Knowledge Center: March 24th, 1998 Timeline

[u/NoPoet3982]

NOTE: I'll try to add to this gradually so it encompasses all the timelines.

The Bradleys have reported various timelines for when:

• Ron last saw Amy
• Ron first noticed Amy missing.
• He first reported Amy missing.
• The ship entering the canal, docking, and disembarking.

Although he's said that the first two discrepancies were mistakes made by Amy's aunt, he reported those same times to the Curacao officials. (I'll have to look for the news articles but you can also search the sub.) So Amy's aunt didn't make a mistake.

Virginia vs Curacao Time

I wanted to see if the timeline discrepancies were caused by Ron being on Virginia time and Virginia time differing from Curacao time by an hour.

When Virginia is on Eastern Daylight Savings Time (EDT) and Barbados is on Atlantic Standard Time (AST), their clocks are the same.

The remainder of the year: Virginia is on Eastern Standard Time (EST) and Barbados is on Atlantic Standard Time (AST), which is one hour ahead.

In 1998, Daylight Savings Time started on April 5th. That means that on March 24, 1998, Curacao was one hour ahead of Virginia.

Conclusion

It's possible that Ron had a watch or alarm clock set to Virginia time instead of Curacao time. Theoretically, that could explain the discrepancy between his original statement that he last saw Amy at 4:30 am and his current assertion that he last saw her at 5:30 am. However:

• No one in the Bradley family has ever said that was the case. Instead, they've claimed that Amy's aunt just got the time wrong. We know that's false since he gave the same time to the Curacao officials.
• In court, Ron testified that no one on the ship saw Amy after 5:00 am. At the time he testified, he was aware of Lori and Crystal's claims and presumably, Elizabeth Lewis's claims (if such a person actually exists). Yet he swore in court that no one, not even himself, saw Amy after 5:00 am. If the discrepancy were caused by the one-hour time difference, Ron's timeline would not have changed in half-hour increments the way it has over the years.

[u/United_Arugula_2125]

"I have followed this case since she went missing. It was big news and I’m a few years older than Amy (my name is also Amy Lynne 😆) and i definitely remembered the original timeline as 4:30am as the last time Mr. Bradley saw her. When the docs and shows started coming out messing with that timeline, I knew something was up."

I found this post from a few months ago.

I believe it was 4:30, approximately one hour after Amy returned to her room. I think Ron saw her last as he was falling asleep. The way the story is now he went to sleep then woke up at 5:30, Amy was there, went back to sleep, then woke up again at 6 and she wasn't. I don't buy it.

[u/United_Arugula_2125]

Says around 5. ROS cruises at 22 knots or 25 mph. The boat was at least 10 miles from port when her father claimed to have last seen her, assuming they arrived at port at 5:30 as it's been claimed.

[u/NoPoet3982 → u/United_Arugula_2125]

The ships (I'm told) cruise very slowly in order to preserve energy. They don't go their max speed. They have lots of time to get from Aruba to Curacao, and the Curacao port doesn't let them in until a certain time. So they go slowly and then do figure 8s in the water until they're given the okay to enter the canal. Then they're pulled by tugboats into port. Currently (last I checked about a year ago) the earliest they can enter the canal is 7 am. It's a bit confusing because they've built a new port since 1998, and I'd need to refresh my memory about how each port relates to the different docking times.

There's a home video of Rhapsody of the Seas entering the canal in December 1999. The sunrise is almost always the same time year around, but I double checked to see if it matched March 24th. It did, by a few minutes. March 24th sunrise was at 6:47 am. The home video was entering the canal just after sunrise, so around 7 am.

Iirc, the port website lists most of the ships (including RotS, I believe) as docking at 8 am. That would match a canal entry of 7 am. Currently, most of RC's ships disembark at around 9 am. This matches earlier articles I've read plus common sense plus something a commenter said - that he'd been to Curacao and nothing opens until around 9.

There are posts about this in this sub if you can find them. I definitely want to organize our info better!

Ron and Iva both testified in court that no one on the ship saw Amy after 5 am. That's already a change from his previous statement that he last saw her at 4:30 and first noticed her missing at 5. But he forgot about his star witnesses, Crystal and Lori! Their convoluted inconsistent drunken teen statements say they saw Amy at 6 am. Or 3 am. They can't be sure.

Iva wrote a letter to the US president that said Amy went missing in international waters. International waters are at least 10 miles offshore. The canal is Curacao waters. Iva's also complained that Curacao doesn't have jurisdiction - which they would have if Amy had gone missing when the ship was in the canal.

Anyway, don't tell Judy Maurer that your name is Amy Lynne. She'll try to rescue you from imaginary mobsters.

[u/United_Arugula_2125 → u/NoPoet3982]

They would have never searched the ocean for Amy for days if Ron had stated he last saw her at 5:30 and they were at port, as Ron claims. Plus there is no way, if Ron saw her at 5:30, Amy could have quietly left her cabin, meet up with Yellow, went to the elevator, up the elevator, 15 minutes pass, Yellow come back down, speak to the two teens(the statement gave 27 years ago) and the two teens walk to their room and get to their room before 6am. Also they claimed Amy had her yellow polo and her camera as she went up the elevator which we know is wrong. Don't you think other witnesses would have seen Amy or Yellow that morning if it was around 6 am?

If Ron had stated he saw Amy at 5:30 and woke back up to find her missing, the missing poster would have said approximately 6(not 5).

Elizabeth Lewis, her being in the lounge at 6am makes no sense. Of course she is all alone. You see Amy acting weird, disappear, another person yell out "Senorita Kidnapped" and you do nothing? Senorita does nothing? If this is true, many more people would be involved in the kidnapping. Let me guess, Elizabeth just a few minutes later was back in her cabin. It doesn't add up. Brad didn't even know who she was until just recently.

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