The mother of an American woman who went missing in the Bahamas last month while on a monthlong yoga retreat revealed that her daughter is transgender, a detail she said she had withheld out of fear it might negatively affect the search.

Since Taylor Casey was last seen alive on June 19, her mother and close friends have been working around the clock to find her.

The group has created several social media accounts, started a GoFundMe campaign for legal representation and crafted lengthy news…