Missing person from Chicago last seen at yoga retreat in the Bahamas

CHICAGO (CBS) — A Chicago resident was reported missing during a trip to the Bahamas.

The Royal Bahamas Police Force confirmed that Taylor Casey, 41, was last seen on June 19 in the area of ​​Paradise Island, Nassau, in the Bahamas. It is a popular tourist area with many resorts, restaurants, beaches and more.

A friend said in a Facebook post that Casey had been attending a yoga retreat center before she “mysteriously disappeared.”

Casey’s niece said family members, including a grandmother, would travel to the Bahamas on Tuesday to help with the search. Casey’s family lives in the suburb of Hazel Crest.

In a statement, Casey’s mother Colette Seymore said: “We are deeply concerned for Taylor’s safety and well-being. We love Taylor and want her to come home.”

From January 2024, the Bahamas were under a Level 2 travel warning due to crime. US authorities warned: “Violent crimes such as burglaries, armed robberies and sexual assaults occur in both tourist and non-tourist areas.”

“The reason the State Department issued this warning is because of the increase in gang violence in the Bahamas,” said Peter Greenberg, travel editor for CBS News. “Places like Mexico or Jamaica have increased gang crime, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t travel there.”

Greenberg added that such warnings often create fear, but it is important to know your surroundings.

“Any American traveler gets into trouble if they go out at night, say, with friends or alone, to an area that they don’t know, don’t understand or are unfamiliar to, and they’re not traveling in a group,” Greenberg said. “Then they can get into trouble.”

The U.S. Embassy in the Bahamas and the Bahamas Tourism Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the disappearance.