It was supposed to be the vacation of a lifetime, a chance for a single mother and her young daughter to relax and enjoy the sun and sand of Mexico. Karen Newton, had been staying at a popular resort with her 22-year old daughter, but things took a terrifying turn.
The Vacation
Karen Newton’s 22-year-old daughter went missing from their room at a luxury resort in Mexico’s Riviera Maya region on a night when she was unable to walk or stand due to being drugged.
“She couldn’t walk. She could barely stand.” stated Newton.
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Newton stayed by her daughter’s side until she fell asleep a couple of hours later, but when she woke up at around 4:30 a.m., she discovered that her daughter was no longer in the room.
The Incident
Newton raced through the halls and down the stairs at the resort, shouting her daughter’s name, but she did not find any sign of her. She eventually ran into a security guard who made a call in Spanish to someone and then asked Newton if she understood Spanish. When she said no, he told her to come with him.
Search For The Missing Daughter
As they walked along the path, a golf cart came speeding up behind them, slowed in front of them, but did not stop, and the security guard began running behind it, then jumped on the back. The cart took off, leaving Newton standing alone in the dark.
“It speeds up and takes off and leaves me standing there, in the dark, by myself at 4:30 in the morning,” Newton said. “No word of explanation.”
She sprinted back toward her room and found her daughter being dragged down the hallway by two security guards, half clothed, with an angry man following behind them.
“He was irritated that they were taking her,” Newton said. “When I saw her, she only had on her skimpy little underwear, bare feet, a towel wrapped around (the top of) her, coming down the hallway and this guy looking, peering over top of her like ‘Who’s taking my girl!’”
Daughter Found Safe
When Newton wrapped her arms around her daughter and pulled her toward their room, the men vanished, except for the security guard who had left Newton standing in the dark. Back in the room, her daughter slurred the words “nine hundred fifty dollars” over and over.
“Her daughter couldn’t say what the $950 was about. Newton could only guess.” reported the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel .
Aftermath
The mother was understandably relieved to have her daughter back, but she was also filled with fear and anger at what had happened. She had trusted the resort to keep her and her daughter safe, and instead, they had been the victims of a crime.
“I was thinking she needs to be checked … but I knew it wasn’t the safest to go off the resort … and she didn’t want to go. She said, ‘Mom, I don’t want to do it. I don’t want to go there. I just want to get the hell out of this country. I don’t want to do it’…She was really emotional.”
Warning to other travelers
The mother has since returned home and is seeking justice for what happened to her and her daughter. She is warning other travelers to be cautious when traveling to foreign countries and to be aware of their surroundings at all times.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has reported on numerous instances of American and Canadian tourists experiencing alcohol-related tragedies while vacationing in Mexico. Despite efforts by various authorities and organizations to improve safety for travelers, these efforts have yet to prevent further harm.