Family members of a missing Chicago woman say they are on their way to the Bahamas to help find her after she went missing June 19 during a yoga retreat on Paradise Island.
Taylor Casey, 41, of Chicago, was last seen at Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat. Two days later, the Royal Bahamas Police Force issued a missing person poster on June 21 to alert the public to her disappearance, the family said in a statement posted on social media.
“We are deeply concerned for Taylor’s safety and well-being,” Colette Seymore, Taylor’s mother, said in the statement. “We love Taylor and want her home.”
Her family said Casey has been practicing yoga for 15 years and went to the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat to fulfill a long-term goal of deepening her practice. Eager to return to Chicago, the woman her family described as “vibrant and loving” looked forward to sharing her experience with others, the family said.
“I believe Taylor is in danger because she was eager to share her yoga retreat experience with others upon her return,” her mother said in the statement. “Taylor would never disappear like this.”
According to CNNauthorities at a news conference Wednesday said they found Casey’s cellphone in the water, but it’s unclear the distance it was from the yoga retreat.
“We have conducted an extensive investigation into the matter,” Royal Bahamas Police Force Chief Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings said, according to CNN. “Our priority is to find Taylor and to find Taylor in good health.”
They described Taylor as a light-skinned Black womanapproximately 5-foot-10 and 145 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. They said she wears her hair natural, often covered by a do-rag.
In a statement to the Tribune, The Yoga Retreat Bahamas said it had notified the U.S. Embassy and Casey’s family about her disappearance. It asked police to investigate, the statement said.
“Ms. Casey’s disappearance was discovered on June 20th when she failed to attend morning classes. The last time she was seen at the retreat was late on the evening of June 19th,” according to the statement. “The Ashram is asking anyone with information on Ms. Casey to contact the local police. In the interim it is collaborating with the authorities on their investigation.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Royal Bahamas Police Force or the Bahamas Crime Stoppers.
In January, the U.S. State Department issued a Level 2 travel advisory for U.S. citizens traveling to the Bahamas to “exercise increased caution” due to crime.
