Taylor Casey missing: Mother of missing Chicago woman says visit to Bahamas was 'deeply unsettling'

BAHAMAS -- The family of a Chicago woman missing in the Bahamas is now pleading for more support from the U.S. government.

Taylor Casey, 41, was last seen June 19 while attending a yoga retreat on the paradise island.

"A young lady called me and said, 'Have you heard from Taylor?' And I'm like, I'm looking at the phone because I know this. She was from the yoga retreat and then she said Taylor hasn't showed up for yoga classes," recalled Casey's mom, Colette Seymore.

Seymore traveled to the retreat last week and now says her visit was "deeply unsettling."

She says she had to beg to talk to students at the retreat and says it felt like the students "were told what to say and what not to say."

Seymore also said she saw no missing-person posters, despite authorities saying they've spoken to "a number of people" and deployed drones, divers, and a canine unit.

"I feel like the police did the bare minimum without U.S. Government support, we may never find out what happened to my Taylor," Seymore said.

Police were able to find Casey's cellphone in the ocean last week but the family says authorities refuse to turn over the phone.

"We love Taylor and Taylor needs to be back home with Taylor's family," Seymore said.

The family says Casey would never just "take off" without telling them.

The police requested people at the yoga retreat for statements regarding Taylor but would not specify whether any were interrogated.

The police reportedly refused to inform the family's team how many statements they had collected and the names of those participants.

According to Ram Soskin, the lead manager of the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat, the Monday before Casey's disappearance, an unidentified man with a walkie-talkie was seen walking the same platform where Taylor's tent was located.

One of the retreat's participants who the Find Taylor Casey team spoke to said that Casey was approached while sitting alone at the beach by a stranger the same day she was last seen.

The man was wearing a Celtics baseball cap and dressed in all black. He claimed he was from Chicago and was interested in taking a yoga class. He proceeded to follow her onto the property, according to the website created to help find Taylor Casey.