Mom of missing Taylor Casey says visit to Bahamas yoga retreat she vanished at was 'deeply unsettling'

The mom of a Chicago woman who went missing at a yoga retreat has described her own visit to the remote island as "deeply unsettling."

Taylor Casey , 41, was last seen on June 19 at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat on Paradise Island, Bahamas, according to a news release from her family. The Royal Bahamas Police Force issued a missing person poster on June 21 alerting the public to Casey’s disappearance.

"A young lady called me and said, have you heard from Taylor? And I'm like, I'm looking at the phone because I know this. She was from the yoga retreat and then she said Taylor hasn't showed up for yoga classes," Taylor's mother, Colette Seymore, recounted. Ms Seymore flew out to the retreat last week and described her experience as "deeply unsettling."

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She expressed frustration over having to plead to speak with other attendees at the retreat and felt that the students "were told what to say and what not to say." Despite assurances from local authorities that they've interviewed "a number of people" and have utilized drones, divers, and a canine unit, Seymore noted the absence of missing-person posters.

"I feel like the police did the bare minimum without US Government support, we may never find out what happened to my Taylor," Seymore lamented. Last week, the police managed to recover Casey's mobile phone from the sea, but according to the family, the authorities are withholding the phone.

"We love Taylor and Taylor needs to be back home with Taylor's family," Seymore implored. The family insists that it would be out of character for Casey to disappear without informing them.

Although the police have taken statements from individuals at the yoga retreat about Taylor, they have not disclosed whether any formal interrogations have taken place. Casey has been a yoga practitioner for 15 years and was looking forward to returning to Chicago from her retreat so she could share “her newfound knowledge and experience with others,” a news release states.

Her family is urging anyone with information about her whereabouts to come forward, saying that “every lead is crucial in their efforts to locate her.” Casey is a light-skinned Black woman who stands about 5-foot-10 inches (1.77 meters) tall, weighs 145 pounds (65 kilograms) and has brown hair and brown eyes.

According to PEOPLE Magazine, however, the retreat confirmed her disappearance and told the publication that the retreat's organizers began to grow concerned after Casey didn't show up for class on June 20. They determined then that she had disappeared.

A Facebook page titled "Find Taylor Casey" was established by the family to help locate her, allowing anyone with information about her disappearance to post on the page. Casey's friends reportedly said they looked through images and videos from the retreat, but they were unable to find her in any of them, the CSJ Report, a local independent outlet, reported.