The family of a California woman are going through a ‘living hell’ after she disappeared in Guatemala while attending a yoga retreat and have been stymied when trying to get information.
Nancy Ng, 29, left her home in Monterey Park on October 14 to attend the week-long trip in Lake Atitlan, her family says.
Ng was an active yoga practitioner and had attended the same retreat the previous year, with her sister Nancy saying she had enjoyed it so much she wanted to go again.
On October 19, her family stopped hearing from her and the person organizing the retreat said they couldn’t find her.
Even worse, her family has been unable to get any details from the day she disappeared or make contact with anyone who saw her that day.
Nancy Ng, 29, left her home in Monterey Park on October 14 to attend the week-long trip in Lake Atitlan, her family says
‘The last two weeks have been a living hell because when we first got the news that she was missing, we just had so many questions,’ sister Nancy told KTLA.
‘What happened? Where is she now? Is there a chance she’s alive? We didn’t know anything,’ she added.
Ng works at a local school district helping students with disabilities and is active in both yoga and travel in her personal life.
Nicky said that her sister found real healing and peace on the previous year’s trip – held near a large body of water located within a volcanic crater – and was so excited to go again.
‘She was saying it’s so beautiful,’ Nicky recalled.
‘Last year, she woke up every morning just to spend some time there by herself without the group and this year was going to be more exciting because they had planned activities on the lake.’
The Ng family has attempted to try and get the State Department, FBI and local officials to help.
They’ve also hired a team in Guatemala that does search and rescue missions and have used divers and drones to try and locate her. They say they’ve scoured about 95 percent of the lake.
Ng was an active yoga practitioner and had attended the same retreat the previous year, with her sister Nancy saying she had enjoyed it so much she wanted to go again
Her family has been unable to get any details from the day she disappeared or make contact with anyone who saw her that day
Ng works at a local school district helping students with disabilities and is active in both yoga and travel in her personal life
‘We don’t know where she went in, where she went missing because there’s no corroboration of that,’ said Chris Sharpe, who runs Black Wolf Helicopters and is part of the search.
‘We’ve got a rough idea, but it varies from one side of the lake to the other.’
The most difficult part of the investigation, Sharpe says, is that the people who may have interacted with Nancy on October 14 when she vanished have not been open with any details.
‘We just don’t know because we’re lacking that vital information,’ Sharpe said.
Ng’s partner, Jared Lopez, has launched a Gofundme to help pay for all of the search and rescue missions.
Nicky said that her sister found real healing and peace on the previous year’s trip – held near a large body of water located within a volcanic crater – and was so excited to go again
Ng’s partner, Jared Lopez, has launched a Gofundme to help pay for all of the search and rescue missions
The Ng family has attempted to try and get the State Department, FBI and local officials to help
Sharpe says the fewer the details equals a larger amount of possibilities as to what could have happened to Ng.
‘We just want her to know that we love her so much and we just really want to bring her home,’ Nicky said.
The FBI told reporters that they are supporting Guatemalan officials in their search but that they remain in the lead in looking for Ng.
‘Time is of the essence, and we are racing against the clock to bring Nancy home,’ her family said in a statement.
‘It has been an ongoing nightmare, not knowing what happened to Nancy or if we will ever get her back. All my family wants is to bring our sister/daughter home. Please help us do so.’
