Mother missing after Memphis riverboat trip as cruise company says she didn’t go overboard

Tamia Taylor was last seen on a booze cruise in Memphis where she was celebrating her 21st birthday (Memphis Police Department)

A mystery surrounding the disappearance of a woman partying on a boat in Memphis is baffling the mother and the friends of the missing person, as no one yet has an answer as to her whereabouts.

A river cruise company in Memphis, Tennessee, says they do not think that a mother who went missing on their boat went overboard, saying they have video footage of her returning to the harbour on the boat.

Tamia Taylor, 21, was celebrating her birthday on Saturday aboard the Island Queen Booze Cruise with three work friends, according to Action 5 News.

When the boat docked, it was alleged that the mother-of-two was not aboard. She was last spotted around 11.30pm on 9 September, according to the Memphis Police Department.

Police are on their third day of investigating Ms Taylor’s whereabouts and say they are exploring every possible scenario.

A statement was released by the boat company, Memphis Riverboats Inc., on Monday on Facebook. They said, “We would like to express our sympathy to Tamia Taylor’s family and friends in regard to her being a missing person,” the statement read. “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.”

Debra Taylor, the mother of the missing person, drove the next day from Covington to Memphis to file a missing persons report.

However, Ms Debra Taylor is holding out hope for her daughter’s return but feels like the story of her disappearance does not make sense.

“No one knows anything, and I don’t understand how,” Debra Taylor told WREG. “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.”

Ms Tamia Taylor’s friends allegedly told her mother that “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.’”

Memphis Riverboats claim they have video footage of Ms Taylor as the boat was pulling into the harbour (Action 5 News)

“Why would you leave? That makes no sense. Y’all came together, y’all stick together,” Ms Taylor said.

One of Ms. Tamia Taylor’s friends, Kuandera Jenkins, who was on the boat with her that night, spoke to Action News 5.

He said that Ms Taylor had started to drink even before they arrived. At around 11.15pm, they all met up with friends at Memphis Riverboats, where while waiting in line to board, Ms Taylor started to speak to someone.

Mr Jenkins said the person gave Ms Taylor money so she could buy a drink for her birthday.

At some point during the boat ride, Ms Taylor allegedly went off to the bathroom and was gone for more than 15 minutes. “We all split it up and searched the whole boat while the boat was moving looking for Tamia,” Mr Jenkins said to Action 5 News.

Police boats and aircraft were both dispatched to search the river for the mother-of-two. Investigators are still searching for the whereabouts of Ms Taylor.