Advice/vibes need for some Jackson, WY locals who are in trouble.

[jgb@etree]

I know this isn't ski related but we need some help.

My fiancé's brother and his wife are on a year long honeymoon, driving from their home in Jackson, WY all the way to the southern tip of South America. They left last March and are traveling in a Tacoma with a camper on the back, surfing and hiking along the way. My fiance's sister joined them for Christmas in Peru on Dec 22nd for the holidays.

Their camper was attacked a couple days ago and all were brutally attacked, kidnapped and robbed near Cuzco, Peru. The camper was trashed, they were all roughed up, missing teeth, hundreds of stitches between the three of them. They were held at gun point by an angry mob and managed to get away after 24 hours of interrogations and abuse. Everything was stolen - money, passports, clothing, surfboards, all their gear. Their camper is also trashed and is now not really functioning. They are afraid to go retrieve the truck because that's near the place of the attack.

They managed to get to a medical clinic to get medical treatment and are currently hiding out at a hotel in Cuzco, Peru.

So far I've called the Wyoming Police and they had me call the WY FBI office and I left a message. My fiance is writing and calling local WY government officials trying to get some help. But they are still stranded there with nothing but the clothes on their back. They have filed police reports but local police are not being helpful. According to them, no one is being helpful - they couldn't even get an ambulance ride once they escaped. The only people who have helped them are people at the local U.S. Consulate office

I'm hoping someone of authority in Wyoming (or anywhere) can help. These are good local people who are in desperate need of help. You may now these folks if you live in Jackson - they're great people who love traveling and adventure.

Help, advice is appreciated.

Wow. That really sucks. Haven't read the entire thread yet, but if they haven't contacted the embassy yet, they should ASAP. They're going to need to eventually as they're going to have to get replacement passports. In the meantime, it's likely that the embassy can help them out in one way or another.

[Moeghoul]

Glad to hear they're alive, nothing to add that hasn't been said. Hope they get home soon. Nobody mentioned direct contact to State Department, but I imagine that gets kicked back to the local embassy/consulate anyway.

[jSki]

Terrible situation, glad that they're ok for the most part and no major injuries. Sounds like the peruvians are trying to cover their asses now, I'd just get to a consulate and on a plane asap. Looked like an amazing adventure up to that point.

There's no way I'd just camp on the side of a road outside a small village. Especially near a tourist area where there's always anger towards foreigners. Pay a hostel to let them park and ask the locals about the next place you drive to get a feel for if it's ok. You can also send a western union to yourself before a trip and not require an ID, just the transfer number and security question. If you lose everything you can at least get some cash.

[Ski to Be]

+ 1 to the list of valuables detracting, also delete the request to fund councilling and the "expense" of a hotel in cuzco and lima.

What do they want? Justice? They are gringos in Peru, that'll be long and expensive. And they'll probably never be made "whole". Those people don't have anything. Buy a plane ticket, come home, regroup.

This is the best advise on this thread. Sometimes it is better to just cut your losses and get out ASAP. $4,000 for a Sony Vaio laptop seems a bit steep ? If I was going to the third world I would get a $400 laptop & cheap everything except for the tent.

[NmbrdDays]

Vibes out to our fellow Americans stuck down there. A terrible thing to happen when they were just out for new experiences and good times. Sucks to hear. I bet stuff like this happens frequently but it really does seem like something out of a movie. Life is more valuable than any material possessions. I hope they find the help they need to get back home safely. Hearing things like this make you think twice about going to places like that.

[babybear]

I like the idea of trying to get the media to pick it up. They'll have people down there by tomorrow to get the breaking story. And at least then they will be put up somewhere safe, taken care of, bought whatever they need and probably expedited through the system
Vibes from JH

[Moeghoul]

Some really good universal traveling tips getting suggested. I like the Western Union wire and scanning passports and the Global Rescue coverage in appropriate travel destinations. Maybe this thread has a silver lining and can help minimize the impact for others in similar situations. Shit, it can cover something like just losing your passport or wallet.

[XavierD]

So some rich gringos got a taste of SA life due to their lack of SA, noone south of the Rio Grande is gonna care, unless they are Americans.

Get to the consulate>>embassy ASAP and forget about the material shit, they won't get it back. Focus on getting back to the US and file this one under lessons learned, in the use some situational awareness, and the rest of the world an't that pretty section.

Hopefully your friends get out ok. Don't send any money.

[BackCountryNC]

Yeah, this should be all over the news. What a fucking nightmare.

[alpinevibes]

so far it looks like just JH local news has it on the web:

http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/article.php?art_id=9411

http://www.planetjh.com/news/A_109001.aspx

vibes to those three. i had a .357 put to my head in that part of the world; difficult situations take on a different light when you're on your own. hopefully the ball gets rolling to get them some help and get them back home!

[Hugh Conway]

$8k? $8k?

[flatlander420]

$8k? $8k?

Lima lax one way is 883$ on Copa Airlines. That should be plenty of dough to get back .

[ShadyNasty]

Hearing things like this make you think twice about going to places like that.

Ok I'm gonna be a douche and armchair QB this one. (After first saying that I do sincerely hope that they make it out of there ok and that there is great travel advice in this thread). The most experienced travelers here seem to agree these SA road trips are a bad idea unless you are super, super, super savy and prepared (even then a big risk). Still think everyone should travel there, just not in trans-continental road-trip style.

Something weird was going on here from the start, but it mostly seems like these people had some gringo-hate they wanted to vent. However, I still believe that ultimately what they wanted was just to show the gringos who was in charge. By not handing over their documents they were taunting the village authority (whether they realized it or not). The police have no authority there, the people act as their own authorities.

But worst of all they tried to defend themselves from the mob with 'bear spray' and expected to not be executed? Even if you got into a fight with just a couple of them, would it be easier for the village to let them go or to just bury them in the jungle? Even if the village leader did not want them harmed, what decision is easier for him once violence has started?

They should have given over the documents when first asked, for no other reason then they had no choice. Since they did panic and run but had to go back, they should have immediately surrendered without a fight, said they were scared by all the strong handsome men, and asked to speak with the Presidente again. If they got robbed at that moment, they should have prayed to God and begged for mercy, because that's the only chance they ever had anyway. If done right, maybe the Presidente would have left them something, or at least they wouldn't have been savagely beaten and nearly executed.

No one deserves this, but if you leave America, and especially rich ski-resort towns like Jackson, you may learn that words like 'deserve' and 'fair' and 'good times' are meaningless.

[ShadyNasty]

shit reading that makes it look like I had a really shitty day, I mean I did, but it's not like I got whipped by an angry mob

perspective... oh well I'm a dick

[smitchell333]

Keep us posted

The whole thing is crazy but I guess I can see the possibility in some of these places. I always felt uneasy in Peru, more so than any other place in SA other than Bolivia.

I hope some measure of justice is handed out, but they should just get out if there ASAP

[BigDaddy]

$8k? $8k?

Over $15k now... daym.

[neckdeep]

Read this. Note the date is current. This could explain why americans should tread lightly in rural Peru (I'm talkin to you Rideit). Our government has twisted the arm of the peruvian government and can apparently dictate the reversal of a popular domestic policy. A policy with huge economic impacts in the country tied for first in coke production at 300 tons annually. I'm no expert in Peru but I had recently read about this in regard to how the Obama adminstration just continues the same old, same old Reagan era style of drug war abroad and never really does any shit that addresses demand for coke in america.

http://en-maktoob.news.yahoo.com/per...-business.html

[OSECS]

Read this. Note the date is current. This could explain why americans should tread lightly in rural Peru. Our government has twisted the arm of the peruvian government and can apparently dictate the reversal of a popular domestic policy. A policy with huge economic impacts in the country tied for first in coke production at 300 tons annually. I'm no expert in Peru but I had recently read about this in regard to how the Obama adminstration just continues the same old, same old Reagan era style of drug war abroad and never really does the shit that addresses demand for coke in america.

http://en-maktoob.news.yahoo.com/per...-business.html

this post starts to get off track, but how do you "address the demand for coke in America" ? People like snorting coke, how do you change that ?

[neckdeep]

Who cares? The point is you can be on the trip of a lifetime and not realize that your government has DEA "advisors" running around Peru, Bolivia and Columbia helping the local governments spray herbicides all over village crops and then leaving the villagers with no food or coca to sell to buy food. Thats what we do. We indiscriminately aerial spray Monsanto's finest poisons all over village fields so that the local army and police officials can meet eradication quotas and get their payments for fighting narcoterrorism. As was repeated, travel with locals who are going to be able to ask around and find out what places to avoid.

[Tye 1on]

Who cares? The point is you can be on the trip of a lifetime and not realize that your government has DEA "advisors" running around Peru, Bolivia and Columbia helping the local governments spray herbicides all over village crops and then leaving the villagers with no food or coca to sell to buy food. As was repeated, travel with locals who are going to be able to ask around and find out what places to avoid.

while that same gov't turns a blind eye to large scale poppy production in Afghanistan.
actually the answer isn't that hard, move the direction of Portugal w/treatment instead of prisons, like suggested here

[rideit]

. As was repeated, travel with locals who are going to be able to ask around and find out what places to avoid.

this is the only way I have ever operated. Always travel with local guides, or in areas you know very well to be safe. which, in reality, is 85% of the country. Just like here.

[mtnbiker/boarder]

I feel as though the government shouldnt be down there tying to regulate what another country does...TYE1ON is right on the money as well .With that said, ^^^^ is right. the locals rely on the drug money for food and what not.....the dont get food stamps in peru like the poor get here and then have 50 inch tv's in their houses......when traveling anywhere outside your contry you should be well educated on where you are going,......

NOw lets hope these three get home safely and learned somehting form this...plus they are ALIVE....
Anyowrd on progress in getting them home??? VTSESSION...updates???

[rideit]

More on that.

Peru Wraps Up Coca-Leaf Eradication for 2012

December 15, 2012 by Andean Air Mail & PERUVIAN TIMES · Leave a Comment

Corah, Peru’s police agency responsible for the control and eradication of illegal coca crops, wrapped up its eradication program this week, Inforegion reported.

The agency has finished the year eradicating 14,171 hectares of illegally-grown coca, used to produce cocaine. The government’s goal was to remove 14,000 hectares in total this year.

The highest monthly total of eradication was in June, when Corah destroyed 1,700 hectares.

Peru’s anti-drug police, Dirandro, accompanied Corah on its assignments. At the same time, this year Dirandro destroyed 142 coca paste and cocaine labs .

Top government officials have said they plan to expand eradication in 2013.

Peru is one of the top global cocaine producers, along with Colombia and Bolivia.

Filed under Coca/Cocaine, Law & Justice, Politics, Provinces · Tagged with Coca crops, coca eradication program, coca leaves, coca paste, Coca/Cocaine, Corah, Dirandro
Related Posts

Devida: 80 percent of Peru-produced drugs are shipped abroad via its seaports
Peru Gov’t criticized for temporary suspension of coca eradication
Police, Military Confiscate Almost 1 Ton of Cocaine
Devida: drug trafficking is contributing to deforestation and contaminating rivers in Peru’s Amazon region
Police seize two tons of cocaine worth $100 million during weekend raids"

[shirk]

Serious question. Do they not have any sort of travel insurance? Or any insurance? Home owners?

Did they not have a cash reserve in the bank in case shit hit the fan while travelling?

[HankScorpio]

Quick update: We've been calling/e-ailing everyone from the FBI to the US Sate Dept. We've found that the local state reps we've called from Maine (their home state) and Wyoming are very helpful. Theses local reps have been in the phone the the consulate in Cusco relentlessly. The successfully arranged for them to fly from Cusco to Lima without IDs. They fly to Lima later today and then go to the US embassy where they will get new passports and will fly home to the states.

Maine's senator Susan Collins has been beyond helpful in getting them out of Cusco as quickly as possible. She got them on a flight without IDs, arranged their new passports and has basically pushed local consulate to get shit done.

Not to mention Senator Christensen from Wyoming has been extremely supportive in making sure they are safe and sound. She also offered us a wealth of info and advice on how to handle this. She told me on the phone "when good people from Wyoming are in trouble, I take it personally." She wants to pursue the people who committed this crime and have them punished. Its a long shot, but we're happy how responsive she's been.

I wanted to thank people again for the support/advice/positive thoughts. I've gotten so many PM's offering help its overwhelming. This is and will continue to be a tough experience for all those involved.

For those who think this is a scam or offer insensitive criticism, believe what you will and I hope nothing like this ever happens to you. This is very real and very terrifying.