Yoga retreat where Chicago woman Taylor Casey vanished breaks silence after mom's 'unsettling' visit

The yoga retreat where a woman from Chicago vanished has spoken out about the disappearance and refuted the claims her mom made about an "unsettling" visit.

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.

After visiting the retreat, Taylor's mother Colette Seymore described her experience as "deeply unsettling." 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."

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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.

A spokesperson for the retreat told The Mirror US that they did not tell other members what to tell the Casey's family when they visited. They said: "To be clear, the police advised us that while we can encourage community members to speak with them, it must be their choice. So, we announced their presence to Taylor’s classmates and teachers and invited anyone wanting to meet with them to come forward. Many of our community members chose to speak with them and the ashram did not intervene in terms of what individuals said. They were encouraged to speak freely. Any perceived hesitancy could have been due to their own grieving processes.

"At the end of the afternoon, Taylor’s mother and friends thanked us profusely for our help." 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,” the news release from the family states.

The spokesperson for the retreat added: "All of us are distraught over Taylor’s disappearance, and our hearts go out to her family and friends. We did our best to provide Taylor’s mother and friends with support and comfort while they were in the Bahamas last week.

"We met with them along with the police and the representatives of the US embassy on two occasions – once at police headquarters and once at the ashram. Taylor’s family and friends stayed at the ashram for many hours after the end of the official meeting to collect her belongings and speak with Taylor’s teachers, fellow students and administrators."