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

[waldojabba]

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

I don’t believe we have the name of the hotel or the name of the US company that organized the retreat. Just another thing I find odd. JMO

 

[Seni]

Surely US embassy would be involved by now.

 

[slowpoke]

I don’t believe we have the name of the hotel or the name of the US company that organized the retreat. Just another thing I find odd. JMO

It seems intentional on the family‘s part to not name the hotel or retreat organization.

Maybe they don’t want to cast blame or cause ill will until they hear all the facts to see if they were responsible or negligent in any way.

MOO

 

[waldojabba]

It seems intentional on the family‘s part to not name the hotel or retreat organization.

Maybe they don’t want to cast blame or cause ill will until they hear all the facts to see if they were responsible or negligent in any way.

MOO

Very well could be.
Imo to name the hotel could potentially help maybe jog others memories who may have seen her while vacationing at the same time/ maybe in the lake at the same time etc. Maybe they are home from vacation now and reading about this in msm like we are.
I don’t know if naming the tour group would have any potential merit as hopefully those attendees have already been contacted.
Just imo

 

[Maumau1616]

Very well could be.
Imo to name the hotel could potentially help maybe jog others memories who may have seen her while vacationing at the same time/ maybe in the lake at the same time etc. Maybe they are home from vacation now and reading about this in msm like we are.
I don’t know if naming the tour group would have any potential merit as hopefully those attendees have already been contacted.
Just imo

I can't imagine they wouldn't have known about her disappearance given there was a search started immediately... I'm not sure how I feel. It seems odd though.

 

[slowpoke]

From an ABC7 article: (bolded by me)
“Prosecutors in Guatemala say Nancy Ng, a 29-year-old Southern California woman who disappeared while on a yoga retreat last month, drowned while kayaking in the Central American country. But her parents say that explanation conflicts with information they've received from their attorney.”

It doesn’t say how the “drowned while kayaking” conclusion conflicts with information their attorney has given them. What did the attorney learn, and from what source, I wonder?

 

[ChatteringBirds]

This is so tragic, and I really feel for her family.

Pure speculation on my part but perhaps no one wanted to take quick responsibility for reporting the drowning (for fear of losing their job, etc.) and waited on the tiny chance that she didn't drown and would appear back at the hotel. Then when she didn't, it was reported the next day?

If something like that happened, it's appalling. But we see many cases of people not immediately reporting their missing friend/partner missing.

Sometimes the reason is fear, self-preservation, or denial and sometimes the lack of reporting just doesn't make sense.

It reminds me a bit of when special-needs teenager Nora Q. went missing in Malaysia and the hotel told her parents they would need to drive to the police station in order to report it. There was searching but not as quickly as you would hope.
All JMO/IMO.

 

[waldojabba]

I can't imagine they wouldn't have known about her disappearance given there was a search started immediately... I'm not sure how I feel. It seems odd though.

There was no immed organized search done by authorities. Nancy was not reported missing to the authorities it seems until a day later. Members of her group flew out the same day she was reported missing. JMO

 

[slowpoke]

USAToday article:
“Sharpe said his team has postponed the search until further information comes to light. "I do foresee that the search be restarted as soon as the prime witness comes forward," he said.”

 

[MsMarple]

USAToday article:
“Sharpe said his team has postponed the search until further information comes to light. "I do foresee that the search be restarted as soon as the prime witness comes forward," he said.”

By “prime witness” does he mean the person who was kayaking with Nancy? The one who apparently ran back to their hotel and checked out?

I don’t think I’ve ever heard of someone entering the water to swim and just disappearing below the surface, no flailing about no resurfacing ever. Either something is wrong with this story or else something was wrong with Nancy. Or else neither were on the water. Could the video be from a different time that day?

Do we know if Nancy’s kayaking companion was male or female?

 

[ms_x_to_the_m]

So just thinking out loud here. What if the person she was with, there was an accident and then this person pretended, set up a pretend event. Most times, you see people from afar, or others can suggest what you saw (ex, remember that you saw her, she was swimming, just over there?)
It's possible she had an "accident" outside of the water and that is why they can't find her.

again, just thinking out loud

 

[charminglane]

I have googled.
There are no creatures living in the lake to snatch someone.
There is a Nessie-type being only.

 

[insearchoflight]

By “prime witness” does he mean the person who was kayaking with Nancy? The one who apparently ran back to their hotel and checked out?

I don’t think I’ve ever heard of someone entering the water to swim and just disappearing below the surface, no flailing about no resurfacing ever. Either something is wrong with this story or else something was wrong with Nancy. Or else neither were on the water. Could the video be from a different time that day?

Do we know if Nancy’s kayaking companion was male or female?

“according to a woman she was with, they advanced "approximately 2 kilometers deeper into the lake, where the missing woman tells" the witness that "she wants to swim and that is when she drowns," the statement said.

Why it took that woman and the tour group 24 hours to report the incident to authorities remains a mystery.”

BBM from Nancy Ng disappearance: Guatemala officials release new details amid search for SoCal woman | abc7.com

 

[charminglane]

I wonder if Nancy was wearing any valuable/sentimental jewelry on her trip.

 

[10ofRods]

I took kayaking classes before ever going kayaking in the ocean. No one in my class was able to rescue someone else from the water, something our instructor made us practice every single class. Instructor would tip someone over. We were on flat water in a harbor, no real current. But, most of the time, the would-be rescuer fell out of their kayak as well, which is what the instructor was trying to teach us (we were all wearing life jackets, of course).

Half of us could not get back on our kayaks without help from the instructor (who held the kayak steady from the opposite side the person was trying to climb). I was able to get back in my kayak, although I felt very shaky in this skill and it was a bit embarassing (we women had a harder time pulling our bottoms out of the water - the men had greater upper body strength). Most of the women had wider kayaks (which are less tippy). Being me, I wanted the tippy (faster moving) one, and it was HARD to get back in, and I felt really silly with my butt in the air while I performed my self-rescue, but I did learn to do it.

I would *never* be able to rescue a person in the water from a kayak, unless the water was shallow enough for me to hit bottom with my own feet - and I would never go kayaking with people who weren't wearing both life jackets and an insulated rash guard - even in 70F water. If I saw someone else in distress, I'd be screaming for help, but I do not think having two people drown would be the best outcome - and that's likely what will happen if there's not someone who knows what they're doing.

If there were two people in the kayak and one went overboard (and could not get themselves hauled back up onto the kayak without tipping it), it is a recipe for disaster if neither has a life jacket. One approach would be to get closer to the drowning person and have them hang onto the paddle - but in that case, the kayak can't be paddled and that's dangerous. I wonder if they had a towel or any other item to use. I'd use a bathing suit, if I had to, to keep the person next to the kayak - until rescue.

If both people were pretty experienced in choppy water kayaking, they could probably work out a self-rescue, but it would have to be quickly and carefully planned. IMO.

 

[insearchoflight]

So if we are to believe the witness statement, Nancy and this woman (the witness) went kayaking and Nancy decided to swim and drowns. Witness comes back to hotel and doesn’t report this until the next day. This is what I’m gathering from the information reported.

Edited to add link Nancy Ng disappearance: Guatemala officials release new details amid search for SoCal woman | abc7.com

 

[MesquiteO21]

So if we are to believe the witness statement, Nancy and this woman (the witness) went kayaking and Nancy decided to swim and drowns. Witness comes back to hotel and doesn’t report this until the next day. This is what I’m gathering from the information reported.

Edited to add link Nancy Ng disappearance: Guatemala officials release new details amid search for SoCal woman | abc7.com

i'm confused if it took that woman 24 hours to tell the company, or if she told the company right away and they waited 24 hours.

 

[insearchoflight]

i'm confused if it took that woman 24 hours to tell the company, or if she told the company right away and they waited 24 hours.

Yes and also states they are waiting on the witness to step forward before they resume searches. There’s got to be more to the story with this witness. Not accusing. It’s possible she’s traumatized/in shock. I’ve known people so traumatized by an event they tricked themselves into believing it never happened thinking it would just go away. Whatever the case, this witness needs to provide an accurate location where searchers can hopefully recover the body. Moo

 

[Dhighsmith]

i'm confused if it took that woman 24 hours to tell the company, or if she told the company right away and they waited 24 hours.

Not that I agree but if privately owned, I can imagine the resort possibly delaying reporting of drowning to give them time to internally investigate and develop a response- PR mode.

 

[MsMarple]

“according to a woman she was with, they advanced "approximately 2 kilometers deeper into the lake, where the missing woman tells" the witness that "she wants to swim and that is when she drowns," the statement said.

Why it took that woman and the tour group 24 hours to report the incident to authorities remains a mystery.”

BBM from Nancy Ng disappearance: Guatemala officials release new details amid search for SoCal woman | abc7.com

Thanks for that. Duh, I should have paid better attention.

I'm really uncomfortable with the notion of "she wants to swim and that is when she drowns." Wouldn't a more typical report be something like "she wanted to swim and when she entered the water she began struggling to stay afloat...?" It seems like a big chunk is missing.

And yes, like @10ofRods described above, it's difficult to rescue someone when you're in a kayak. When I still lived in Miami we'd practice rolls in our pool and boy, it's tough enough to save yourself. And that's why using a paddle as an aid really comes in handy. Mind you my kayak has a rudder and pedals, a spray skirt and a fairly heavy footprint in the water. I don't know a lot about the plastic ones.

Still, if a friend was in the water drowning wouldn't y'all do whatever you could to save them? For that matter, what stopped Nancy from grabbing onto the kayak, even if it overturned? I dunno, it all sounds hinky right now.
MOO