True crime author makes bombshell Amy Bradley timeline claim and says Netflix got it all wrong

A true crime author has made a bombshell claim about the timeline of Amy Bradley's disappearance, arguing that Netflix's recent documentary on the case got key details wrong.

Amy Lynn Bradley vanished from the cruise ship Rhapsody of the Seas in 1998 while on a family vacation with her parents, Ron and Iva, and her younger brother, Brad.

Her disappearance was the subject of a new Netflix documentary, called Amy Bradley Is Missing.

Her father has long maintained he last saw her around 5:30 am on the cabin balcony, and by 6 am she was gone, with no evidence she jumped or fell overboard and no sighting of her on the ship's security cameras.

But James Renner, who investigated the case for months while writing his new book, A Cruise to Nowhere, believes Amy actually went overboard around 4:30 am, a full hour earlier than the accepted timeline, after struggling with depression linked to her sexuality and tension within her family.

Ron and Amy Bradley (Netflix)

What does the new Amy Bradley timeline claim?

Renner told the U.S Sun that the 4:30 am time appeared in early police and media summaries, including a 1998 report in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and that he believes it was changed at some point after Amy vanished. "The timeline that we've been given is incorrect, and I think it was designed for a specific purpose," he said.

He explained the distinction matters because of where the ship would have been at the time.

Amy Bradley (left) vanished from the Royal Caribbean cruise ship (Netflix)

"If the ship was in the canal in Curacao when Amy disappeared, they almost certainly would have found her body," he said. "That lends credence to the idea that she was kidnapped and forced into human trafficking."

Renner said he based the revised timeline on conversations with Amy's aunt, Marianne Noblin, who acted as the family's spokesperson in the weeks after the disappearance.

"I spoke to Amy's aunt, Marianne, who was the family's spokesperson in the weeks immediately after the disappearance," he said. "I believe she has the correct timeline, which is 4:30 am being the last time Amy was seen.

"That would mean the cruise ship was much farther out at sea. If she went overboard at that time, it would help explain why her body was never found."

Alister 'Yellow' Douglas became a key figure in the investigation. The FBI grilled him extensively, and he even agreed to take a polygraph test, which he reportedly passed. (Netflix)

Why does the author dismiss the trafficking theory?

The Netflix documentary also focused heavily on musician Alister 'Yellow' Douglas, who spent time with Amy on the night she disappeared.

Renner tracked him down in Granada, where he now works as a Christian minister, and said the FBI had ruled him out early in the investigation.

Renner also pushed back on comments from the documentary's director, Ari Mark, who recently said the FBI has identified a trafficking ring potentially linked to the case. "I find it hard to believe that he actually believes that," Renner said.

"He's also a showman, in the vein of P.T. Barnum, and he knows that story is certainly sexier than what is likely to be true, which is that she went overboard on her own power."