BAHAMAS– The family of a Chicago woman who went missing in the Bahamas is “deeply concerned” about the safety of the 41-year-old, who had traveled to the islands for a yoga retreat.
Taylor Casey was last seen on June 19 near Paradise Island, a small resort town just off the coast of New Providence Island, the Royal Bahamas Police Force said.
Organizers of the retreat asked Bahamian police to investigate, according to a statement from the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat seen by CNN on Tuesday.
The retreat learned of Casey’s disappearance when she failed to attend morning classes, the statement said. She was last seen late in the evening of June 19, and the “organization has also notified the U.S. Embassy as well as Taylor Casey’s family,” the statement said.
A missing person leaflet published by the police did not provide any further details about the circumstances of her disappearance or say whether a crime was suspected.
Authorities said Wednesday they found Casey’s cellphone in the water, but the distance from the yoga retreat was unclear.
“We have conducted a comprehensive investigation into this matter,” Chrislyn Skippings, Chief Superintendent of the Royal Bahamas Police Force, said at a press conference on Wednesday. “Our priority is to find Taylor and find him in good health.”
Skippings said police have used drones, search and rescue dogs and divers in the investigation. They are also working with Casey’s family, reviewing security cameras and interviewing participants at the retreat, Skippings said.
Casey’s family is asking the public for help in locating her and is urging anyone with information to contact Bahamas police.
“We are deeply concerned for Taylor’s safety and well-being,” Casey’s mother, Colette Seymore, said in a press release on a Facebook page dedicated to the search for Casey. “We love Taylor and want to bring her home.”
Taylor, who has been practicing yoga for 15 years, attended the yoga retreat “to achieve a long-term goal and deepen her practice,” the family said in the press release.
Seymore learned of her daughter’s disappearance when she received a call from the retreat where Casey was training for her yoga certification, she said Wednesday in an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America.
“A young lady called me and asked, ‘Have you heard from Taylor?'” Seymore said. “And then she said, ‘Taylor didn’t show up for yoga class.'”
“A mother’s intuition and the answers I was getting just didn’t match up – it just wasn’t what I wanted to hear,” Seymore told ABC.
Seymore had previously stated on Facebook that she feared Casey was in danger because her daughter “was keen to share her experiences from the yoga retreat with others upon her return.”
“Taylor would never disappear like that,” the mother added.
Seymore told CNN she was en route to the Bahamas on Tuesday, but had no further comment. CNN has reached out to a family spokesperson for more information.
Casey’s family described her as “a light-skinned black female, approximately 5’10” tall and 135 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.”
The U.S. State Department issued a Level 2 travel advisory for Americans traveling to the Bahamas in January, warning them to “exercise increased caution” due to crime.
The warning states that most crimes occur on the islands of Grand Bahama and New Providence, and notes that violent crimes, including burglaries, armed robberies and sexual assaults, occur in both tourist and non-tourist areas.
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