By Ariel Paul
Taylor Casey, a daughter, friend to many, and Black trans advocate, is someone who “builds community around her,” according to close friend Emily Williams. That’s why so many people, hundreds of people, are coming out in support of Taylor, because Taylor has poured into people.”
Casey was reported missing during her trip to the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat at paradise Island in the Bahamas, where she was pursuing yoga certification. Retreat employees officially reported missing her on June 20, when she didn’t attend her classes.
Williams, Casey’s friend of 15 years, is a key organizer of the current search. Once she heard Casey was missing, she “sprang into action.”
“When you know and love someone, and someone has been so central to your life, it’s like, ‘No, we’re not going to stand for injustice, we’re not going to stand for some inconclusive answer, absolutely not,’” Williams said.
She described Casey as a “life partner” who was present and watched her grow throughout her adult life. Over the years, they’ve bonded over a love of house music.
“I feel like Taylor knows me better than anyone else,” Williams said.
Despite the “surreal” moments that come from participating in the search, Williams said she believes her closeness to Casey makes her more resolute in locating her.
Casey loves to celebrate, family members note. She is an active part of her church and family community.
“We’re lost without [her],” said Colette Seymore, Casey’s mother. She described Casey as the “pillar” of the family. “Taylor’s always encouraging us to be better people, encouraging us to love one another. Just loving and caring, and [she] thinks everybody should be treated fairly.”
Seymore praised Taylor’s work with the LGBTQ+ community, especially LGBTQ+ youth.
“I couldn’t be no more proud of Taylor than I am,” Seymore said.
Casey was a co-author of “Life Skills,” a CDC-funded HIV intervention curriculum. She worked on it at Broadway Youth Center through Howard Brown Health and later at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. The curriculum went on to a multisite national trial funded by the Nation Institutes of Health.
“When I read about her disappearance, it took my breath away,” said Robert Garofalo, MD, who supervised Casey’s work on the Life Skills project twenty years ago.
Garofalo, professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University and division head of adolescent and young adult medicine at Lurie, said Taylor is “someone who has dedicated her life to her peers and her community. She is a really a bright light… a special person. I think she is the fabric of the trans community.”
Victor Motherwell met Casey at Broadway Youth Center 20 years ago. Their relationship began as colleagues. Now, he describes her as part of his “chosen family.”
Motherwell described Casey as “among the most forward-thinking, innovative people I’ve ever met, if not the most.”
He cited her accomplishments related to the Life Skills project, but he really appreciates her humor.
“You have to be really, really smart to get in a really good joke,” Motherwell said. “And she is one of those people who could just, like, absolutely crack people up.”
According to Motherwell, Casey is creatively inclined in addition to her academic accomplishments. She had practiced yoga for 15 years and was a licensed hairstylist. Many in the trans community had gotten their first style that “felt like them” from Casey.
He said that Casey was considering going back to school for fashion design.
“She is one of those people that just absolutely lives and breathes self-determination,” Motherwell added. “She is exactly who she says she is, and she is utterly unapologetic about being who she is—and strong and beautiful and bold in that.”
Motherwell said that he believes the “negligent” way the case has been handled is “probably influenced by [Taylor] being trans and being a woman of color.”
The family urges supporters to pressure local politicians—including Mayor Johnson and state senators—hoping for FBI involvement to help bring Casey home. They are also seeking donations to hire a private investigator.
“I want people to know that Taylor is beloved, she is needed, and she is irreplaceable,” said Motherwell.