Guatemala - Nancy Ng, 29, from Monterey Park CA, missing during Yoga Retreat, 19 Oct 2023

[Knox]

A search is underway for Nancy Ng, a California woman who vanished while on a yoga retreat in Guatemala. NBC News' Valerie Castro spoke with the Ng family who says details into the 29-year-old's disappearance have been sparse.

California woman disappears while on yoga retreat in Guatemala

A search is underway for Nancy Ng, a California woman who vanished while on a yoga retreat in Guatemala. NBC News' Valerie Castro spoke with the Ng family who says details into the 29-year-old's disappearance have been sparse.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[tarabull]

Monterey Park Resident, Nancy Ng, Is Missing

Nancy Ng, a U.S. citizen and a resident of Monterey Park, went missing on Lake Atitlán in Guatemala on Thursday, October 19, 2023. By News Desk Nancy is 29 ye

www.coloradoboulevard.net

 

[Knox]

Not much MSM on this case yet
Uncertain if foul play is suspected, or this is an accident that happened on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala?
There are some tiktok videos made by friends, but don't think I can bring here due to TOS.

 

[slowpoke]

Help Us Find Nancy IG Page
(operated and monitored by the Ng family)

from the page:
”helpusfindnancy
My sister, Nancy, went missing in Lake Atitlán on Thursday, October 19, 2023. She left from the Santa Cruz side of the lake by kayak and allegedly got out of the kayak to swim”

 

[ifindedout]

Help Us Find Nancy IG Page
(operated and monitored by the Ng family)

from the page:
”helpusfindnancy
My sister, Nancy, went missing in Lake Atitlán on Thursday, October 19, 2023. She left from the Santa Cruz side of the lake by kayak and allegedly got out of the kayak to swim”

Could she, despite having swimming skills, have been overcome by vertigo in the water, as Naya Rivera was?

 

[slowpoke]

I wonder if she

Could she, despite having swimming skills, have been overcome by vertigo in the water, as Naya Rivera was?

I’m remembering the time we went out on a kayaking/snorkeling activity in Hawaii once. We were in a guided group, and the instructor gave us warning that some people get dizzy and nauseous (maybe kinda like motion sickness?) from either activity. As a matter of fact, I recall there was one girl having to forgo the snorkeling part, as she felt unwell.

I’ve forgotten how they made sure the kayak stayed put while we snorkeled around? Could the kayak have drifted away while Nancy was swimming and she tired before she could get back to it? I wonder if she was in a group out on the lake, or was she solo?

 

[amayla]

maybe a drowning?

 

[amayla]

reminds me a little of when catherine shaw was missing in Guatemala.

 

[kaen]

It would be helpful to know if she was in the water alone or launched from the shore or dock alone. It sounds ominous that her family on the missing page is implying that witnesses have not been interviewed or forthcoming.

 

[Cedars]

Could she, despite having swimming skills, have been overcome by vertigo in the water, as Naya Rivera was?

I've heard a lot about Atitlan, most people don't swim near shore because there's runoff from crops and daily activity.

Also, I found a non-MMM source about kayaking and swimming on the lake, says in the afternoon a wind and currents makes the lake choppy and hard to swim or paddle.

There is mention of "witnesses", but did they really see her in the water and not help her? Or did they see her take out an open kayak (unlikely it was a real kayak), or even not see her take it, but it is missing?

What it sounds like to me is she went out alone and didn't come back. From stories posted above, it seems a water search was initiated right away and went on for 72 hours. It is an enormous lake and extremely deep. There are no islets or any way to shelter, and most of the lake has trails along the water.

My condolences to her family.

JMO

 

[slowpoke]

From the ColoradoBoulevard.net article:
”The need for witnesses (many of whom have returned to the United States in the past week) to provide any information they may know is imperative.”

The above quote makes me think maybe there were others around her, and they were part of the yoga retreat group she was there in Guatemala for.
(The NBC video stated she was on a yoga retreat.)

JMO

 

[kaen]

I have spent a bit of time at Lake Atitlan. It is indeed beautiful.

The afternoon breeze (really winds) are refreshing but make it hard to navigate in a small boat let alone a kayak. Closer to shore there is the hazard of boats hitting a person in the water--people travel fast in their boats. In places like Santa Cruz, there is also a thin film of fuel and definitely fumes so you need to go far out to get past the boats and the boat exhaust.

In many areas, you don't want that water on your face, nose or in any way getting into your system. The pollution and bacteria/bugs in the water is real. I didn't get sick from the lake but from a restaurant that used local water. It was one of the most unpleasant things that I have ever experienced. No joke.

The depth of the lake means that there are real currents. So, kayaking alone and swimming from the kayak might mean you get separated quickly. It is not activity that I would ever do alone and without a pfd.

 

[Springrain]

Could she, despite having swimming skills, have been overcome by vertigo in the water, as Naya Rivera was?

This was my first thought as well, reminiscent of Naya Rivera's tragic death IMO. Even if one is a strong swimmer (like Naya was), things can hit the fan SO QUICK in water, especially with currents. Sadly I'm thinking IMO it sounds as if poor Nancy was probably a drowning victim. It sounds from what everyone has posted that Lake Atitlan is beautiful but dangerous. And drownings can happen even in water that's considered to be very safe; I believe you can drown in only 2 inches of water.

 

[Knox]

I have spent a bit of time at Lake Atitlan. It is indeed beautiful.

The afternoon breeze (really winds) are refreshing but make it hard to navigate in a small boat let alone a kayak. Closer to shore there is the hazard of boats hitting a person in the water--people travel fast in their boats. In places like Santa Cruz, there is also a thin film of fuel and definitely fumes so you need to go far out to get past the boats and the boat exhaust.

In many areas, you don't want that water on your face, nose or in any way getting into your system. The pollution and bacteria/bugs in the water is real. I didn't get sick from the lake but from a restaurant that used local water. It was one of the most unpleasant things that I have ever experienced. No joke.

The depth of the lake means that there are real currents. So, kayaking alone and swimming from the kayak might mean you get separated quickly. It is not activity that I would ever do alone and without a pfd.

Wow thank you for chiming in with first hand knowledge of the area!! Hoping Nancy is found soon, I feel terrible for her family. Bad enough when your loved one goes missing in the States

 

[Cedars]

From the ColoradoBoulevard.net article:
”The need for witnesses (many of whom have returned to the United States in the past week) to provide any information they may know is imperative.”

The above quote makes me think maybe there were others around her, and they were part of the yoga retreat group she was there in Guatemala for.
(The NBC video stated she was on a yoga retreat.)

JMO

Yes, a retreat involves taking scheduled classes and meals together, but there is lots of free time for people to do whatever they want, and they don't normally hang out together the whole time, though some might make or already be friends.

Normally yoga is done in the morning after a small breakfast, then afternoon is free time, this is why I assumed she might have gone out on the water after lunch.

JMO

ETA: others gone home last week? I would think they'd have only been on a 1 week retreat, which is the normal length, and I don't see them continuing the retreat after one person's gone missing (!) But, you never know.

 

[slowpoke]

KTLA article
“Nancy had enjoyed her time on the lake during last year’s excursion so much, she had planned to spend even more time there this year.

“She was saying it’s so beautiful,” Nicky recalled. “Last year, she woke up every morning just to spend some time there by herself without the group and this year was going to be more exciting because they had planned activities on the lake.”

===
“Sharpe said the primary witnesses, people who may have been with Nancy the day she disappeared, haven’t been forthcoming with the investigation, making things more difficult.”

 

[jash]

California woman disappears while on a yoga retreat in Guatemala, family in ‘living hell’

A frantic search is underway for a Southern California woman who went missing nearly two and a half weeks ago during a yoga retreat at a popular tourist spot in Guatemala.

nypost.com

While the Guatemalan government is leading the investigation with help from the FBI, local rescue teams there have searched about 95% of the lake by air and land along with divers and drones, her family told the outlet.

“We don’t know where she went in, where she went missing because there’s no corroboration of that,” said [CS], the co-owner of Black Wolf Helicopters, who is helping in the search efforts. “We’ve got a rough idea, but it varies from one side of the lake to the other.”

 

[imstilla.grandma]

California woman disappears while on a yoga retreat in Guatemala, family in ‘living hell’

A frantic search is underway for a Southern California woman who went missing nearly two and a half weeks ago during a yoga retreat at a popular tourist spot in Guatemala.

nypost.com

 

[slowpoke]

The Black Wolf Helicopters FB page (who is assisting the search for Nancy) has several posts on the search.

 

[charminglane]

Are these photos from this year's trip or from her trip there in 2022?