Search for missing US woman in Guatemala continues amid lack of information
By Ryan General
December 11, 2023
The search for 29-year-old Nancy Ng in Guatemala continues with volunteers joining the effort to navigate the challenges of the underwater terrain.
Catch up: Ng, a school assistant from Southern California, disappeared during a kayak excursion while on a yoga retreat at Lake Atitlán, Guatemala, on Oct. 19. Since then, search efforts have been hampered by a lack of information from witnesses.
Resuming the search: Volunteer organization Bruce’s Legacy, which specializes in search and recovery operations for drowned victims, initiated a deep underwater search on Dec. 2 amid weather challenges and the lack of information.
“So disappointed in the witness Christina Blazak [sic],” the group wrote in a Facebook update on Dec. 5, citing the case’s key witness. “She is a San Bernadino public defender and refuses to give us any information to aid in finding Nancy. She is the person that could help get us in the right area, and will not.”
Chris Sharpe, head of the Guatemala-based Black Wolf Helicopters, which Ng’s family had hired to lead the aerial search on the lake’s surface, previously expressed his frustration over similar concerns.
“For me, this is now becoming a criminal investigation because the witnesses who were there at a material time are not being forthcoming,” Sharpe told Eyewitness News last month.
Key witness: Christina Blazek, a San Bernardino public defender, was the last person to see Ng. She provided her account of the incident last month, but it lacked the details that would be valuable to search efforts.
Speaking through her lawyer, G. Christopher Gardner, Blazek said she and Ng did not know each other and only met on the lake. She purportedly tried to dissuade Ng from swimming due to rough waters but was unsuccessful.
Family’s frustrations: Ng’s family reportedly made attempts to contact Blazek prior to her statement but received no response. Ng’s younger sister, Nicky, told KABC-TV that Blazek must come forward with more information.
“I hope she can understand that we have no account of what happened because she is the only person that saw what happened, and it wasn’t included in the report,” she said.
A GoFundMe page has been organized to aid search efforts and support Ng’s family. As of press time, the campaign has raised $113,852.
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