On the eve of Taylor Casey's 42nd birthday, family and friends remain steadfast in trying to bring their loved one home.
Casey was attending a Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat in Paradise Island in Nassau when she disappeared, according to officials. Organizers of the program say Casey's disappearance was discovered on June 20 "when she did not attend morning classes."
On June 25, five days after Casey, 41, 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 on Facebook last week. "She was last seen at the retreat late on the evening of June 19th."
Her mother, Colette Seymore, said something sounded "off" in her daughter's voice when the two spoke to each other just one day before she vanished.
Seymore said something sounded “off” in her daughter’s voice, when the two spoke just one day before she vanished.
“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 said she fears the case of her daughter, a transgender woman of color, isn't receiving the proper investigation or attention because of who she 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.”
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“My initial thoughts are… here we go again. We need hold folks accountable. We need to remember that even though people are missing, they are not forgotten. And their cases are worthy of investigation," Channyn Parker of The Brave Space Alliance in Hyde Park said.
The Brave Space Alliance is a non-profit organization that offers support for the South Side's LGBTQ+ community.
“My child is missing. Do something. Help find my child,” Seymore said.
As Casey's case remains under investigation, the Chief Superintendent of the Royal Bahamas Police Force was placed on "garden leave," a policy similar to paid leave. The move raised questions regarding the organization's integrity as investigations into local missing persons cases continue.
Officials during the update also commented on the investigation into Taylor Casey, of Chicago, who disappeared while attending a yoga retreat on Paradise Island in Nassau last month.
A spokesperson said searches using divers and submersible drone technology were conducted near the area Casey's phone had been found, but that no new evidence had been discovered.
Loved ones of Casey are scheduled to gather at Chicago's Federal Plaza Thursday morning for a press conference and rally in her support. Advocates are expected to call for more help from local and state officials, as well as further involvement from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
