luxury brand and website.
Earlier in July, the Ashram issued the following statement:
“All of us are distraught over Taylor’s disappearance, and our hearts go out to her family and friends.. With that in mind, I wish to advise you that we did our best to provide Taylor’s mother and friends with support and comfort while they were in the Bahamas last week. We met with them along with the police and the representatives of the US embassy on two occasions – once at police headquarters and once at the ashram. Taylor’s family and friends stayed at the ashram for many hours after the end of the official meeting to collect her belongings and speak with Taylor’s teachers, fellow students and administrators.
To be clear, the police advised us that while we can encourage community members to speak with them, it must be their choice. So we announced their presence to Taylor’s classmates and teachers and invited anyone wanting to meet with them to come forward. Many of our community members chose to speak with them and the ashram did not intervene in terms of what individuals said. They were encouraged to speak freely. Any perceived hesitancy could have been due to their own grieving processes.
At the end of the afternoon, Taylor’s mother and friends thanked us profusely for our help.“
July 5, the program posted an updated message to their Facebook page.
U.S. Travel Advisory issued for The Bahamas
In January, the U.S. issued a “Level 2″ Travel Advisory for the Bahamas, warning that travelers should “exercise increased caution in The Bahamas due to crime.”
“The majority of crime occurs on New Providence (Nassau) and Grand Bahama (Freeport) islands,” the advisory said. “Violent crime, such as burglaries, armed robberies, and sexual assaults, occur in both tourist and non-tourist areas. Be vigilant when staying at short-term vacation rental properties where private security companies do not have a presence. ”
The Nassau Guardian said Director General of Tourism Latia Duncombe addressed the travel advisory last month.
“The destination is safe and we have to make sure visitors do feel safe when they visit the Bahamas,” Duncombe said. “Whenever there is an odd occurrence, it does increase concern and we want to make sure we address it in a very measured way.”