A private investigator says a former Curaçao police clerk demanded $50,000 to reveal Amy Bradley’s location but refused a cashier’s check, causing the deal to collapse. Bradley disappeared in March 1998 at age 23 during a Caribbean cruise; her case is the focus of a Netflix docuseries and has spawned theories ranging from accidental fall to abduction. The PI says he tracked down the ex-clerk last year, who repeatedly claimed he had seen Bradley alive. Bradley was declared legally dead in 2010; the FBI case remains open with a $25,000 reward.
PI: Ex-Curaçao Police Clerk Demanded $50,000 to Reveal Amy Bradley’s Whereabouts — Deal Collapsed After He Refused a Check
A private investigator says a former Curaçao police clerk demanded $50,000 to reveal Amy Bradley’s location but refused a cashier’s check, causing the deal to collapse. Bradley disappeared in March 1998 at age 23 during a Caribbean cruise; her case is the focus of a Netflix docuseries and has spawned theories ranging from accidental fall to abduction. The PI says he tracked down the ex-clerk last year, who repeatedly claimed he had seen Bradley alive. Bradley was declared legally dead in 2010; the FBI case remains open with a $25,000 reward.
10:14 AM, 11/15/2025Society
(NewsNation) — A private investigator says a former Curaçao police clerk demanded $50,000 to lead investigators to missing Virginia woman Amy Bradley and that the arrangement fell apart when the man refused to accept a cashier’s check, according to an interview on Banfield.
Bradley, 23, vanished in March 1998 while on a Caribbean cruise with her family en route to Curaçao. Her disappearance, now the subject of a Netflix docuseries, has generated multiple theories — including an accidental fall from the ship, abduction and trafficking — and sporadic reported sightings over the years.
Alleged $50,000 arrangement and the refused check
Private investigator Jim Carey told Banfield that in 1999 a police clerk in Curaçao contacted Bradley’s family claiming he had seen her alive and demanded $50,000 to lead them to her. Carey said the family coordinated with Interpol, which transported a cashier’s check on their behalf, but the clerk refused to accept the check.
“He broke into the Interpol agents’ hotel room. He got in there and ransacked the room, looking for the money. So, the Interpol guys left the next day. That’s the kind of guy we’re dealing with,” Carey recounted.
Follow-up contact and investigators’ view
Carey says he and two other investigators tracked down the former clerk last year and questioned him about his claims. According to Carey, the man repeatedly insisted he had seen Bradley in recent years.
“We gave him the opportunity to tell us what he wanted to tell us, and he said, ‘She’s alive. I seen her a couple of years ago,’” Carey told Banfield. “I asked him 20 times and he says, ‘She’s alive.’”
Carey acknowledged the man has given inconsistent statements and appears to have lied in other matters, but the investigator said he believes the clerk’s assertion of a sighting: “Why would he want to be involved 28 years later? He’s still implicated,” Carey said.
Case status and other theories
Another leading theory is that Bradley fell from Royal Caribbean’s Rhapsody of the Seas; she was last seen on her family’s cabin balcony in the early morning. The Netherlands Antilles Coast Guard conducted an extensive four-day search of the water but found no sign of her.
Bradley was declared legally dead in 2010. The FBI maintains an open investigation into her disappearance and is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to her recovery.
Reporting derived from NewsNation/Nexstar Media coverage.