Taylor Casey missing: Family raises new concerns about search efforts for Chicago woman missing in Bahamas

— The family of a Chicago woman missing in the Bahamas is asking the American government for more support.

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Taylor Casey, 41, was last seen on June 19 at a yoga retreat on Paradise Island.

“A young lady called me and asked, ‘Have you heard from Taylor?’ And I thought, ‘I’m checking the phone because I know.’ She was from the yoga retreat,” said Taylor’s mother, Colette Seymore. “Then she said Taylor didn’t show up for yoga class.”

Casey’s mother traveled to the retreat last week but said her visit was “deeply disturbing.”

She had to beg to speak to students at the retreat and said it felt as if the students were “told what to say and what not to say.”

Her mother said she had not seen any missing persons reports.

Although authorities said they had spoken to “a number of people” and deployed drones, divers and a dog unit, the mother said it felt like the bare minimum of action.

“Without the support of the U.S. government, we may never find out what happened to my Taylor.”

Police found Casey’s cellphone in the ocean last week, but the family said authorities refused to release the phone.

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“We love Taylor and Taylor needs to go home to Taylor’s family,” her mother said.

The family said Taylor would never just “take off” without telling them.

Police asked participants of the yoga retreat for statements about Taylor, but did not say whether anyone was questioned.

Police reportedly refused to tell the family’s team how many statements they had collected or the names of those involved.

According to Ram Soskin, senior manager of the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat, an unidentified man with a walkie-talkie was seen on the same platform where Taylor’s tent was located on the Monday before Casey’s disappearance.

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One of the retreat participants the Find Taylor Casey team spoke to said that on the same day she was last seen, Casey was approached by a stranger while she was sitting alone on the beach.

Wearing a Celtics baseball cap and dressed all in black, the man claimed to be from Chicago and interested in a yoga class. He then followed her onto the property, according to the website created to find Taylor Casey.