Disappeared Kayaking on Guatemalan Lake: What Happened to Nancy Ng?
01:17:29 Share

Stay farm and DJ Dramos from Life as a Gringo. No making smarter financial moves today secures a financial freedom for a successful tomorrow. Now we have a level of privilege that our parents never had. So what do we do with it, right? How do we utilize the opportunities that we have that they don't, right? And a lot of that is educating ourselves, educating ourselves on how to not make the same mistakes they did.

Like a good neighbor? State Farm is there. State Farm, proud sponsor of My Cultura Podcast Network. With Lucky Land Sluts, you can get lucky just about anywhere. Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to... Has anyone seen the bride and groom? Sorry, sorry, we're here. We were getting lucky in the limo and we lost track of time. No, Lucky Land Casino, with cash prizes that add up quicker than a guest registry. In that case, I pronounce you lucky. Yay!

Buy for free at LuckyLandSluts.com. No purchase necessary. BGW grip. Void where prohibited by law. 18 plus. Terms and conditions apply. Hello, everyone, and welcome back to True Crime with Kendall Ray. I am so grateful to have you here today. Thank you so much for joining me once again. And if you are new, then welcome. Happy to have you here as well. So I'm going to jump right in because we have a ton to go over. The case I am going to be covering today is a bit different than

than my typical coverage, but it is definitely one that deserves and needs attention desperately. I'm going to be talking about the disappearance and alleged drowning of Nancy Ng. This is a case that I first started following back in October of 2023. So very recently this happened actually. And I have been wanting to cover it, but wanted to wait until I could collaborate with

with this family. Today, you are going to be hearing directly from Nancy's family, and they are so impressive to me. I told them on the phone the other day when we chatted that to me, it's just...

It's unimaginable to have to be in a situation where you are grieving the loss of your loved one, but at the same time, you have to be thrown into this world of fighting for justice, trying to seek answers and going on TV, trying to do news coverage. It can be such a challenge. I don't know how people can find the strength to do it, honestly, and they have just been

Yeah, so inspiring to me. Now, the reason I say that this case is different than a lot of the cases that I cover is because it is not 100% confirmed that there was foul play involved in this case. In fact,

There may not have been, but that is the answer that everyone needs to know. It's possible, but it's not the only option here. And the Ng family is completely aware of that. They are not in denial about what has happened here, but they want answers. And if I were in their shoes...

I mean, I'd hope I had the strength to fight for it the way that they have. But I would certainly want those answers as well. I think anyone would. A lot of...

Very sketchy, very disturbing, very shady things have gone on in this case, and it is not one that can just be brushed under the rug and ignored. And it's because of all the shadiness that the Ng family has gone without answers as to what happened in Nancy for the last five months. I hear it from the families I work with time and time again. I hear it from viewers who have experienced this themselves before.

or I just can't imagine what it would be like to be in this situation. It's it. I know for a fact that not having answers as to what happened to your loved one has to be is the one of the worst things that someone can possibly go through in this life. How are you supposed to move forward without answers? How are you supposed to get closure without answers and truly grieve and mourn the loss the way that you should be able to?

You just can't. But I don't think it has to be that way. And that's why I wanted to bring this case to my audience, because you guys have been phenomenal about being active true crime consumers, taking those extra steps, helping families in need. And I hope that this can...

boost coverage in the case, but also boost the chances that someone will actually do something. Right off the bat, I want to let you know that you can learn more about how to specifically help the Ng family with the information in my description box, although I will break it down more clearly towards the end of this episode. And with that, I'm eager to jump into things here. I'm fired up and I want to tell you about Nancy and

What an incredible woman she was. So Nancy Ng was born on June 28th, 1994 in Monterey Park, California to her loving parents, Stephanie and Henry. She was the oldest of four siblings. She has one sister named Nikki and two brothers named Jonathan and Richard. Today, you guys will be hearing from Nikki and from Jonathan, and I really want to thank them for taking the time to help put this episode together, help clarify information because

There has been things misreported in the news, and it's really helpful to get that clarification from family members directly and to hear about the victim directly from the family. That just I mean, there's no other place that you could possibly get clarification.

Such in-depth information and knowledge into who they actually were as a person. And I know it's not easy, especially with this being so fresh, to come onto a large platform like this in front of thousands of people and share information about the world.

the worst thing that's ever happened to you. So I know that you guys will be kind to them in the comments and thank you in advance. And just from what I've learned about Nancy, you know, from research, but also spending time just talking to them, I can absolutely see why so many people in her own life have rallied behind getting the truth out, but why so many strangers online have also taken interest in her story and want to see them get those answers and justice if needed. Nancy was a light.

She absolutely was. And from everything I've learned about her, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that this world is a darker place without her in it. She was someone that made the world a better place just by existing. She was someone who let her inner child show on the outside. She was not afraid to be exactly who she was outside.

and her presence alone was enough to lift people up, and everything she did, she did with kindness, empathy, and grace. And that even includes her job. I think when you hear what she did for a living, it will say everything that you need to know about her and the type of person she was. Nancy worked in the Alhambra Unified School District with special education students and had a passion for helping others. To me, doing that type of work takes such a special place

kind-hearted soul and not many people could do it and not only did she do it but she loved doing it and she loved her students and truly cared about them when I was talking to Nikki the other day she was telling me just how much she loved these kids she would even go out of her way to buy them little gifts and not just get like a you know

multi-pack of bouncy balls or something for them, but would find things that she knew each of them would like based on their personal interests because she truly loved them. I think that going that extra mile shows what a kind, compassionate soul is.

That she truly was. And that's why I say, you know, the world is a darker place without her in it. I truly believe that. Nancy has also been described as a supportive friend, a caring daughter, and a loving sister. And someone that you could quite literally talk to about anything for hours. From what I've learned about her, I just picture Nancy as one of those people that you could sit down on a couch with and just start talking. And, you know, before you know it, four hours have gone by and you feel so heard and so...

appreciated and it's just that that type of friend is really rare plus and i relate really hard to this one of nancy's favorite things to do was cuddle up with her cat momo and i love that i love cat people so i don't know it's just it's it's so sad she was such a good person

It's Ryan Seacrest here. People always say it's good to unwind, but that's easier said than done. The exception, Chumpa Casino. They actually make it easier done than said, or at least the same. Chumpa Casino is an online social casino with hundreds of casino-style games like slots and blackjack.

Play for fun. Play for free. For your chance to redeem some serious prizes. Sign up now and collect your free welcome bonus at ChumpaCasino.com. Sponsored by Chumpa Casino. No purchase necessary. VGW Group. Void where prohibited by law. 18 plus terms and conditions apply.

It's how you internet. Check availability today.

Price after $10 monthly bill credit while you maintain a nationally available postpaid voice line. Qualifying credit required. Regulatory fees included for qualified accounts. Plus $5 per month without auto pay. Debit or bank account required.

She also loved yoga, traveling and hiking with her family. At 29 years old, it sounds to me like she had an incredibly fulfilling life and that she was welcoming any and all opportunities to continue to live that way. But if there's anyone that can really speak to Nancy's amazing qualities, it's her family. So take a listen. Nancy is the most special person. She's my best friend and

And just be brightest light. I always told Nancy that she was one of the few people that were good that were left on this earth. And I meant that. She really cared passionately about helping others. And that included her kids, her clients, the environment, animals. And she really cared about people. She could talk to anybody and everybody. And that meant the girl in the line in the restroom, the cashier, a

a stranger on the street, literally anybody, she could talk to them for hours and not stop. And that was Nancy. Growing up with Nancy, she was the eldest of four and she always looked over us and we did everything together. I remember always wanting to match with her and twin with her when we were kids. And we watched Saturday morning cartoons together. We walked to school together, fought over who got to use the computer to play games.

Just like everything, seeing Hilary Duff, going to zoos, all that stuff. And she never lost that childhood spark where the little things are the big things. And I think that's what made her so special. She was always happy. Like in every childhood photo, she always had that big, like gummy smile, you know. And yeah, things just aren't the same without her. But we love her so much.

Yeah, Nancy is my big sister. Just as an example of like,

who she is like she was really caring about everything that she was involved in and like especially for example nature we'd be driving somewhere 15 minutes late and she would see like a can or a bottle on the side of the road and just like pull over real quick stop hop out the car run to the back grab the bottle open the trunk throw it in close the trunk go back into the car at least keep driving along like that was her regular day so i think she kind of carried that type of energy and everything she did and all her interests and just it was i just i

It's as necessary.

I know, first of all, how good it is for your body and for your mind, but also it's a great way to connect with other people and certain studios out there can create a great sense of community. Nancy was able to find community and peace at Hot 8 Yoga in Pasadena. She found people and instructors who shared her same passions. And in the process of that, she was introduced to the Be the Change Yoga Retreat, which was organized by one of her instructors, and she was able to find community and peace.

Eddie Ramada. Eddie was one of a few instructors that she had, but based on old photos, the fact that they had gone on this retreat together before, it's believed they had a pretty good relationship. Now, unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the website for this retreat has been taken down now. But just to give you an idea of what it was, it was for about, you know, a dozen or so people to go down to Guatemala for a

a week of yoga, relaxation, community, friendship, peace, all of those things that you'd expect for a yoga retreat. It's a week-long trip. Nancy went back in 2022 and absolutely loved it. So of course she wanted to go again. Nikki says that the first year her sister went, she talked about how she'd wake up every morning to watch the sunrise by the lake

by herself, which sounds absolutely wonderful. And during their last dinner together before she left on the 2023 retreat, Nancy said that she was really looking forward to all the activities by and on the lake. And it's really sad to say, but that is pretty eerie to think about now because of what happened. It pains me to say this, but it was during one of these group activities at the lake

that Nancy disappeared. On October 14th, 2023, Nancy left the U.S. for Guatemala and texted her family group chat a quick little happy birthday to her brother and that she would be putting her phone on airplane mode for the remainder of her trip. She told them that she would be safe and not to worry about her, but sadly, those were her last words to them. Because on October 19th, just five days later, Nancy's father would get the call that...

shatter them and forever change their lives. Now that day is said to have started like the rest of the days on this trip. The 10 retreat participants that were there woke up and they did their morning yoga meditation, which went from 6.45 to 8 a.m. Of course, for any retreat, there's, you know, somewhat of a scheduled itinerary. That was definitely the case here. Following that, they all ate breakfast and relaxed in preparation for their scheduled activities.

activity of the day, which was kayaking and paddleboarding on Lake Atitlan. Now their hotel, Hotel Isla Verde, sat right along the lake, and the company that they were renting the paddleboards and kayaks from, Kayak Guatemala, was just a short walk away. Now Lake Atitlan is a ginormous lake, but it is incredibly picturesque. It's

Absolutely beautiful. It's a body of water that spans over 50 square miles. It sits in a volcanic crater, which is part of its incredibly stunning attraction to tourists and locals. It's known for being the deepest lake in Central America and also known as being one of the most beautiful. And I'm sure you can see from pictures if you are watching.

that that is definitely the case. It is absolutely breathtaking and I can only imagine how excited Nancy must have been for their activity that day. Now, Nancy was also a very athletic person, so any type of opportunity to be outdoors and be active was one that she welcomed. But this day didn't end the way that anyone could have predicted.

I will say it makes me happy in some way to think that Nancy got to spend the morning in such a beautiful place doing what she loved, which was yoga. Hopefully was in a peaceful mindset, but I am sure she never in her wildest dreams could have imagined

what would happen that day. Because shortly after they got their kayaks and paddleboards, a video was taken as the 10 participants paddled out to the water. And you can see Nancy as she waves happily at the camera. It's really eerie to see this video. However, it does, like I said, it makes me feel happy that she was happy.

in these moments leading up to this tragedy. So they all go out onto this beautiful lake. And then that afternoon, eight out of 10 of the participants returned.

They paddled back to the dock without an issue and most of them sat in the jacuzzi looking over the lake enjoying a final full day of their trip. Someone pointed out that two of the kayaks were still out on the water. And then they noticed that despite there being two kayaks out on the water...

there was only one person that could be seen. And these two people that were still out on the water were Nancy and a woman named Christina Blazick. Now, at this point, people obviously became concerned, so Eddie requested that a hotel staff member use their boat to go bring these two women back in. But by the time they got out on the water, Christina was already paddling back to shore. Now, Christina, who is a San Bernardino defense attorney and...

obviously a fellow member of the retreat, was said to have sent a distress signal as she paddled back to the dock. What's interesting is that she ended up paddling back to a different dock than the one that they departed from, one that was significantly further east. Now, it's unknown why she did this. I don't know if it has any significance, but it's something that I wanted to mention.

Now, once at the dock, she was greeted by Eddie, who by that point had also returned to shore. And he is said to have ushered Christina quietly and quickly back to the hotel. Meanwhile, staff members alerted the hotel owners that something had happened. And then the entire group followed, not saying a word. The kayak rental company that I mentioned before has also stated in that exact moment,

Nobody alerted them to the accident and that they even left without paying. And just think about that for a second and how strange that truly is. Ten people go out on the water, nine people return, and no one from this retreat, no one from this group of people that went out there with her said anything or anything.

alerted anyone, caused a scene, shouted for help, nothing. And these were people that had been spending time with Nancy, some that really knew her personally. I know I'm not alone in thinking that that's incredibly suspicious and strange. I don't understand how nobody said anything. I mean,

I can't even wrap my mind around that. And based on the prosecutor's report, the only person to go down and actually speak with the kayak rental company was the hotel manager. Make it make sense. So a conversation took place about needing extra boats to go and look for Nancy. But this was met with weirdness over who would pay for that to happen, which is just insane.

Not only strange, but also just sad. How is that even a concern? Who is going to pay for this? Someone is out there. Their life is at risk. The fact that the money element of things was even on anyone's mind, it makes me so angry. The manager ended up leaving with Nancy's personal belongings, but that's it. Now, even if it's not...

maybe logical to think that they would find her by going out there. It's strange to me that logic wasn't completely tossed out the window in this scenario. If it were me and I was in that situation, and I'm sure many of you feel the same, I would be running around screaming in a

complete panic trying to get people to get back on the water and look for her to do anything to try and help but that didn't appear to be the case and nikki nancy's sister has said that it's extremely strange to her that christina the person who was with her during whatever happened during her disappearance wasn't at least at the very least trying to direct people on

on, you know, where to go out and look, trying to get people on the water. I mean, nothing was done. Everyone was completely in the dark about what happened. No one was trying to make sense of any of it. And no one even knew where to start looking. And that includes the kayak rental company. They supposedly didn't get more details about what happened until the next day when they called the hotel and let them know that

Some of their guests hadn't paid, which is when they learned that the group was already gone. They had packed up their stuff, checked out of their hotel and left the area completely. Now, this is obviously a huge and very concerning piece of information. However, I want to stick with the timeline here so don't get too sidetracked and you are understanding how this all happened. But I will come back to that.

So back to the kayak rental company. After Nancy went missing, the owners of the company, Mr. and Mrs. Beal, did interviews and made statements about the events that transpired. No one in the group was interested in talking to anybody. It was almost like immediately clamming up and like, we're not going to say anything. When the group returned, there were only eight that returned.

But we could see in the distance, at a distance of about 100 yards, two single kayaks. We watched them as they continued paddling until we lost sight of them. I witnessed the survivor being ushered up the steps with the yoga instructor. She was clearly distressed and they didn't say a word to us. And I'm sure that might sound like super important information.

Until you learn that Mr. Beal wasn't even in the country when Nancy went missing and Mrs. Beal was not there either. She was at home. So why you would pretend that you witnessed this is absolutely beyond me. Personally, I think it's incredibly strange to claim to have witnessed something when you actually did not.

I don't understand. And that's not all. There's also some contention over whether or not the group was offered life jackets. The Beals say that every single person was offered a life jacket, but that entire group declined. But on the other side of the coin, some people from the retreat have come forward to say that nobody was offered a life jacket at all. One person even said that if she saw a life jacket at any point, like one hanging up on the wall, she would have just walked over and grabbed it herself.

but they were not available to them, according to her. On top of that, she said that they weren't given any kind of safety instruction, no explanation of the dangers that the water posed, they weren't asked to sign any kind of emergency contact paperwork, and that they felt rushed into the water. And I'm sure you're thinking what I'm thinking. How do the owners of this company claim that these people were offered life jackets if they weren't even there?

How do you know? Even if it is their protocol to offer life jackets to their customers, how can you say for sure that that actually happened? And I just want to mention as well that Nikki says that she knows her sister would have taken a life jacket if offered one. They had been kayaking together before and...

Nancy was wearing a life jacket, took one. So this doesn't make sense to her at all. Nancy was someone who wouldn't decline the option to be safer. And if she were given that option, her family feels strongly that she absolutely would have taken it. And I'm inclined to believe the same. I mean, for someone who worked as a special education teacher's aide, I have a hard time believing that Nancy would approach anything wrong.

which is why it's very disheartening to hear from people who weren't even there that she declined to take a life jacket. And Mr. Beal even refused to share a photo of the paddle that Nancy had used that day, which was valuable information to people out on the water looking for her. And he said that information is a two-way street. So basically, he wouldn't provide that information because, Eddie,

Eddie had yet to pay for the kayaks that they'd all been using, and Nikki did not feel comfortable sharing Eddie's contact information with Mr. Beal at the time. And I don't think I have to point out how wrong that is. We are talking about someone's life here, and we're still worried about the money? I understand they absolutely should have paid. That should not be the biggest concern here. You give the information that is needed to possibly save someone's life or to find them, right? I mean, am I crazy? ♪

Judy was boring. Hello. Then Judy discovered JumbaCasino.com. It's my little escape. Now Judy's the life of the party. Oh, baby. Mama's bringing home the bacon. Whoa. Take it easy, Judy. JumbaCasino.com.

The Chumba life is for everybody. So go to ChumbaCasino.com and play over 100 casino-style games. Join today and play for free for your chance to redeem some serious prizes. ChumbaCasino.com. No purchase necessary. Voidware prohibited by law. 18 plus terms and conditions apply. See website for details. His quickness to hinder the search and rescue only added to...

the Ings family's anguish and concern. I mean, it's just, it's heartbreaking to think that people wouldn't want to do everything they can to help. But let me move on because there is still so much to go over. I started to mention this a few minutes ago that when Christina returned to shore, Eddie ushered her back to the hotel without anyone saying a word. Well, shortly after this, Christina was seen crying and still very much in distress, which

you know, is to be expected. And I don't know for certain how much time they all spent there before going to the police station to file a report. But at some point later that evening, Christina and a few others did go to the police and filed a report. Their family was told by a participant that Christina was actually seen doing child's pose Reiki healing and feather brushing during that time. However, and this is a big however, when it comes to how this incident was reported in

The information is a bit wishy-washy and confusing. Many news outlets say that Nancy's disappearance wasn't reported until 24 hours after she went missing. And that's both true and not true at the same time. So let me explain. It's my understanding that Christina, along with one retreat participant and the two owners of the hotel, did go to the police station to speak with the Guatemalan authorities shortly after what happened on the 19th.

However, it wasn't until the following day, October 20th, that the prosecutor's office got word of what happened. And it's their office that has the ability to investigate this type of thing. Nikki believes that this is what the news articles mean when they say it took 24 hours for this to be reported, because we do know people went to the police station shortly after the incident on the 19th. And that day it took four hours.

for their family to be notified by Eddie about what had happened. And what's really shocking is apparently he didn't have emergency contact info written down for Nancy and he had to call the yoga studio back at home to try to get any information on who to call and how to reach them, which even that

was unsuccessful. He ended up getting her father's contact information from a friend of Nancy's who actually had been on the 2022 yoga retreat. And when I say he called their family to let them know, I mean that in the most vague sense, because all he really said was Nancy went out on the lake and disappeared, and he's sorry for their loss. Nikki ended up having to call Eddie and try to get him to clarify what exactly happened to her sister, but...

He basically told them all the same things, which wasn't much. She disappeared on the lake and that he was sorry for their loss. And he also asked where he could send her belongings. I guess he sort of tried to give some reassurance. He said that Christina was at the police station filing a police report and that her family would be sent that report. But that was basically it. And it's strange to me that as the retreat orchestrated,

organizer, as the leader of this group, he did not accompany her to the police station. Maybe that's just me. I think it's pretty strange. So on October 19th, 2023, my father received a phone call from Eddie Ramada, the yoga retreat organizer. And my father was having lunch with my mom and my other brother. So we weren't there. But I did get a phone call from my father shortly after. And he said,

Like, are you home? Something happened. And he didn't elaborate to who or what had happened, but he just said, I'm coming over right now. So I knew it was serious. So Jonathan and I were waiting at home. And I remember my dad came in first. And then my mom and my brother followed. And when they came in, I was like, so what's going on? What happened? And my dad said, Nancy's never coming back from Guatemala. And I said, what do you mean? We thought that she...

She went to Guatemala and she loved it so much that she wanted to stay for like forever. And in my eyes, we were like, okay, we can calm down. Nancy's just having a moment. She'll be there for a week or a month and then she'll come back home. And don't worry about it. I was just over, just, just overreacting. I think the way our dad said it, like we both thought that Nancy had chosen to stay in Guatemala, but you know, I, I was like, what do you mean? And my dad, and I can still remember the look on his face. He said,

Nancy's dead. She died. And, you know, our heart dropped. We were just in kind of disbelief. And, you know, when I asked what had happened, he said, well, I got a call from this number. And my dad really didn't give us any details. I don't know if he just didn't remember or wasn't told these details. But I said, just give me the number and I'll call. So we called Eddie back and I asked him what had happened. And he said nothing.

He wasn't there, so he doesn't know. But Nancy was on the lake with another student and disappeared. And the other student was at the police station giving a report. And our family would get everything in the report.

So it was really unclear what had actually happened. But Eddie was saying things like, I'm sorry for your loss. Where can I send her belongings? What's the best address for that? And at the same time, he was saying, I wasn't there, so I don't actually know for sure what happened. So it was really confusing to us for him to both not know exactly what happened and start moving towards like,

where do I send her belongings? Like, what about, what about conducting a search? Like actually looking for her because you don't know what happened yet. Right. There was a disconnect in the priority there. And even in our family, like there was a,

But right from the start, the Ng family just jumped into action trying to figure out how they get the process of search and rescue going. The Naval, which is the Guatemalan Navy, did send out a search and rescue boat right away on the 19th. However, this consisted of one boat, one boat, one boat, one boat, one boat, one boat.

of about four or five men and their efforts stopped after 72 hours. Nikki actually called Eddie on the 20th, not knowing that he'd already left the area, asking if he would stay to help with the search because four to five men in one boat in such a big lake

absolutely is not enough. Or at least, you know, they asked him if maybe he could help recruit people to get on the water and start to look for her, which to me seems like a pretty reasonable request considering Eddie not only planned this retreat, but organized the kayaking activity. But it actually took him hours to even respond to her call because he said he was trying to get some sleep, which is hurtful in my opinion, especially because he told her earlier that he would treat this as if it was

his own sister. And if this were my sister or someone that I had even spent a little bit of time with, I would not be able to sleep. Plus, Nikki claims that she found out later on that Eddie actually wasn't sleeping, that he saw her calling and he turned his phone around, turned it over and just ignored her call. And I think that says a lot. Obviously, I don't know if that's true. That's just what Nikki had heard. But if that's the case...

I don't even know what to say. But getting back to the search efforts, though, Nikki says that the Naval determined their search area by speaking to the owners of the hotel. The problem with that, though, is they weren't actually there to witness what happened, meaning it's unlikely they provided any real insight. And just to remind you, this lake is massive, dude. It's the equivalent to 24,000 football fields.

I mean, can you even conceptualize that in your head? It's huge. So, I mean, it's quite literally like looking for a needle in a haystack. And their family knew that five guys out on one boat was not going to cover it. So, of course, they wanted to find a helicopter company that could perform an aerial search.

look at the lake much more broadly to see if anything stood out. I mean, the reality is their family had no context of what the lake looked like or the surrounding area. They thought it might be possible that Nancy somehow made it ashore and was waiting to be found, which in that case, a helicopter would have been...

tremendously helpful. However, the tourism assistance program in the U.S. embassy told Nikki that there were no helicopters that did search and rescue. Luckily, though, they didn't take that at face value, and not giving up paid off. Within a day or two, they got in contact with Helicopteros de Guatemala, and through them, she was put in contact with

Chris Sharp and Black Wolf Helicopters. Now, Chris Sharp is the chief air crewman at Black Wolf and has over 28 years of helicopter flying experience and has performed over 6,000 rescue operations. This guy is truly a badass and ended up performing a total of four searches between October 21st and November 9th. However, windy conditions made it very,

Very difficult for them to fly on certain days, but that did not slow them down. Local woman disappears while on a yoga retreat in Guatemala. Her family now searching for answers. The missing woman from Monterey Park disappeared in Guatemala. Search and rescue teams now working tirelessly to find her and bring her home. Eyewitness News reporter Leanne Suter is live this evening in Alhambra. We were hearing from that woman's heartbroken family. Leanne.

Jory and Michelle, where is Nancy Ng and what happened to her? Those are just some of the answers that her family is desperately trying to find as the search continues for the missing 29-year-old. By November 8th, Chris said that he and his team had searched 99% of the lake.

up to a depth of five feet. Had Nancy's body been floating anywhere near the surface, they would have found her, but they didn't. So they also hired a company called Bruce's Legacy, and they conducted underwater searches from December 3rd to December 21st.

Bruce's legacy used remote-operated vehicles to search the lake, and by using long cables on these vehicles, they were able to reach the bottom. Unfortunately, though, due to weather and equipment damage, they were only able to search a portion of the lake. And Nikki and Jonathan even flew out to Guatemala in December to help Bruce's legacy determine the search area, as well as collect their sister's belongings, but...

these efforts sadly came up empty-handed. There is one more company I want to mention that helped them, and that is Rescue International. By virtually interviewing bystanders and some retreat participants, they were able to help hone in on a search area or at least provide a much more, you know, educated guess. Because like I've already said several times, this is a

huge lake. I mean, can you even imagine how difficult and how time consuming it would be to search an area that's equivalent to 24,000 football fields? But despite the combined efforts and all of the dozens of truly amazing people that have tried their best to

To find Nancy, nothing has been found. There has been nothing to indicate where Nancy could even be. Nikki did say that, you know, in all of this, it has been truly amazing to see so many kind people come out and do everything they can to help them and to help find Nancy. She told me that they have encountered some truly incredible things.

who have done everything that they possibly can to help her family. And I mean, these are people who owed them nothing, but gave them everything. And that gives me faith in humanity. And even in times where her family couldn't afford to fly out to Guatemala, there were people that stepped up and, you know,

you know, took on that burden of searching and doing everything that they could for them. It's just the truest form of kindness and humanity. And these community efforts span not just days, but weeks. And even still, no real answers have been found. However, her kayak was located. But even that has brought up many questions. ♪

I'm Victoria Cash. Thanks for calling the Lucky Land Hotline. If you feel like you do the same thing every day, press 1. If you're ready to have some serious fun for the chance to redeem some serious prizes, press 2. We heard you loud and clear. So go to LuckyLandSlots.com right now and play over 100 social casino-style games for free. Get lucky today.

at LuckyLandSlots.com. No purchase necessary. VGW Group. Void or prohibited by law. 18 plus. Terms and conditions apply.

One said that it was found face down with the paddle missing. Another person said that it was found face up with the paddle inside. And these seemingly small things might not seem important to you, but to her family, every little detail matters. Now, here is where we get into where things get real sketchy and frustrating. You would think that the search and rescue team would have a good indication of where to start looking based on Christina's

recount of where they were and her experience of what has happened, right? And this is going to blow your mind and piss you off. But Christina has not said anything.

She has never stated where they were on the lake when this happened. She has not even spoken to the Ng family at all to this day. And not only that, she has declined to speak with or assist the search and rescue team at all. And her lack of cooperation is unthinkable.

Part of the reason why I'm talking to you about this case today, because had Christina been forthcoming from the beginning and had the search and rescue teams been given a clear indication of even where to start looking in those first few days, it's not going to be easy.

it's possible that Nancy would have been found. Because obviously that's all her family wants. She has said they're not in denial that Nancy is gone, but they want to find her. And they want answers as to why the people who were with her on her last day on Earth have acted so strangely following all this. I mean, it makes zero sense. And let me just explain more of this story.

bizarre behavior because I think you will understand why Nancy's family just feels so frustrated and confused. Starting with the detail I mentioned earlier about the entire yoga retreat group leaving the day after Nancy's disappearance. We know that what happened to Nancy happened sometime in the early afternoon on October 19th. Well, at 6 a.m. on October 20th, the entire group

packed up their shit, left the hotel, and headed to Guatemala City where they would be flying out on their way back to the States. Now, I do want to note that this group was planning to leave that day regardless. However...

The detail that I think needs to be emphasized here is the fact that according to the trip itinerary, they weren't supposed to leave their hotel until 10 a.m., yet they packed up and left four hours early. And Nikki says that she was told that they did this to avoid traffic.

And it's my understanding that they all booked their own travel for this trip. So some of them were scheduled to leave on the 20th. Some of them were scheduled to leave on the 21st. And Christina was one of those people who didn't need to leave or wasn't scheduled to leave until the 21st, meaning she could have stayed to assist search and rescue and authorities. However, she actively chose not to. And the same can be said for Eddie, because another participant said that he wasn't supposed to leave on the 20th.

However, he did. He packed up with the rest of them and got out of there. And another participant said that they felt like they were being quickly ushered by Eddie, pressured to get going as fast as possible. He left with all of them at 6 a.m.,

And the strange behavior doesn't end there. He has been called into question for allegedly changing his flight to leave Guatemala a day early. And he does deny these allegations, but internet sleuths and podcaster Ed Choi believes that he's disproven that. With the help of someone who works for United Airlines, it's been said that Eddie's original flight...

was actually supposed to leave on October 22nd. But on October 20th, a day after the incident, he purchased a new flight to leave on the 21st. If he has the ability to stay and help assist, to help search for someone who he claims is his friend,

Why would he go out of his way, allegedly, to get home sooner? And let's just say that these allegations aren't true. Let's give him the benefit of the doubt for a second. Why would you not choose to stay in Guatemala longer and help search for your friend? Why not push your flight back maybe even a week and stay and participate in the search and rescue efforts, participate in the helicopter searches?

even just stay in the area to, you know, be a point of contact and help for authorities and search and rescue. I just don't understand this. It just feels like the natural human response to stay and neither him or Christina did.

And they also left before they could give a statement to the prosecutor investigating the case, Jose Racinos. I mentioned before how the prosecutor's office didn't get word of what happened until the 20th. Well, he went to the hotel on the 20th to get Christina and Eddie's statements, and they were already gone. And again, let's give them the benefit of the doubt for a second here. Let's say they didn't know that they needed to stay and give another statement. Let's say they just had no idea. Well,

You would think that you would at least provide necessary contact information and stay in touch in case they needed to ask you anything, right? As you probably guessed, nope, they absolutely weren't. Eddie wouldn't even give the prosecutor Christina's contact information when asked. He said that she'd already spoken with someone from the U.S. Embassy and that she basically did her due diligence.

But the thing is, the U.S. Embassy can't share personal information if that person doesn't want it shared. And Christina obviously doesn't want that shared. Eddie also wouldn't provide Nikki with photos of her sister from that day, even though multiple participants and a hotel staff member told her that group photos were taken on his phone before they set out on the lake that day. And obviously these photos mean so much to them because not only are they photos,

precious last photos, last memories of Nancy, but they could also be helpful in the search if they had a more accurate way of describing what Nancy was wearing that day to the search and rescue teams. Let's say an article of clothing comes to the surface. It would be helpful to know if that possibly belonged to Nancy. Their family just doesn't understand, and I don't understand, I think a lot of you don't probably understand, why Eddie and Christina would be acting different

so strangely about this day? Why are they not being as forthcoming as possible? Why did they leave early if nothing criminal happened? And obviously that's just their opinion. That's just my opinion.

All of this is alleged. It's really important for me to note that no one here obviously is guilty until proven so in a court of law. And her family became even more concerned and confused five days after Nancy's death when they received the police report. The Ng family waited to receive that police report for five days, thinking that when it finally came, they would get closure that they really needed. They even had to hire a power of attorney to obtain Nancy.

that report. But when they got it, that closure was not there because when they started looking through it, they found that Christina's statement was not included, which left them not only hurt and confused, but also incredibly shocked. The reality is Christina was the only witness to what happened to Nancy and they were relying on her statement.

her recount of what happened to give them that clarity and peace. They knew her statement wasn't going to bring Nancy back. Obviously, they knew that, but they thought that it would at least provide them with answers as to what happened or to at least understand it more. And they didn't get that because her statement was omitted from the report. Now, what I'm going to say next is

I want you to pay attention to. However, please note that this is entirely alleged. However, that being said, it is something that is being investigated in the event that it is true. It has been alleged that the reason that Christina's statement is excluded from the report is because some sort of bribe has taken place. Again, this is not confirmed.

No one knows if this is true, this is alleged, but it is being investigated. And a bribe would explain why her statement wasn't put in the official report and why there's no record of her going to the police station at all that evening. And I guess this is where myself, her family, so many others are concerned.

wondering what the reason is. What is the reason that Christina's statement is not included in the report? And unfortunately, the participant who went with Christina to the police station to give this statement

hasn't given any insight as to why that could be. And that's because they haven't even responded to Nikki's messages. And I will say that it has been stated by someone involved in this that had Christina's statement been included, that she would have had to stay in the country for an additional three to five days. So I wonder if it's possible that her statement was omitted to allow her to leave, but I don't know. But again, again, again, I just got to say this. This is alleged. It's not confirmed whether or not this bribe happened, but bribe or no bribe,

Why are they acting so strange if nothing criminal happened? I'm just, that's just my own curiosity. Why? I don't understand. Why would they be acting this way if they did nothing wrong? Hey everyone, it is Ryan Seacrest here. Ready to heat up your summer vacation? Get ready, things are about to get sizzling at Chumba Casino. Your summer getting a whole lot hotter with a special daily login bonus waiting just for you. So,

Sign up now for reels of fun and reels of prizes right here at Chumba Casino with yours truly. Join me at chumbacasino.com and dive into a summer of social casino fun. Sponsored by Chumba Casino. No purchase necessary. VGW Group. Voidware prohibited by law. 18 plus. Terms and conditions apply.

So we didn't get the police report until five days after the incident because we were told that our family needed to hire a power of attorney to obtain the report. And the plus side of that was that per Guatemalan law, that allows our family to take part in the investigation. And when we first got the report, we noticed right away that the witness statement was missing. You first thought it was a mistake, like maybe it was misfiled or it just hadn't been sent to us. It

If we just ask around, we'll probably find it. We'll give the situation the benefit of the doubt. And I even messaged the U.S. Embassy and the Tourism Assistance Program just to make sure this is the full police report, right? And they confirmed, yes, it is. And then we started to hear allegations of a bribery at the police station, and then a second, and then a third. And it was hard not to be concerned. Yeah.

And when we first heard about these bribe allegations, even we were a little bit hesitant and kind of in disbelief. And our attorney explained to us actually that

It is very common in Guatemala, like bribes, corruption, like, and he was saying anybody can be bribed, prosecutors, DAs, the attorney general even. And it's essentially a standard of practice there because it's so common. But it still leads us to wonder, like, what necessitated a bribe is...

It really, that's when we started to get really suspicious. And we can empathize and maybe understand how it may be scary to talk to Guatemalan authorities. We're in a foreign country. You don't know how their justice system works. But it's kind of hard to understand her continued silence after returning to the safety of the U.S. Yeah, at first,

we heard that she was traumatized and she needed some time to herself and with her family before she could talk to us. And then we started to hear about how she was like at the same time the week after going to yoga. We had a report that she was getting her hair done and telling her stylist exactly what would happen before she could tell us what happened. We heard that she told another student at the yoga that she didn't owe the family anything, which was...

to put it lightly, just concerning to us. We've also heard that she had told Eddie that she just wanted to see her daughter. And we can understand that. But I think, how about our mom too? Is there any time on your schedule to talk to our mom? But it's just that the narrative of

there being no foul play, that everything was just normal drowning and there's nothing else to look into. It was increasingly hard to believe that after a series of events, them leaving the day after, allegations of a bribe, hearing different conflicting versions of Christina's story, her refusing to help search teams, and just the silence. It's hard not to wonder what information is true

And what information's been intentionally omitted? So after learning that Christina's statement was missing from the report, Nikki texted Eddie thinking that he'd reassure her in some way that this was all a misunderstanding. But...

He never replied to that text, and I'm sure that doesn't shock you. And then she texted him again five days later, asking if he would get on a Zoom with her to discuss the details of where on the lake Nancy might have been. And again, he didn't reply. It wasn't until three days later that he called her back and accused her and her family of perpetuating a false image of him in the media. Mind you, per their lawyer's instructions, Nancy,

They had not released any information regarding the name of the retreat, who organized it, where they stayed, the witness, any of that. And despite the tension that had grown and all of the issues and strange behavior that they'd been made aware of, Nikki, Jonathan, and the rest of their family maintained a sense of kindness and patience with them that he never reciprocated. So Eddie's behavior in the days, weeks, and months following the incident have been...

strange to say the least. We were pretty appalled by his response to the whole thing. I think in general, it just felt very self-centered. He would say things like, this is the hardest phone call I'll ever have to make. You know, it's hard for me to look at photos. So I'll send you some when I get myself together too.

kind of thing. And I just requested photos, not only from the trip to show my mom, but also just photos from the day of the incident. So I can show the search team like what she was wearing last. And overall, he just had this, I felt like an unsaid reluctance to help. He didn't want to share Christina's last name or contact info because she was traumatized. He didn't want to text my brother Jonathan directly. He said, oh, I feel more comfortable talking to you. So let's keep it between us.

So I really just copy and pasted what Jonathan had asked him and, you know, texted him, you know, personally. And something that really bugged me about his response to this was that

The first day he told me that, you know, I'm treating this as if Nancy were my own sister. And in the moment that was very comforting to hear. But then I learned that the group left the next day. And so I had called him the following day on the 20th just to ask like, hey, I know this is a really big ask, but it's my sister.

Would you or anybody else in the group be able to stay and help with the search or at the very least, like recruit volunteers? And I called. He didn't answer. So I messaged him that. And he didn't respond until hours later where he said, oh, I was trying to sleep, but we've done all we can do. And we heard that someone saw him see the call and flip over the phone.

So that in itself is kind of disturbing that he didn't, you know, at least pass on my request to others in the group and give them that option. And we learned that he booked an early flight to leave too. I don't think he was supposed to leave with the group on that same day, but he did. So I think all those little actions really just raised red flags for us. Yeah, I remember one instance where he had this screenshot where he had this map and drew a red circle on it. And it was like,

extremely far to where they were saying of where it could have been. So we just wanted to ask Paul a question like, okay, what's the context around this circle? What perspective were you going from? Because there's a bias in seeing distance when you're on the ground. And

All we got was just refer to the map. If you click there, you'll find her. And what we mean is we asked him to circle on the map where they had left the dock and a different circle where he last saw Nancy and Christina or where he thinks they were. And even the first circle of where they left the dock was way off from where they did. So I don't know if he just maybe...

didn't put much thought in the map or it was a mistake. I'm not too sure, but he just kept saying, refer to the map. It's the most accurate thing. Like show the search teams that a map. And we did, but I don't know how accurate that was. Later, a few weeks later, I, you know, because I was sensing his reluctance to help and he was the person that had told me that Christina's statement would be in the report.

I was like, look, Eddie, I texted him. I don't know how much you know, but we don't have Christina's statement in that report. We don't have anything. And that's why we're asking you and other participants these questions. We're just trying to learn what happened and where to find her. And he didn't respond. And a few days later, I texted him again and I said, we have new point of view photos from where you guys were sitting, like overlooking the lake. Can we hop on a Zoom call quickly just to get your thoughts on this? And again, no response. It wasn't until a few days later

that he called me and he basically blamed my family for perpetuating this false image of him to the media. And I just remember saying, look, we at this time, we haven't shared anything because our attorney said don't share anything. We haven't shared the name of, you know, the retreat, the hotel, your name, like nothing. And so I don't control the internet.

And I told him, like, you have your own platform. If you want to speak up, by all means, do so. But it was just, you know, the audacity to call and blame my family for that. I didn't know how to feel about the fact that Eddie had ignored a week-long request to communicate with the family, breaking that silence only so he could ask the family to stop the media from portraying him as someone who wouldn't communicate with the family. And I think just little...

Little bizarre things like learning that he had returned to work and somebody had asked him how the retreat went and he said, great. I think just little things just kept raising red flags. But we haven't been in contact with him since. It's again why I say that their family is so impressive because from day one, they have been nothing but kind and patient. They have approached this situation with respect and

And here's a primary example of that. In the first five days after Nancy went missing...

Their family chose to not contact Christina because they had heard that she was really struggling after witnessing such a traumatic event. They felt like maybe she wasn't ready to talk about it. They wanted to give her that space and time, even though it would have been really helpful to talk to her right away. They gave her that grace to process. They showed empathy for how difficult it must have been for her to

And that just says so much about them. And when that police report came in and it was missing her statement, at first they gave her the benefit of the doubt again, thinking that maybe something, it was misfiled or left out. Like there was some type of mistake or reason why it wasn't there. They didn't jump to the worst because they figured that seeing someone drown would be very traumatic and they wanted to trust that she had...

Good intentions. That's partly why Nikki and Jonathan decided to wait until October 25th to first reach out to her. They sent her an email and I'm going to read it to you. Hi, Christina. My name is Nikki Ng. My brother Jonathan is also CC'd here. We are Nancy's sister and brother. We received your information from some guests at the hotel Isla Verde. As you can imagine, the days since Nancy's disappearance have been incredible.

Thank you.

Will you please tell us what you saw during the incident? We understand how difficult it is to revisit such a traumatic event, but our family needs as much information as possible to find Nancy. Please don't hesitate to reach out.

We hope to hear from you soon. Thanks, Nikki and Jonathan. And I think it goes without saying that that email was incredibly empathetic and respectful. However, Christina did not respond. She could not even show the courtesy to respond to give them the time of day. And she didn't respond days later on October 31st when they sent her a follow-up email. The second email reads...

Yeah.

We cannot understand why you will not voluntarily speak with us. It's been nearly two weeks since our sister has gone missing and we are desperate to get the answers that we need in order to find her. We encourage you to contact us so that we can get a full explanation of what you saw or heard leading up to the events of Nancy's disappearance.

Please help us to understand what happened and bring Nancy home. If you fail to cooperate, we will pursue this matter further. And I think we can all agree that this email was also very respectful. It was firm, yes, but it wasn't rude. It wasn't threatening. And it still was empathetic. And I say threatening specifically because Christina's lawyer, Christopher Gardner, would soon speak out and say that the Ng family threatened his client. And that was the email he was referring to.

I'm very confused here. Did we not read the same thing? I mean, I just read it to you word for word. Do any of you think that it was threatening? Obviously, he's referring to we are going to pursue this matter further. That is not a threat. That is showing how serious they are. That is being firm in a very serious situation. And this is their missing sister. Okay.

Of course they're going to pursue this matter further. Up until this point, they have been told that their loved one died and that they'd learn about what happened in the police report, only to find out that that information was omitted from the police report and the one person who can easily just tell them what happened is refusing to talk to them. Christina has even said that she doesn't owe their family anything. It makes me so angry to even say that. You don't owe them anything.

What? Nothing at all? You don't want to give them anything? Like, it's mind-blowing to me that this is coming from someone who goes on 10-day yoga retreats. I mean, maybe that's just stereotyping, but it's like, I don't know. Maybe you guys disagree with me on that. I just think it lacks empathy in such a human way. I almost have no words. It's just, it's unbelievable. I just...

I don't get it. I cannot get it. I will never get it. And not only is she not helping their family, but she is also not helping the search and rescue teams. Like, what reason would you have not to help in any way? You saw, you saw this happen.

like just show a shred of human decency now keith who works for bruce's legacy emailed christina and her attorney a list of questions that he wanted answered so that he and his team could be better guided in their search efforts and they weren't hard questions either and yet no response once again chris sharp who has led the helicopter searches has

has actually stated that at this point in his mind, this is a criminal investigation because of how uncooperative the witness has been. In fact, Chris was the one who first named Christina publicly. In a press release from November 13th, 2023, Chris became the first person to publicly identify Christina as the witness. Up until that

point, Nikki, Jonathan, and the rest of their family had chose to keep her name out of the media because they had been advised to and they didn't want to scare her off. Literally, all they want to know is what happened to Nancy. They just want to understand what happened that day. I mean, is that too much to ask? Oh, and listen to this. When Christina finally did make a statement...

She, of course, did it through her attorney. On November 14th, the day after she was first publicly named, attorney Christopher Gardner spoke out on Christina's behalf. And here is what she said through him. Like I already explained, the group went out on their scheduled activity for the day, and at some point they appeared to have split up.

Now, I don't know if it was just Nancy and Christina who split off from the group or if everyone went and did their own thing. But regardless, we know that according to Christina's story, she and Nancy happened upon each other while out in deep waters. This is when, according to Christina, Nancy told her that she was going to get in the water and go for a swim. And despite Christina telling Nancy not to because...

the water and current conditions were rough, she did it anyway. And then when Nancy hopped out of the kayak, the kayak was pushed in the opposite direction and began floating away. This is when Christina says she attempted to retrieve it. She said she did retrieve it, and when she got a hold of it,

She put one leg in her kayak, one leg in Nancy's kayak, and attempted to bring it back to Nancy. But then she says Nancy's kayak got away from her, so she turned around to attempt to retrieve it again, and when she looked back around, Nancy was gone. To my knowledge, there was no mention of how long she had turned away from Nancy, and

But she said that once she realized Nancy was gone, she paddled back to shore and sent out a distress signal. And I've already shared the order of events that transpired after this, but...

Keep in mind, this is just Christina's version of events. We have no way of knowing if any of this is true. What's interesting, though, is that in the police report, the hotel manager said that Christina mentioned not knowing if Nancy fell from the kayak or if she chose to get into the water, which to now be saying that she knew she purposely got in the water is a conflicting statement. But

bottom line here is Christina's lack of cooperation has been infuriating for the Ng family. And that was only made worse when her attorney refuted any idea that she was anything but helpful. And just take a listen for yourself. To say that my client hasn't done all she can is just not true. The attorney for Christina Blazek is sharing her account of what happened to Nancy Ng while out kayaking. She tried to tell her not to swim.

because it was rough out there and there was a good current. Blazick, a San Bernardino County public defender, was also on the lake. Through her attorney, she says despite her warning, Ng went for a swim, in the process pushing her kayak away into the water, which Blazick then tried to retrieve. She kept one leg in her kayak and one leg in the other kayak and tried to get back to her.

and got close to her. And then apparently she lost the kayak again and she turned around to go back to get the kayak again. And when she turned back around, Miss Engle gone. She went and was told she needed to go talk to the police.

and she went and gave a full statement to Guatemalan police. He also said that his client spoke with the FBI after learning that Guatemalan authorities were looking to speak with her, and again, that she cooperated with them fully. Plus, he addressed the rumors about her leaving early and said that she tried to tell authorities where to look, but that she wasn't very familiar with the lake. He says that the Guatemalan authorities basically told her that it's okay, that people drown in this lake all the time. But the hotel owner...

who was with her at the police station, said something much different. They said that the officer was reprimanding her for not sticking around to help, for going out into the water that far if she didn't know how to swim. And apparently the officer even threatened her with jail time. And honestly, this whole he said, she said is very emblematic of this entire case. Nikki says that she and her family have been told so many different accounts of what happened.

so many conflicting statements from Christina that it's hard to figure out what's true and what's not. And then to hear Christina's attorney making her out to be the victim, I mean, it's

It's so frustrating. It's unimaginable. He says that this whole experience has been traumatizing for her and that she doesn't have to speak with their family if she doesn't want to. Now, I have a million thoughts on this myself, and I'm sure all of you do as well. But I think it's most important to hear directly from the people that have been impacted by Christina's actions the most. So the first time we heard Christina's statement somewhat directly from her was through her attorney,

Mr. Gardner on the news. It was very strange watching the news about our sister and hearing it for the first time on the news. Like in this day and age, for the victim's family to firsthand get that information in an ongoing investigation through the news was kind of bizarre. And we were also a bit confused as to why she had an attorney to begin with. We thought maybe it was because she was scared of some sort of liability, but it was a bit off-putting, I think.

that she had an attorney. It was about four weeks after Nancy had gone missing and only a day after we released names that Christina's lawyer shared, among other things, with the media that Christina was drawn to where the water changes color. And our search teams told us that the location where the water changes color shifts with time and that that would have been crucial information

if it had been given at the time of the incident. So I guess it only goes to show how many details that Christina holds that we need. Yeah, and it's not to say like the search teams are asking for specific coordinates or anything like that. It's more very like innocent questions that only she can answer. For example, they were asking like,

You said Nancy's kayak was drifting. Which direction it was drifting? Were there any landmarks that you remember about how long do you think it took you to paddle back to shore? Yeah, how long after Nancy had gone missing did you stay in the kayak before paddling to shore? That's all critical. So I think...

Her lack of cooperation with the search teams has been one of the biggest red flags. And we got to speak with the search teams in Guatemala, and they did share with us how important it was for the witness to participate in the search.

just because they've had stories where the only witness was able to pinpoint the exact location of their loved one or where they went missing. And we're not asking for that by any means, but I think even just some input from the only witness to Nancy's disappearance could go a long way. Yeah, it's really hard to say that that information isn't important. I will say, you know, it has hindered the search, but I think also the investigation because

Without a body, it's really difficult to determine for sure, for certain, whether or not there was foul play. I think hearing information, not indirectly, not directly, through the media, through select statements, that...

doesn't give us the opportunity to have a dialogue and ask questions. So we've been essentially trying to make a feast just using scraps of information. And that continues to hurt both search and investigation efforts. Now, at the start of this episode, I said very clearly that it is not 100% confirmed that foul play is involved in this case. And if you couldn't already tell from what Nikki and Jonathan have said, their family feels very torn.

On one hand, they've gone through the last five months wanting to believe this was just a terrible accident. But on the other hand, the actions of certain people have caused them to question what really happened. And I completely understand where they're coming from. I mean, here we are five months later. They've had to fight tooth and nail to get any answers.

And now all they have is one very vague statement from Christina that didn't even come directly from her. And so after all this time, they still don't feel like they have any answers. And...

I don't feel like they do either. Now, I casually mentioned a few minutes ago that Christina spoke with the FBI, and I do want to touch on that a little more. Both Christina and Eddie are said to have given statements to the FBI. And in mid-November, the Bureau did say that they were not aware of any evidence of foul play. But Nikki has expressed that this ruling is difficult because they don't believe that the FBI has given 100% effort into their investigation. For starters, they promised to speak with

all retreat participants, but only spoke with Christina and Eddie. Their family feels that speaking to everyone on the trip is incredibly important, especially because people have

varying accounts of Christina's experience and might have information on the omitted statement. The FBI also had Nancy's parents sign consent forms to have her belongings in electronic search, but that never happened. Everyone in their family has felt let down by how this investigation was handled, but they also haven't given up hope that they can still help them. The reality is, Guatemala has once been deemed a good place to commit murder.

And the Ng family isn't saying for certain that that's what happened to Nancy, but seeing how grossly mishandled this case has been, it allows their minds to wander. And without Nancy's body, they worry they won't ever feel confident about what actually happened to her. And the original prosecutor, Jose Racinos, entirely stopped communicating with their family and they were left in the dark for weeks. And all the promises that he made to them,

went in the dark with him it wasn't until recently that they learned that the case was passed on to another prosecutor who is saying there's nothing they can do because there is no evidence of a crime at this point nikki jonathan and the rest of their family just have to hold out hope that the search and rescue teams will be able to recover nancy's body even in the event that this was truly an accident they

desperately want to find her and be able to lay this to rest and begin taking steps towards healing. And this is absolutely heartbreaking, but in the first four weeks of all of this, Nancy's father held out hope that he would get a call from someone asking for ransom. He believed that his daughter might possibly still be alive. And as a parent, I can totally understand the

you know, holding on to any type of hope. He felt like there was a chance they could bring her home one day. Oh, it's just so sad. And I'm going to say it again, but I'm just so impressed with this family. They have been so patient, kind and understanding through all of this when they had every reason not to be. And that's why I want to help them today. And I hope that you all want to help them too. A GoFundMe was started to help raise funds for the Ng family as they continue their search and rescue efforts. Because as

as you can imagine it is not cheap especially because this is in guatemala you have to consider all of the travel that they have to do and i mean these things are just expensive searches like this especially in bodies of water can rack up in price very quickly this family has had to pay for all of this out of their own pockets and it's just not sustainable for them to keep doing this alone

and so of course i'm going to be making a donation on behalf of this channel and i really hope that any of you out there who are able to and feel so inclined

Make a donation as well, you know, for any amount, big or small, that is going to be put to good use, I promise you. They are currently planning their next search with Rescue International, and the more support they get, the better. Overall, the funds collected from the GoFundMe are going towards helicopter and rescue team efforts, equipment for volunteer divers, boat rescue teams, as well as the potential use of a submarine and sonar equipment.

And one piece of equipment that they're looking to rent is an AUV or an autonomous underwater vehicle. Now, this is an extremely expensive piece of equipment that would allow them to search the depths of the lake without sending a crew of humans into possibly dangerous situations. Not only that, this money is also going towards, like I said, their travel to and from Guatemala and to those family members who have had to take time off of work.

to be part of this search. So that will be linked below in the description box. Please check it out. Please share it. That would be great as well if you're not able to donate yourself. And you can also help them by reaching out to Tobin Bradley, the U.S. ambassador to Guatemala. The reality is Guatemalan authorities haven't asked U.S. authorities for assistance. They said they don't need their help.

But the U.S. has resources that could help bring Nancy home and give this family the answers they need. So by emailing Tobin Bradley, we hope that he sees the importance of making this request happen. And we want to put pressure on him to escalate Nancy's case to the appropriate authorities. And we also believe he can facilitate communication between Nancy's family and someone in Guatemala who can update them.

on the investigation. Right now, the prosecutor is ignoring their messages and they should not have to feel this left in the dark. In the description box or show notes, if you are listening to the podcast version of this episode, you can find an email template that you can copy and paste online

along with where to send the email. I'm also going to have a sample tweet that you can post to try to get the attention of the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala. Putting pressure on them publicly is often a really good way to get results, and I know it's pretty easy for you guys to do. You can also email your local congressperson about escalating this case and getting U.S. assistance with the search and investigation. So please consider taking the time to do that, and you guys have really showed up for...

families on my show before. And I really hope that we can see that today by sharing this case with all of you, because I know how

passionate a lot of you are about justice. And even if justice doesn't need to be served here, even if there is no foul play, this family, I think we can all agree, deserves answers and deserves to be treated better in all of this. I mean, it makes no sense. I do want to remind you, though, if you send an email or a tweet or anything like that, the key is kindness. And I haven't always relayed this clearly in the past because I've always taken the angry approach

myself like years ago, but I've learned over time that it is way better to send something that is done with respect, firm, but respect. And that's why I'm making templates to make it easier for you guys. But please don't send anything that's going to be off-putting or turn them away from helping in any way. Our family is...

immensely, incredibly grateful for the online community support during this time. Thank you for following Nancy's story and her case and for all your support. We organized the first deep water search effort in December of last year, but we weren't able to complete even the primary search area due to really high winds. So if you're able to, we'd appreciate any help you can provide. To conduct a second deep water search mission and finish the

primary search area where Nancy was last believed to be seen. We need to hire search professionals, purchase more equipment, and pay for their expenses. So this, first of all, might be a shot in the dark, but it

If you happen to know anybody who works with autonomous underwater vehicles, AUVs, remotely operated vehicles, ROVs, Doppler Velocity Loggers, DVLs, or ultra-short baselines, USBLs, please reach out to help us find Nancy at gmail.com. And another way you can help is to help us pressure our own government to get involved. The problem we're running into is that the original prosecutor that we spoke to, Prosecutor Racinos, had a plan to interview and obtain declarations from...

relevant individuals. And we haven't heard back from him. It's been radio silence. We learned recently that Nancy's case has been passed on to a new prosecutor that we haven't been able to get in touch with either. So it's really difficult for us not to know what's going on with the investigation there and to know that the U.S. does have resources that they can offer. So what you can do to help is

One of two things. We can email the U.S. ambassador in Guatemala. His name is Tobin Bradley, and you can email him at amcidsguatemala at state.gov. Something else you can do is to contact your local congressperson to get involved, and we'll provide a template for both of these. But the general questions are, how can we escalate this to the right authorities? How can the U.S. contribute for both the search and the investigation? And the most important questions for our family, at least, are,

What exactly happened to Nancy and where do we find her? We just want to bring her home so she can be back with us. And lastly, if you're able to, be able to help us finance the next submission, repatriation, funeral donations via ArgoFundMe are appreciated. And every bit goes a long way. We do also post regular updates on our Instagram, HelpUsFindNancy and ArgoFundMe as well. Thank you for following.

Thank you. But with all that being said, I'm going to wrap up today's episode. I feel strongly that this case can reach a conclusion if the right people get involved, first of all, and if the right people come forward and are transparent and honest. Sadly, that hasn't happened and all this family wants is answers and...

It's possible for them to get those. They want to bring Nancy home. They want to bury her. They want that closure. They want to understand what happened that day. And if they need to seek justice, they want that as well. But at this point, they just don't have enough information to even know if that's needed, you know? And no family should have to go through this on top of such a tragic and

scary loss. Again, I want to thank Nikki and Jonathan for taking the time to help me understand this case and to be part of this episode. And thank you to all of you who have taken the time to listen to Nancy's story. It means a lot.

That is going to be it for me today, guys. Thank you for joining me for another episode and make sure you follow the show on Spotify and Apple podcasts. It really does help me out. If you want to watch the video version of this show, you can find it on my YouTube channel, which will be linked, or you can just search Kendall Ray. I will be back with another episode soon, but until then stay safe out there.

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest. Life comes at you fast, which is why it's important to find some time to relax. A little you time. Enter Chumba Casino. With no download required, you can jump on anytime, anywhere for the chance to redeem some serious prizes. So treat yourself with Chumba Casino and play over 100 online casino-style games all online.

For free, go to ChumbaCasino.com to collect your free welcome bonus. Sponsored by Chumba Casino. No purchase necessary. VGW Group. Void where prohibited by law. 18 plus terms and conditions apply.