Other tourists in recent years have died in gang-related crossfire in Tulum, including a California travel blogger and a German, who were killed in 2021 while eating in a restaurant after rival drug dealers started shooting each other.
California woman shot dead in Mexican resort town popular with Americans
An American woman died in the crossfire of an apparent drug deal gone bad at a popular Mexican beach resort in the municipality of Tulum.
Here are some of the crimes against American tourists that happened during 2024.
Actor George Clooney and his wife, Amal, have also stayed there.
“Like people say, ‘Don’t leave the resort, and you’ll be fine.’ It started at the resort. The resort was not safe,” Hull said. “They say the resort is the safest place; don’t leave it. That’s not true.”
The couple, who were on vacation visiting family, was traveling in a black 2016 Ford Platinum pickup truck when gunmen opened fire near an intersection.
During a tribute, the Robinsons’ mother, Debra Robinson, said, “Our hearts are broken, and the world has become a darker place for us. They were young men enjoying their passion of surfing together,” the Associated Press reported.
The suspect and victim traveled together, the Irish Times reported. The outlet noted that the suspect is also an American.
Last year, the U.S. issued “Do Not Travel” warnings for parts of Mexico ahead of the popular March spring break travel period, citing gang violence and noting that U.S. citizens have “become seriously ill or died in Mexico after using synthetic drugs or adulterated prescription pills.”
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Authorities located Gloria Ambriz, 50, and Rafael Cardona, 53, while responding to a report of a shooting in Angamacutiro in the western state of Michoacán on Wednesday night, according to Fox 11 Los Angeles, citing the state attorney general’s office.
Police later detained an Irish citizen in connection to Michalski’s disappearance, who admitted he met her at a local nightclub and danced before leaving together for his apartment.
Snider said Pitze did not end up in the hospital but struggled the following day after the incident.
The three men, brothers Jake and Callum Robinson from Australia and American Jack Carter Rhoad, were on a camping and surfing trip along a stretch of coast south of the city of Ensenada when they disappeared.
Stephanie Snider, whose son, Jake, is Hull’s boyfriend, said in a series of Facebook posts that Hull and Pitze were slipped a drug while they were at the resort in Cancun.
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The BBC reported that Ari Gisel, the girlfriend of suspected killer Jesús Gerardo Garcia Cota, said he showed up at her house on April 28 and told her he did something to “three gringos.”
When several Americans planned to travel abroad for relaxing vacations, their dream vacations quickly turned to real-life nightmares and terror.
Authorities were able to track down surrounding security footage and identified a male suspect who was last seen with Michalski.
“Zara started having what the resort doctor called a ‘seizure’ and said she needed to be taken to the hospital. Once she was there, the hospital demanded $10K just to look at her to help her and start treating her. The money was sent. By the next morning, we were told more money was needed to continue treatment,” Snider said.
One of the suspects believed to be connected to the murders allegedly admitted to his girlfriend that he killed all three, Ramírez said.
Oklahoma college students say they were drugged at Cancun resort pool bar in vacation nightmare
A dream vacation turned into a nearly fatal nightmare after two Oklahoma State University students were allegedly poisoned after ordering water from a poolside bar at a Cancun resort.
Police in Ireland arrested and detained a 30-year-old man in the assault.
Michoacán is listed as a “do not travel” spot in Mexico, according to the U.S. State Department.
“Neither of the girls have any memory of what happened after they took that last drink, which happened to have been a glass of WATER. We think it was whatever was put in that glass of water that did it. Both girls collapsed at the very SAME time. They both are battling feelings of not knowing what happened and ‘why them?’” Snider said.
The victim was later pronounced dead by police.
Hull and a group of friends were in Cancun for a four-day trip that was quickly cut short.
Michalski’s friends alerted authorities after she missed her departing flight and her belongings were left in her Airbnb.
According to a release from Ireland’s national police and security service, Garda Síochána, an unidentified American citizen was found unconscious in his hotel room at Ballyfin Demesne, a luxurious hotel in Laois, Ireland.
Police said he hid Michalski’s body in the woods before driving back to Budapest, where he was arrested outside his apartment.