MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Memphis riverboat cruise company says they don’t think missing mother Tamia Taylor went overboard as she celebrated her 21st birthday aboard their boat Sunday, saying video shows her returning to the harbor on the boat.
Wednesday marked Day 3 in the search for Taylor, who boarded the Island Queen Booze Cruise in downtown Memphis to celebrate her birthday with some friends.
When the boat made it back to the dock, the missing mother of two wasn’t aboard. Memphis Police have searched the harbor area and are exploring every possible scenario.
A police report states that Taylor texted her mother at 11:39 that night, saying she was on the boat, according to her mother. The cruise ended at 1:30 a.m., less than two hours later.
The company, Memphis Riverboats, posted on Facebook Monday, expressing sympathy for the Taylor family, and saying video from the cruise shows Taylor on their boat as it returned to the harbor.
“We can confirm from video footage circling around that she was last seen on the boat as the boat was pulling into the Harbor, where we dock our boats. We have no reason to believe she could have gone overboard and we will be respecting MPD as they conduct their investigation. We hope she is found safe and returns home,” the company said in its statement.
WREG reached out to the company, asking exactly what video it reviewed and whether it has cameras of its own on board, but the company has not responded.
Meanwhile, Taylor’s mother is still hoping for the best, but she has many questions, and doesn’t think she’s getting the whole story from her daughter’s friends.
“No one knows anything, and I don’t understand how,” Debra Taylor said. “I do feel the people she was with, I do think that they know more than they’re putting out. I do think, and I do have enough sense to know she didn’t just leave here. She didn’t just disappear.”
Debra Taylor explained recently, “The only thing they (her friends) told me was, she went upstairs on the second floor to use the bathroom. She put her phone down on the table. ‘We picked her phone up, we went and waited by the door for her to come out and then we left.’ Why would you leave? That makes no sense. Y’all came together, y’all stick together.”
WREG has reached out to the people Taylor was with that night. We are still working to get a response.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Memphis Police Department at 901-545-2677.
