The Rev. Jamie Barnett, vicar of The Church of the Epiphany in Oak Park, will tell you that the most lawless place in the world is 12 miles offshore. When something happens to vacationers in international waters, the only police authority with jurisdiction is the security team working for the cruise line.
In 2005, Jamie’s 24-year-old daughter, Ashley, an actor, died on a cruise under mysterious circumstances. Blaming the cruise line for failing to do all it could to find the truth, Jamie became one of the leading advocates for cruise industry accountability.
Her testimony is featured in the new three-part Netflix documentary, “Amy Bradley is Missing.” Cruising with her parents and brother in March 1998, Amy, 23 and just graduated from college, disappeared as their Royal Caribbean International ship was preparing to dock in Curaçao. Among many possibilities is that she left the ship on her own or was smuggled off by abductors.
Jamie is still waiting for answers about Ashley’s death. Amy’s family is tortured by scattered reports that she still alive. Perhaps the most painful moment in the documentary is learning how her mother pleaded with the crew to keep everybody on board until the ship could be searched.
A former employee comes right out and says it. Thousands of passengers paid a lot of money. You can’t delay a shore excursion for the sake of one person. A brilliant teacher and pastor, Jamie would probably show us something in the gospel about that – the high priest saying that he can’t let a whole nation suffer for the sake of one man named Jesus.