A Former Federal Warden Takes Amy Bradley's Case to Congress | Witness Wednesday: Linda Thomas

Linda Thomas spent 34 years in corrections. She started as a warden in Ohio's Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections. When Homeland Security was created in 2003, she was recruited to Washington to run the national detention program for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Then the Bureau of Prisons — associate warden, warden in Oxford, Wisconsin, then managing 14 federal private prisons across the country. She retired in 2023.

In early 2025, she watched an episode of Disappeared about Amy Bradley. She watched it 15 times. Then she wrote the Bradley's a letter.

What Linda brought to that letter was 34 years of watching how incarcerated people talk — and why. Her opening proposition to the family: the answer to Amy's case is probably sitting in a prison somewhere. Someone who knows something. Someone who, given the right incentive, will talk. She's seen it happen hundreds of times.

What she's done since that letter is take Amy's case to the halls of Congress.

This Witness Wednesday episode covers:

— Linda's background: 34 years in corrections, Homeland Security, the Bureau of Prisons, and managing federal private prisons — and why that background made Amy's case impossible to walk away from

— The letter she almost didn't send: watching Disappeared 15 times, writing the letter, holding it, and finally sending it to the Bradley's in March 2025

— Senator Grassley's Judiciary Committee: how Linda secured a meeting in September 2025, what the committee did with the information, and what the FBI sent back — that the case was an inactive investigation

— Congressman Comer: meeting with him personally in January 2026, a follow-up Teams meeting in April, and what the committee is now pursuing

— The push for HSI: why Linda believes Homeland Security Investigations — not the FBI — should lead Amy's case, and why HSI has the boots on the ground that the FBI doesn't

— The FBI's record in plain language: from a former federal law enforcement officer who took the same oath — "I know that what they've been told is not true."

— The prison intelligence angle: how Ohio used flashcards and inmate informants to solve cold cases, how the American Correctional Association has international reach, and why Linda believes the answer to Amy's case may be one deal away from coming out

— Judy Maurer: Linda's take on what happened in that Barbados restroom — "I believe Judy would have been killed if she stayed in that bathroom any longer. Amy saved your life."

— The family: "They were in their forties. They're in their seventies. They need to have their daughter back."

— Why she's not going away: "We don't go away until they do."

If you have information about Amy's disappearance — 1-800-CALL-FBI or tips.fbi.gov. Tips can be submitted anonymously. The FBI reward is now $100,000.

100% of Invisawear commissions go to the Bradley family's GoFundMe. 10% off through the link in the show notes. Support the show at no extra cost through our Amazon link.

📚 Echo 1953 — Book One of The Hollis Files — launches July 27th, 2026. Preorder on Amazon now. Link in the show notes.

amybradleyismissing.com | Amy Alerts petition | tips.fbi.gov | 1-800-CALL-FBI | Invisawear | Bradley family GoFundMe | Patreon

#AmyBradley #AmyLynnBradley #AmyBradleyIsMissing #AfterEpisode10 #LindaThomas #WitnessWednesday #CongressionalAdvocacy #LegislativeAdvocacy #MidnightMysteryArchive #TrueCrimePodcast #InvestigativePodcast #ColdCase #MissingPersons #BradleyFamily #RonBradley #IvaBradley #BradBradley #HumanTrafficking #FBIReward #Curacao #RhapsodyOfTheSeas #WhatItWouldTake #Echo1953 #TheHollisFiles #DocumentarySeries #TrueCrimeDocumentary #InvisaWear #UnsolvedCases

Thanks to our monthly supporters

• William
• jared K
• Lisa Mooney
• Jamie Mcconnell

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★