The family of Taylor Casey, a Chicago woman who disappeared while at a yoga retreat in the Bahamas, is now offering a $10,000 reward for information on her disappearance.
They announced the reward on social media Tuesday, saying the funds were offered by an anonymous donor.
Casey, who is a Black trans woman, was reported missing June 19 and was last seen at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat in Paradise Island, Nassau.
This month, her friends and family gathered on Casey’s 42nd birthday to celebrate her and ask that more attention be paid to the case by U.S. and Bahamian authorities.
Colette Seymore, Casey’s mother, choked up and cried at the microphone as supporters wearing shirts reading #FindTaylorCasey and showing a photo of Casey stood behind her.
Chicago resident Taylor Casey’s family believes the 42-year-old went missing under suspicious circumstances in the Bahamas.
Seymore claimed authorities in the Bahamas weren’t taking her daughter’s case seriously and were acting “nonchalant” about her disappearance.
Casey’s friend Emily Williams said the Royal Bahamas Police Force has come up with nothing after using scent dogs and divers in the search. The only movement has come from finding Casey’s phone because her niece tracked it, she said. Seymore said the yoga ashram Casey was visiting has not put up missing-persons posters or allowed her to talk to the woman who told her of Casey’s disappearance.
The speakers at the news conference urged local, state and federal officials to pressure the Bahamian authorities and the U.S. State Department to let the FBI take part in the search.
Casey has been involved in the Lighthouse Church of Chicago, a predominantly Black and LGBTQ+ church in Lincoln Park, Pastor Marcus Payne II said. She also advocated for homeless LGBTQ+ youth and was deeply involved in queer activism.
Casey’s case highlights an issue long known in communities of color and LGBTQ+ communities — cases of missing Black trans women often fall through the cracks, rarely attracting the attention and resources of other cases.
In Chicago, most slayings of transgender women go unsolved. The police department solved 14% of murders of transgender women between 2010 and 2021 compared with the national average of 50%.
Contributing: Mary Norkol, Layla Brown-Clark