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

[Cedars]

so this young lady went missing and presumably drowned on the 19th of October and an unnamed witness to that drowning has just now coming forward? Am I understanding that correctly? and a Kayak that has been missing since that date has now suddenly been found?

yeah nothing suspicious here . . .

IMO the story is entirely being told to the news media through the filter of the family back in the US, and they are reliant on an American based in Guatemala City, who they are paying to do a helicopter search.

IMO, the family and the news media are not at Lake Atitlan, interviewing local Guatemalans.

Atitlan is a very small, rustic place, occupied by marginalized poverty-stricken peasants who eke out a living. It has no bureaucracy. It has little pavement, no shopping malls, no luxury high rise hotels. People don't pay taxes to hire expert police/forensics, etc. That's why it's super cheap for Americans to stay there, and buy waterfront property and offer rustic yoga retreats.

When people drown there, other people look for them and, when they can't find them they say 'so sad, they drowned'.

So Lake Atitlan, Guatemala is not the US. <modsnip - not victim friendly>

JMO

 

[Centaurus]

Guatemala is a sovereign nation. Guatemalan law enforcement is handled by the National Civil Police of Guatemala.

So the family would have no help from any U.S. agency on their behalf? I honestly do not know these things and am super curious.

 

[slowpoke]

IMO the story is entirely being told to the news media through the filter of the family back in the US, and they are reliant on an American based in Guatemala City, who they are paying to do a helicopter search.

IMO, the family and the news media are not at Lake Atitlan, interviewing local Guatemalans.

Atitlan is a very small, rustic place, occupied by marginalized poverty-stricken peasants who eke out a living. It has no bureaucracy. It has little pavement, no shopping malls, no luxury high rise hotels. People don't pay taxes to hire expert police/forensics, etc. That's why it's super cheap for Americans to stay there, and buy waterfront property and offer rustic yoga retreats.

When people drown there, other people look for them and, when they can't find them they say 'so sad, they drowned'.

So Lake Atitlan, Guatemala is not the US. <modsnip - not victim friendly>

JMO

From what I read, I think Chris Sharpe of Black Wolf Helicopters is not American, but British. He was with the British Royal Navy for almost two decades. Link

He sounds like someone I’m sure Nancy’s family feels very fortunate to be able to have help them in their search for her.

 

[MesquiteO21]

Ng is seen in the video paddling in a kayak and waving to the camera. The video's release comes as Ng’s family clings to hope for her survival.

Guatemalan authorities report that a witness, who accompanied Nancy Ng, 29, on the kayak trip, claimed she wanted to swim farther into the lake and later drowned.

The FBI is raising questions about why the witness and Nancy's tour group waited 24 hours to report the alleged drowning.

Family Shares Final Video of Missing Woman from Guatemala Yoga Retreat, Sister Awaits Ransom Call

Authorities have released the latest video of Nancy Ng, who went missing during a Guatemala yoga retreat on Oct. 19, as the search continues.

themessenger.com

https://twitter.com/x/status/1721870928391376986

just for the sake of benefit of the doubt, is it possible they didn't have cell service? i'm not familiar with the area and how remote it may be, and what cell service is like out there

 

[imstilla.grandma]

According to a statement Guatemalan prosecutor's office provided to ABC News, Ng, who was traveling with a U.S.-based tour group, went out on the kayaking trip and, according to a woman she was with, they "advanced deeper into the lake," where "the missing woman tells" the witness "she wants to swim and that is when she drowns."

Details emerge after SoCal woman goes missing in Guatemala; FBI, helicopter team involved in search

The FBI is now involved in the urgent search for Nancy Ng, a Southern California woman whose family says she disappeared while on a yoga retreat in Guatemala around Oct. 19.

abc7.com

*I wonder who she was waving at in the video.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Ng was last seen while kayaking with other tourists who had come to Guatemala for the retreat, the Guatemalan Public Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. She and another person eventually broke off from the group, and they continued to kayak for slightly over a mile into the lake before Ng "decided to jump into the lake to swim, at which point she disappeared," according to the statement.

At that point, officials say the other person who had been kayaking with Ng turned back to notify the larger group, and, later, the staff of the hotel where they were staying. The hotel manager reported her disappearance to local authorities on Oct. 20, after initial attempts by staff to find Ng were unsuccessful. The others who traveled to Guatemala for the retreat checked out of the hotel that day to return to their homes, the ministry said.

Southern California woman disappeared during yoga retreat in Guatemala weeks ago, family says

Nancy Ng, a 29-year-old from L.A., was first reported missing Oct. 19 while on a yoga retreat in Lake Atitlán in Guatemala, according to her family.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[charminglane]

It's incredible how vague Nancy's case is.

 

[kaen]

There are certainly ways of getting in touch. Even though Santa Cruz has sparse population, it is a tourist spot which has decent 4g service. Will there be dead spots? Sure. But it is not in a mobile desert. Other areas of the lake have 3g, 4g, and 5g service in a wider swath. If someone needed to get help via cell phone it is possible.

 

[waldojabba]

So the family would have no help from any U.S. agency on their behalf? I honestly do not know these things and am super curious.

I see the fbi and state dept have been in touch with Guatemalan authorities.
jmo

 

[kaen]

Ng was last seen while kayaking with other tourists who had come to Guatemala for the retreat, the Guatemalan Public Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. She and another person eventually broke off from the group, and they continued to kayak for slightly over a mile into the lake before Ng "decided to jump into the lake to swim, at which point she disappeared," according to the statement.

At that point, officials say the other person who had been kayaking with Ng turned back to notify the larger group, and, later, the staff of the hotel where they were staying. The hotel manager reported her disappearance to local authorities on Oct. 20, after initial attempts by staff to find Ng were unsuccessful. The others who traveled to Guatemala for the retreat checked out of the hotel that day to return to their homes, the ministry said.

Southern California woman disappeared during yoga retreat in Guatemala weeks ago, family says

Nancy Ng, a 29-year-old from L.A., was first reported missing Oct. 19 while on a yoga retreat in Lake Atitlán in Guatemala, according to her family.

www.cbsnews.com

So she and one person continue to kayak out about a mile from the group. Not hugging the shore line but out into the middle of a large lake. The person sees her go into the lake. The person does not see her again. Paddles back to the group.

No one in the tour group or the tour leader gets a boat with a motor OR kayak and goes to the site where she disappeared? No alarm bells ring for anyone that this is an urgent situation? Not a single word in the story about wearing a PFD? No urgency at all for any one? Who showed the hotel staff where she was last seen? It all is so odd that there is no double time action to give assistance by her original companion or, by what we currently know, by the tour group/hotel.

What is very different in the US versus many other countries is that there are often much more laissez-faire
standards of safety. I have traveled a fair bit to developing countries and have seen conditions for bungee jumping, boating, snorkeling, SCUBA with little to no training, zip-lining, and excursions up volcanoes. In many instances, despite my youth and adventurous spirit, I declined to get on or pay to participate because the vehicles/equipment did not seem safe or the level of training that was given was too nominal. Kayaking does not seem like a dangerous activity on the face. That said, user operator knowledge/lack there of and equipment use like a pfd can mean the difference between life or death. Passing boats can cause a kayak to flip. Getting into a kayak from the water is not necessarily an easy task. You can do almost nothing in high winds if you lose your paddle. And, so much more. Not sure what happened here but it seems like we don't have the full story yet.

 

[slowpoke]

just for the sake of benefit of the doubt, is it possible they didn't have cell service? i'm not familiar with the area and how remote it may be, and what cell service is like out there

I was reading of a young man who drowned in another area of the lake (San Marcos) last year, (link-translated) and it looks like it was reported to the “Bomberos Voluntarios de Panajachel” and they responded right away, and took 3 hours to dive and recover the body. So, it appears alerting rescuers can be swift there.

 

[Stunned]

I was reading of a young man who drowned in another area of the lake (San Marcos) last year, (link-translated) and it looks like it was reported to the “Bomberos Voluntarios de Panajachel” and they responded right away, and took 3 hours to dive and recover the body. So, it appears alerting rescuers can be swift there.

So, why was no one alerted this time?

 

[waldojabba]

It's incredible how vague Nancy's case is.

Incredible and criminal imo.
You have a missing person presumed drowned who is part of a tour group from the states and staying at a hotel. The person kayaking with her from the tour group reports they went off from the group, then Ng decided to go swimming and drowned. Just gone like disappeared immediately?
Period? Did she not resurface At all? No life jacket?
What happened after that is fubar IMO. No formal searches are done bc authorities are not notified right away etc.
Where is the common decency and judgement here. Liability be damned.
This just does not seem credible. JMO

Ng was last seen while kayaking with other tourists who had come to Guatemala for the retreat, the Guatemalan Public Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. She and another person eventually broke off from the group, and they continued to kayak for slightly over a mile into the lake before Ng "decided to jump into the lake to swim, at which point she disappeared," according to the statement.

At that point, officials say the other person who had been kayaking with Ng turned back to notify the larger group, and, later, the staff of the hotel where they were staying. The hotel manager reported her disappearance to local authorities on Oct. 20, after initial attempts by staff to find Ng were unsuccessful. The others who traveled to Guatemala for the retreat checked out of the hotel that day to return to their homes, the ministry said.

Southern California woman disappeared during yoga retreat in Guatemala weeks ago, family says

Nancy Ng, a 29-year-old from L.A., was first reported missing Oct. 19 while on a yoga retreat in Lake Atitlán in Guatemala, according to her family.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[Cedars]

So, why was no one alerted this time?

This initial news broadcast linked above states "the Guatemalan Navy stopped it's search after 72 hours".

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

See timecode 1:03

This info was apparently supplied to NBC news by the family.

So, yes, authorities were alerted, a major search was undertaken. Her body was not found. It is the deepest lake in Central America.
JMO

 

[waldojabba]

This initial news broadcast linked above states "the Guatemalan Navy stopped it's search after 72 hours".

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

See timecode 1:03

This info was apparently supplied to NBC news by the family.

So, yes, authorities were alerted, a major search was undertaken. Her body was not found. It is the deepest lake in Central America.
JMO

Southern California woman disappeared during yoga retreat in Guatemala weeks ago, family says

Nancy Ng, a 29-year-old from L.A., was first reported missing Oct. 19 while on a yoga retreat in Lake Atitlán in Guatemala, according to her family.

www.cbsnews.com

Reposting the above article. From what I gather from this article and others was there was a Delay in reporting her missing. Formal searching was done but not in a timely fashion because the disappearance was not reported the day she disappeared.
There is some confusion but I believe she went missing Oct 19 and was not reported missing to the authorities until Oct 20. The delay is what I find problematic. JMO.

 

[musicaljoke]

So the family would have no help from any U.S. agency on their behalf? I honestly do not know these things and am super curious.

Sometimes the US agency will act as a liaison or public relations person or offer their lab services for specimens that can be sent in, and that kind of thing, but as far as entering the country to do actual investigative work, that is just as unlikely as it would be to have the Guatemalan police enter the US to do investigative work.

 

[Centaurus]

Sometimes the US agency will act as a liaison or public relations person or offer their lab services for specimens that can be sent in, and that kind of thing, but as far as entering the country to do actual investigative work, that is just as unlikely as it would be to have the Guatemalan police enter the US to do investigative work.

Thank you!!

 

[LauraAnne]

She jumped out of her kayak to take a swim? No one does that. Because you can't get back in. It's not like jumping off a ski boat or pontoon boat, where there's a ladder in the back you can climb back in.

Southern California woman disappeared during yoga retreat in Guatemala weeks ago, family says

Nancy Ng, a 29-year-old from L.A., was first reported missing Oct. 19 while on a yoga retreat in Lake Atitlán in Guatemala, according to her family.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[slowpoke]

She jumped out of her kayak to take a swim? No one does that. Because you can't get back in. It's not like jumping off a ski boat or pontoon boat, where there's a ladder in the back you can climb back in.

Southern California woman disappeared during yoga retreat in Guatemala weeks ago, family says

Nancy Ng, a 29-year-old from L.A., was first reported missing Oct. 19 while on a yoga retreat in Lake Atitlán in Guatemala, according to her family.

www.cbsnews.com

Maybe it depends on the type of kayak? I mentioned in one of my earlier posts how I went on a kayaking-and-snorkeling-excursion-in-one. It’s decades ago, so my recall is dim, but it definitely was both. I think it was a bit challenging getting back in, but a guide was with us if any of us had trouble.
eta: My excursion experience was probably something like this one: link

 

[Maumau1616]

I may have missed it, but what was the Yoga Retreat called in terms of the company name?