Police are still searching for Chicago woman Taylor Casey after she went missing in the Bahamas roughly three weeks ago.
Taylor was last seen on June 19 on Paradise Island in Nassau, where she traveled to attend the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat. The retreat confirmed Taylor’s disappearance after she didn’t show up for class on June 20.
According to CNN, investigators in the Bahamas are employing search dogs, marine teams, and flight crews in the search.
However, the family and friends of Taylor are not satisfied with authorities’ effort to locate her.
Speaking to NBC’s Today, the mother of Taylor expressed her frustration with Bahamian police conducting the investigation.
“I need them on the island to act like it’s their child that’s missing,” Colette Seymore told Today.
Thursday, July 11, is her 42nd birthday. Her mom Colette Seymore said it’s the first time they haven’t celebrated together.
“Taylor, today is your birthday and we all just want to say ‘Happy birthday’ although it’s not so happy because you are not here with us,” Seymore said.
The pain and heartbreak could be felt through Casey Taylor’s mother as she read a letter to her missing daughter on what would be her 42nd birthday Thursday.
“The pain I felt 42 years ago birthing you doesn’t compare to the pain I feel today,” Seymore said.
Thursday morning, Taylor’s family and friends celebrated with bubbles in front of city hall where they held a news conference calling on local elected officials to put more pressure on police in the Bahamas saying they have lost faith in the integrity of the investigation.
“And that’s why we’re calling on the senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth to put pressure on the state department to tell the royal Bahamian police force to get the FBI down there right now and find Taylor,” Emily Williams, Taylor’s friend, said.
Taylor was last seen on June 19 in the area of Paradise Island, the Royal Bahamas Police Force said in a June 21 statement. Casey was attending a certification retreat, run by Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat Bahamas.
On July 2, the police force said it had found Casey’s cell phone and other belongings from “nearby waters,” but had not located her passport.
NBC reported that Casey’s family believes she could have been targeted, but officials have not commented on that possibility.