Missing Taylor Casey's phone was found under 50ft of water and dogs trailed scent at yoga retreat

Police in the Bahamas have revealed more information about the discovery of missing American woman Taylor Casey 's phone.

Taylor, 41, from Chicago, was last seen in June at a yoga retreat on the Caribbean island before she mysteriously went missing. She had been at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat on Paradise Island when she vanished.

Bahamas police had previously revealed her phone had been located . On Monday, they confirmed it was discovered under 50-plus feet of water. Police said both Bahamian and US authorities have been unable to access any information from the phone. Releasing more information about the ongoing search for Taylor, police said that search dogs detected a scent near the yoga tent on Monday, but it did not yield any significant findings.

READ MORE: Mom of missing Taylor Casey joins island search hoping 'mother's intuition' will lead her to daughter

READ MORE: Missing Taylor Casey's mom shares heartbreaking last text before vanishing on Bahamas yoga retreat

Taylor is described as a light-skinned Black woman, standing at 5-foot-10 and weighing around 145 pounds, with brown hair and eyes. She had been practicing yoga for 15 years and was reportedly excited to get back to Chicago post-retreat to impart "her newfound knowledge and experience with others," according to a statement from her family.

Colette Seymore, Taylor's mother, found out about her daughter's disappearance when she received a call from the retreat. She has been left "deeply concerned" and suspects that her daughter might be "in danger".

The devastated mother has already traveled to the Bahamas Island with a small group and now seeks "community support to pressure public officials", claiming there have been serious gaps in the investigation.

According to a statement released by Taylor's family last week, Colette met with the US Embassy, Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat's leader, and the Royal Bahamas Police Force at the retreat where her daughter went missing. She also collected Taylor's belongings at the Ashram, which included Taylor's Bible, a teacher training coursebook, a picture of Jesus Christ, yoga mat, books, and other essentials. However, her visit to the Yoga Retreat had been described as "deeply unsettling".

Taylor's mom claims she had to beg to speak to students at the Ashram but when she was able to felt like they were "told what to say".

Colette spoke about her experience meeting with the Ashram students, adding: "My impression is that it [Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat] is cultish, and students were being coerced to obey them, even if that meant holding back information about my child missing."

The mother claimed that the Ashram also failed to place a missing person poster of Taylor on the retreat's premises and the surrounding areas and that the Royal Bahamas Police Force did not issue a missing person's report until two days later her disappearance.

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A spokesperson for the retreat told The Mirror US that they did not tell other members what to tell the Taylor'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."

Taylor's absence was reported when she failed to attend morning classes, according to the retreat organizers. They requested the Bahamas police to investigate the matter.

The family has set up a Facebook page named Find Taylor Casey to aid in her search. Friends of Casey reportedly sifted through photos and videos from the retreat but were unable to spot her in any of them, according to the CSJ Report, a local independent news source.

Anyone with information about Casey's disappearance is urged to contact the Royal Bahamas Police Force at 502-9991/2 or Crime Stoppers at 328-8477.