The Missing Americans Project

Looking for People and Answers

All Blog Posts Tagged 'murder' (42)

This Time Mexico Wins the "Tallest Midget" Contest: Safer Than Honduras, According to ABC News

Per ABC News: While Mexico's murder rate of 19 killings per 100,000 residents is about four times higher than the murder rate in the U.S. and 20 times higher than Canada's, Mexico's murder rate is significantly smaller than the murder rate of nearby Latin American destinations like Honduras, Venezuela or Guatemala, which had 39 murders per 100,000 people in 2012. Brazil, the country that will host millions of tourists for the next year's World Cup, has…

Continue

Added by Jeff Dunsavage on May 27, 2013 at 10:30am — No Comments

4 Charged in Murder of U.S. Tourist in Bahamas

Read full article

Added by Jeff Dunsavage on May 27, 2013 at 10:24am — No Comments

State Dept Documents U.S. Deaths in Mexico, But Not Disappearances

The drug war in Mexico has claimed at least 70,000 lives, but the full death toll may never be known because thousands are searching for relatives who have disappeared.

Along the border some of those missing in Mexico are U.S. citizens.

“It’s individuals that communicated with their loved ones on a daily basis and all of a sudden they disappear,” said Oscar Hagelseib, assistant special agent in charge of Homeland Security’s investigations in El Paso.

The agency helped…

Continue

Added by Jeff Dunsavage on May 25, 2013 at 7:33pm — No Comments

2 Arrests, Another Suspect Sought, in Murder of an American in the Bahamas

Two men are reportedly in custody and police are searching for a third man in connection with the slaying of a sailor from Chicago who was working on a tall ship in the Bahamas. The arrests in the fatal shooting of Kyle Bruner, 34, was reported by the Nassau Tribune.

Bruner, 34, a former special education teacher, was apparently trying to help a woman being mugged by two armed…

Continue

Added by Jeff Dunsavage on May 14, 2013 at 4:01pm — No Comments

Silverton, Ore., Native Murdered on Roatan, Honduras

Michael Overfield, who was named Silverton’s First Citizen for 2000 and was known for his efforts to restore historical buildings in the small East Valley town, was shot and killed Feb. 27 on an island off the coast of Honduras. The 53-year-old developer moved to Central America about a decade ago, according to his son, Tim Overfield, who declined to discuss the details of his father’s death.

Overfield was killed…

Continue

Added by Jeff Dunsavage on March 21, 2013 at 4:00pm — No Comments

Arrest Made, Confession Obtained in Murder of Sarai Sierra

A 46-year-old homeless man suspected in the killing of a Sarai Sierra, the Staten Island, NY, mother of two who was murdered in Istanbul, Turkey, in January was taken into custody on Sunday, the Turkish authorities said. 

The authorities in Hatay, near the Turkish-Syrian border, said the suspect — identified only by his initials, Z.T., and a nickname, Laz Ziya — had been detained in Reyhanli Township. 

In a video recorded shortly after his…

Continue

Added by Jeff Dunsavage on March 18, 2013 at 3:32pm — No Comments

Honduras Seeks Help From Mounties in Case of Canadian Tourist Murdered on Roatan

The Honduran government is asking for help from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in solving a five-month-old homicide case involving a Canadian citizen. Themy-Alexandre Vallée, 34, was shot outside a bar on the island of Roatan while on vacation in Honduras in October 2012. His friends and family have been questioning why the suspect, whose identity is known to police, hasn’t been arrested.…

Continue

Added by Jeff Dunsavage on March 16, 2013 at 12:55pm — No Comments

Tourist Deaths in Mexico in Recent Months

A shocking 32% of all non-natural deaths of U.S. citizen’s outside this country occur in Mexico, according to the Mexico Vacation Awareness website. Many of these deaths happen inside of the resorts and are a direct result of poor or nonexistent safety standards.

List of recent tourist deaths

Added by Jeff Dunsavage on March 10, 2013 at 2:56pm — No Comments

Mother of Canadian Slain on Roatan, Honduras, Seeks Justice

The mother of a man slain in Honduras in October is asking the Canadian government to put pressure on Honduran authorities to catch her son's killer. Chantal Vallée's son Themy-Alexandre Vallée, 34, was shot in the head outside a bar on the island of Roatan, a popular destination for divers and other tourists.

Honduran police have arrested a suspected accomplice in the slaying of the Montreal man, who was an officer with the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans. However, Vallée…

Continue

Added by Jeff Dunsavage on March 5, 2013 at 8:43pm — No Comments

A Mom Stands Alone to Seek Justice for Son Murdered Last Year in La Ceiba, Honduras

A heartbroken mom is staging a one-woman protest in an effort to get information about the murder of her son in Honduras. Donna Bryan wants Government or police to help ensure the killing of her son, Seaford Lee Russell, in La Ceiba on October 13 last year, is properly investigated. Ms Bryan said her son was shot multiple times. She claims she has been given no information about any investigation in Honduras or whether arrests have been made in the…

Continue

Added by Jeff Dunsavage on March 1, 2013 at 5:00pm — No Comments

Honduras Has a Functioning Legal System? U.S. State Department Says So -- Families Seeking Justice Beg to Differ

The U.S. State Department tells my family we have to go through the broken-to-nonexistent Honduran "justice" system in order to get a finding that my brother (who disappeared at sea off the Honduran island of Roatan) can be declared dead. This after my family personally funded an exhaustive search/rescue operation (with belated and begrudged U.S. government assistance) and an in-depth into my brother's background and those of his business partner. At great personal expense and pain, we did…

Continue

Added by Jeff Dunsavage on November 13, 2012 at 2:31pm — 1 Comment

Arrest Made in Murder of David Hartley, Falcon Lake Jetski Victim

Days after the Mexican Navy announced it detained an alleged leader of the Zetas drug cartel who is suspected in the 2010 killing of American David Hartley on a lake near the U.S.-Mexico border, the victim’s wife said she's hopeful the suspect could provide answers to what happened to her husband.

"Maybe he knows where David’s remains are, or where he's located," Tiffany Hartley, the victim's widow, said.

Tiffany Hartley said she was with her husband riding Jet Skis on Falcon…

Continue

Added by Jeff Dunsavage on October 10, 2012 at 10:16am — No Comments

If You're Thinking About Visiting, Investing In, Retiring To the Island of Roatan....

...you might want to spend some time with this FaceBook group consisting of expats living there.

Added by Jeff Dunsavage on July 9, 2012 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Salon: Erasing Cruise Ship Crime

This article in Salon asks the perplexing question: Why, if cruise-ship crime is a growing problem, did the FBI at the last minute push through language in cruise safety legislation that makes it MORE DIFFICULT for tourists to make informed choices about what line to cruise on or whether to cruise at all?

Added by Jeff Dunsavage on June 26, 2012 at 1:00pm — No Comments

Is It Safe to Cruise to Cozumel?

Writing in his blog Cruise Law News, maritime lawyer Jim Walker reports that, while cruise lines sell an idyllic image of care-free tropical vacations, in reality they know or should know that there are dangers on shore awating their passengers. In particular,…

Continue

Added by Jeff Dunsavage on June 11, 2012 at 11:02am — No Comments

Cartels Claim Another Mexican Blogger

The Mexican cartels' war against social media continued this week with murder of another blogger in Nuevo Laredo, just across the border from Texas. The note left next to the body -- identifying the victim as a moderator of Nuevo Laredo en Vivo, a local blog about goings-on in the city which has become a forum for reporting drug-related crimes and warning the public about dangerous areas -- stated: “This happened to me for not…

Continue

Added by Jeff Dunsavage on November 11, 2011 at 12:17pm — No Comments

Joe O'Donnell's Shooter to Stand Trial

Sam Wesley, the Roatan, Honduras man accused of shooting Australian citizen Joe O'Donnell in the back during an argument over where he parked his bicycle, has been committed to stand trial. O'Donnell was shot in the back at point-blank range in front of several witnesses on August 19. Almost two…

Continue

Added by Jeff Dunsavage on September 20, 2011 at 11:34am — No Comments

Justice Delayed: Family of Man Murdered on Roatan Await Verdict

The family of slain Canadian architect Roger Walls hope to hear the fate of his accused killer by the end of September.

Walls was gunned down in Roatan, Honduras, in February 2009. Paralyzed from a gunshot to the neck, his family paid to have the 71-year-old airlifted back to Saskatoon. He died from complications to his injuries in April 2009.

The victim's brother, Vic Walls of Red Deer, Alta., says Julie Thompson, a Honduran woman, is charged with murder in the case for…

Continue

Added by Jeff Dunsavage on September 19, 2011 at 2:57pm — No Comments

Man Shot in Back on Roatan, Honduras, Pleads for Help

Joe O'Donnell -- a resident of Sydney, Australia, who holds Australian and Irish citizenship -- was shot in the spine last month on Roatan, one of the Bay Islands of Honduras, and has called for support to pay medical bills reaching tens of thousands of dollars, according to this article in the Sydney Morning Herald.…



Continue

Added by Jeff Dunsavage on September 6, 2011 at 10:30am — No Comments

Mayoral Candidate Shot in Guatemala

GUATEMALA CITY – A candidate for mayor of the Guatemalan city of San Jose Pinula was wounded by unidentified gunmen, a member of his campaign team said. Luis Marroquin, who belongs to the opposition Lider party and had received death threats, was shot on Saturday while driving in San Jose Pinula, Congressman Leonardo Camey told reporters. Read more in the Latin American Herald Tribune

Added by Jeff Dunsavage on June 25, 2011 at 9:33am — No Comments

Follow Us on Twitter

© 2013   Created by Jeff Dunsavage.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service