Family Renews Call for Amy Alert as Amy Lynn Bradley Reaches 28 Years Missing
Key Aspects:
The family of missing cruise guest Amy Lynn Bradley is proposing an Amy Alert for cruise ships.
Amy Bradley went missing from Royal Caribbean’s Rhapsody of the Seas in 1998.
An online petition to create the alert system is garnering thousands of signatures.
It was 28 years ago this week, on March 24, 1998, when cruise passenger Amy Lynn Bradley disappeared from Royal Caribbean’s Rhapsody of the Seas as the ship made its way to Curacao.
The 23-year-old was never found, and now her bereaved family is using the tragic anniversary to call attention to the case, which has been well-documented over the years.
Issuing a challenge to the cruise industry in the form of a change.org petition, the family is asking that all cruise ships implement an immediate “Amy Alert” when someone is reported missing.
Similar to an Amber Alert, which galvanizes community and law enforcement efforts in certain child-abduction cases, an Amy Alert would function as an onboard emergency system. To date, the petition has garnered over 33,000 signatures.
Amy Bradley’s brother, Brad Bradley, noted the somber anniversary in a post on X.
“Amy disappeared 28 years ago today, yet it still feels like it was just yesterday somehow. We will continue to work hard and hold onto hope no matter how much time passes,” wrote Brad Bradley.
“They say time heals all wounds, but they are wrong. We ask that you please come forward if you know something about what happened,” added Bradley.
Her disappearance in the early hours of March 24, 1998, followed an evening at the ship’s nightclub. Amy was traveling with her brother and her parents. The siblings returned to their cabin around 3:30 a.m., but when the family awoke at 6 a.m., she was not there.
A search ensued, involving the Netherlands Antilles Coast Guard, and the ship’s crew members. However, passengers were allowed to debark the 1,996-guest ship while searches were ongoing.
The 7-night sailing had departed from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Curacao was the second port call on the itinerary.
The nature of her vanishing prompted the procedures detailed in the Amy Alert. For example, guests were allowed to disembark the ship in Curacao while the search for the missing Amy was underway.
Some believe the young woman could have been spirited off the ship against her will when the ship docked at the Southern Caribbean island.
What the Amy Alert Petition Would Require
Currently, the petition notes, cruise ships do not require a ship-wide lockdown when someone is reported missing, nor do they have mandatory alert systems in place. Moreover, other passengers may not be immediately notified when a guest goes missing.
According to the petition, the Amy Alert is a six-pronged strategy geared to enable a full and complete search of a ship. It would require an alert to be issued via the cruise line’s app; the broadcasting of the missing guest’s photo on apps and televisions; and an immediate lockdown so that no one can debark the vessel.
Also, it requires a stem-to-stern search protocol, water searches if appropriate, and notification of the emergency to maritime officials and the Coast Guard.
In addition to the petition, Brad Bradley’s posts on X also direct interested viewers to a podcast about his sister’s disappearance on The Midnight Mystery Archive.
“If you’ve been waiting for a serious, evidence-first treatment of this case — this is it. Twelve episodes. It starts here,” posted Bradley.
Amy Bradley’s family has consistently worked to keep her case in the news, always seeking potential new leads in the case. In 2024, for instance, Cruise Hive reported that they highlighted what would be her 50th birthday, on May 12 of that year.
Her mysterious disappearance was the subject of a Netflix documentary, “Amy Bradley is Missing,” in July 2025 and quickly became the second-most-watched show on the network.
Family Renews Call for Amy Alert as Amy Lynn Bradley Reaches 28 Years Missing