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An adventurous Oakland couple who had been out of contact with family members for a month - and believed to be missing - were heard from on Tuesday in Peru, much to the relief of their families and global social media community rallying for their safe return.
Garrett Hand and Jamie Neal, both 25, were aboard a small vessel on the Napo River on their way to Ecuador, according to Neal’s sister, Jennifer. The U.S. Embassy told Jennifer that Hand reached out to Peruvian officials after being informed the couple was the subject of a search.
"They said the police reported to them Garrett called them over the phone and gave his passport number and confirmed he and my sister are in good health and that they're fine,” Neal said. "Someone from a town they were passing through had seen them and had been watching the news and told them they need to call the local authorities.”
Neal told NBC Bay Area she was happy to get the news, but won’t be completely at peace until either Hand or her sister makes contact with a family member.
“I still have not talked to my sister," she said. "If it's true, I feel great I'm so glad. I want my sister to be having a blast over there and having fun. I don't want to worry about her and think anything bad happened to her.”
Neal is hoping to hear her sister’s voice tomorrow.
"Supposedly they were going to be hitting the border in Ecuador tomorrow and the authorities were going to make them call their family members when they get there,” Neal said.
The avid cyclists left for South America at the end of November and regularly chronicled their journey through Facebook, but the updates stopped on Jan. 25, along with any financial activity on the couple’s bank accounts and credit cards.
The couple was unaware of the search effort, which picked up steam over late last week when family members took to social media to generate awareness and help. The family set up a Facebook page called Missing in Peru Garrett Hand and Jamie Neal.
On Feb. 13, the U.S. Embassy in Lima warned Americans of a potential kidnapping threat by an unnamed criminal organization in the Cusco area. The embassy reported the threat to be "credible at least through the end of February."
Francine Fitzgerald, the mother of Garrett Hand released the following statement:
"We have received phone calls from the U.S. Embassy and Peruvian government that my son Garrett Hand and his girlfriend Jamie Neal have been spotted in a remote village in Peru. The information told to me is that they are on a boat on the river and that they are sending a plane to find them. I am told to expect information by tomorrow sometime.
While I appreciate the extraordinary efforts of the media, the U.S. and Peruvian governments, until I hear from and see my son directly, we will not stop. This young couple is someone’s son and brother, someone’s daughter and sister and United States citizens. We have not heard from them since January 25, nor have they accessed bank accounts since that time. We have only the worst to consider as to why.
Thank you those of you who are helping – friends, family, reporters, officials – and our task is done when Garrett and Jamie are home and safe."
Leave a Comment:
I hope they're alright,but it doesn't sound good.
they were warned!!!!!!!!!
add;
1. the California liberal collage kid attitude
2 too much money
3. too little thought process
4. overly indulged ego's
5. the "me" generation
6. Almost always backed by the parents, or at least the Parents money....
And what do you get?
Answer.......Evidently "lost" in another country as this happens all the time
(GM Mary)
GM Tramp. I wouldn't have gone. I can't even speak spanish.
Pretty risky trip. Even here in US they would be facing some risk. But at least here they can carry weapons to defend themselves. Tour the US instead, people! We have so much to see... from sea to shiny sea...
cowtowntrucker: They started their trip in NOV, they were last heard from on JAN 26, the embassy "warning" was issued on FEB 13, three weeks after they were heard from last. Hard for them to consider the warning from the embassy 3 weeks after they disappeared.
So who are the people pictured in this article? They're not the missing couple!
Evidently two more "lost" people. they were lost in the www however, which as you know is a much bigger search area. they may never be found.
IA.ScooterTramp - Definition of "collage" according to The Free Dictionary:
a. An artistic composition of materials and objects pasted over a surface, often with unifying lines and color.
b. A work, such as a literary piece, composed of both borrowed and original material.
Ability to spell...priceless.
scales67 - Feeling self-important there, scales? Did you establish your intellectual superiority over scooter?
Not only are you an arrogant, obnoxious tool, but you wouldn't have bothered pointing out the misspelling if you hadn't gotten butt-hurt over his comment regarding liberal college kids, which he's correct about, BTW.
Ability to not be a hypocritical liberal . . . priceless.
Max^108
Good point> A gun is your friend.
Don't leave home without it.
@warren - I don't pack every day but I will carry a gun when trouble is quite possible. Otherwise I just keep my blade handy ;)
irony is circular
thank you! i thought i was the only one that though scales66 was a a$$hole. i feel much better now :)
Yeah, why would they not call worried relatives, instead of just the local authorities? Anybody with their passports can make a call to the local police and say they are the "missing" couple. It doesn't look good, but I hope they really are okay.
Their are some places you simply do NOT go.
I don't think these are inherently bad places to go to. Having said that, being a long distance biker comes with serious road hazard risks. We know what happened in Thailand? recently. A biker couple was accidentally killed by a truck.
@Domewars--- You must have been to my aunt Betty's LOL.
It's sad that they're missing and almost certainly dead or sold into slavery, but anybody who travels in that part of the world should be ready to die or disappear. South America is one gigantic cesspool of crime and corruption. Everybody knows that.
Surely they knew the risks before they left and decided to go anyway. Why ANYBODY would want to go to a place like that is totally beyond me.
Your post could just as easily describe the USA.
Zheng He, there's always an anti-US equivocator on almost every story, isn't there? The US is nothing like these hell holes. People move to the US to escape such. Grow a brain and take your equivocation back to China or wherever.
Learn to protect yourselves in armed and unarmed combat. Start today.
Zheng He,
May I respectfully inform you that you are fulla sh!t? Why yes, I think I shall!
Chile and Argentina hell-holes? Guessing you have never left the USA.
If what you say is true, then all those Mexicans, Central and South Americans, Chinese, et. al. must really be stupid to spend all that time and effort trying to get into the U.S. just to have conditions like they had at home. Or, behind Door #2, is "Your statement is false."
While crime certainly happens in America and you have lots of idiots on the roads with no regard for bikers, there are NOT gangs of criminals continually and purposefully kidnapping people and holding them for ransom. That is something very common in South America. And while we do have gangs, their main targets are mostly other gang members. In Mexico and South America, EVERYONE is a potential target for a gang member.
So saying North America and South America are exactly the same in terms of safety for long bike or road trips is a BAD comparison.
And I have to add...the picture of the couple above is no way the couple in the story. Weird...the couple in the picture look more like they are in their 40's or 50's, not 20's.
I grew up in South America, and what do you know? I made it!!! It's not that bad, man. As a matter of fact, the very first and only time I was mugged at gunpoint was in 1991, in Los Angeles. I also had my home burglarized, and lost nearly all my valuables a couple of years ago, in safe Thousand Oaks,CA. Been to South America several times since, and no worries.
Domewars, like what? Detroit, Chicago?
Peru is usually much safer than those. They were no longer in the Cuzco area talked about here; so its total conjecture what happened to them. There's a much better chance they got sideswiped into a ditch by traffic as having met a violent death. There are a lot of road accidents around these parts and the shoulders of the road are so terrible you can't ride them. So, indeed, many developing world roads not so good for safe biking.
I would count Detroit and Chicago on that list...and I used to live in Chicago (25 years ago). Dangerous places where you have a much higher than average change of meeting a bad end. A bicycle trip across the US would entail more risk than some other trips (except probably a vacation to the south side of Chicago!). You end up encountering lots of people, some of whom are going to be unsavory, and obviously traffic is a risk.
I feel bad for these young people because no one deserves that, but they did undertake a very risky trip and should have understood the potentials. It was a recreational thing and voluntary. Everybody has to assess their own personal goals in light of the risk potential and then decide how they want to live. I've got a sibling who swims (scubas) in water where there are often sharks. Would I do it? No, but that is a personal choice.
Hopefully you'd have the brains NOT to plan a bike trip through Chicago. Especially if you knew the cops were more corrupt and the "good areas" were non-existant.
It wouldn't be risky if people were not hurt or worse. You make your choices and you take your chances. Snake eyes.
Lee, That's why when I go to Chicago, I don't hang out in the South side. Jim Croce warned us about it.... "Well the South side of Chicago is the baddest part of town"
I have done a considerable amount of traveling by bike in Europe but never in a million years would I even consider doing it in South America, one of the most dangerous places on the planet. I do not know what this young couple were thinking when they decided to take this trip because the region that they were planning on traveling through has the highest rate of kidnappings in the world. I guess they figured that it wouldn't happen to them so now one of two things has taken place, either they are already dead, or they are being held for ransom and it is going to cost their families some serious cash to get them back. They could also become pones in an exchange with the local government which could end badly for them if it comes down to a shoot out with the local authorities. In a word, this is a very bad situation that could have been avoided had these folk picked a safer place to travel.
They are almost certainly dead. If it were a kidnapping, or pawn game, they would have heard from the criminals by now.
I suspect WalkWithMe is correct. lf contact ceased 25 Jan and they had been kidnapped, a ransom request would long since have surfaced by now. Fatal traffic accident followed by coverup, or a lethal robbery, I'm afraid.
Andre, the last thing you want to do is become a "pone", especially a corn pone. Someone might eat you.
Hindsight is a great thing, so is armchair judging.
So is FORE-SITE....had they had any the second would not be needed.
foresight -- or mangled word of the day award?
Thank you...thank you...i wish to thank everyone who made this possible....I would like to start with officer Orson of the Vine SP&G police for his guidance and keen eye....then on to...
Orson, Tramp is a notorious bad speller... lol
I'll probably get flamed for this, but I think hostility towards Americans in the world has greatly increased over the past 20 years.....perhaps due to unilateral and imperialistic foreign policy. I travel some for work - 20 years ago, in traveling to Europe, people loved Americans. Today, not so much.....it would seem to me that in third world countries, it would be even worse.
Just a thought.
Joe,
No flames, here. You are exactly right. I both travel and maintain homes in various parts of the world (no residences in Latin America, however), and have done so for decades. We Americans no not receive the red-carpe treatment we once did. I think there are many reasons for that, including, in part, the one you suggest. But, we Americans are also no longer richer than everyone else, so, when we try to behave as if we still are, we learn that there is no reason for the locals to cowtow to us. Many of us cannot adapt to that changed condition, and our individual inflexibility in that regard makes relationships more challenging for all of us.
OMG is anything NOT the fault of Bush/Cheney? Seriously, truthful or not this line is GETTING OLD.
Joe, I agree with you 100%; also agree with singleterm.
I think it's more in the lines of venomous snakes and spiders. You can't plan on that type of thing.
Think of a reason why it might NOT be the fault of the US. Use your brain. What is wrong with you people?
PrayHard,
Watch your back! Just because you are paranoid, doesn't keep everyone from plotting against you. Right? No one is blaming the U.S. -- just talking about how he hospitality landscape has changed, and that we would do well be aware of that. There is nothing "wrong with [us] people".
Jag: Maybe because the people who elected him did not do it for him to send the nation into two wars. Certainly the 6,000+ soldiers that perished in both conflicts did not vote for him so they could go to war and die. You haven't voted? Then you are part of the problem. If only 70 % of the registered voters cast their ballot on that election, then it means that 30% of the population elected our president, therefore you get what you paid for...
I have traveled over a million miles in just the last 10 years, Latin America, Asia and Europe and I disagree with you completly. You read their news before you go there so you can intelligently converse, you don't compare everything to the US and you are polite and I have never had a problem. Most did not like Bush but they can see the difference between people and govt. I have lived in Spain, Mexico and Costa Rica for extended periods, up to 3 years and I was fine. Just don't be so dam judgemental things can be different not right or wrong just different. Also, recognize that while I love my country other people love their country also. Patriotism existed prior to the settlement of the US
Way to go DM57.
Over 100,000 dead in Iraq for no reason and it is no wonder the USA has a bad reputation. Joe has a point.
Sadly, you are spot-on. Plus the many other little (illegal) "wars" that we've been involved in since WWII haven't helped any either.
No single president or administration is wholly responsible - they've all played a part in destroying the reputation of the USA in the rest of the world.
No one respects a bully, regardless of how self-righteous he may pretend to be, it's as simple as that.
100K less Mideast troglodytes is a good enough reason for me.
But whats that got to do with THIS article?
ia,scootertramp "100k less Mideast troglodytes is good enough for me."
Good one tramp. With that attitude you wonder why other country's hate us.
Yep...It was my attitude That did it. Didn't know it was my turn to be "it" ... but just wait till your turn on the wheel of the blame game....will you admit it?
ia.scootertramp but wait till your turn on the wheel of the blame game....will you admit it?
My wife blames me for everything so I have learned to take the blame just to shut her up.... ever been there?
Scooter, ever notice how the people you flame always have more 'likes' than you do? I wonder why that would be?
You've evidently gone on to trash entire states now, sounds like living in the highly regarded state of Ind. has made you a tad bit jealous...
Is Joran Van Der Sloot getting out on work release during the week? What about the Shining Path rebels? Are they under control? What about the locals who run you off the road, then force you to sign a document admitting you were drunk or smuggling drugs? Peru doesn't seem any safer than Detroit right now.
Who thinks bicycling through South America is a good idea anyway?
Evidently, California's yuppie's puppy's.
TruthComesHere... I'm with you. Biking on a continent known drug cartels and other nefarious criminals is pretty damn dumb. Seems like they'd be old enough to know better. Why go on a trip when there is obvious danger and a criminal element? Just plain stupid.
I have no idea whether it's safe or not biking across South America but my question is why is this coming out a month after they disappeared? I think at this point it's safe to say they met their maker.
Space. what with a dozen anti gun articles along with 4-5 "storm of the century" articles plus the daily "ain't the messiah swell" there just wasn't room.
LMAO - Thanks Scooter. I love when someone speaks the truth and so plainly that even the "other guys" can understand it.
We know what's going to happen here. This is a sick world and getting sicker everyday. You need to be armed to walk across the street.
What can you expect traveling thru communist, terrorist, anti american infested narcotics countries?
Trouble in a large scale.
Any country south of the border is nothing but a cesspool of criminals and narcotics.
they will kill you for 10 dollars.
Been there, lived there, was born there. It sucks!!!
You probably sucked there too.
"Shining Path Maoists" ... Sheesh, I've not heard of them in thirty years. These people really are behind the "times. Shining Path Druggists" might be a more current description.
Forty years ago, riding around the Earth on a bicycle was the ultimate dream of us cyclists. Not so any longer. Well, maybe with a sag wagon with a mini gun and a million rounds of ammo.
Why do people take such risk?
For what gain?
You dont bike ride in peru. The roads are not made for that...hardly any shoulders and they drive like morons.
Please people....grow brains!
Tomorrow I'm gonna hollow out an elk cavity and ride it like a boat off the coast of africa, just so I can say i did it. Signing off now....your truly, sharkbait.
That goes along the same idea of people who backpack in Iraq/Iran/Korea DMZ area.
I honestly don't understand people who do things like this.
While I hope that they are found safe and sound, I do not believe the American government should get involved if it becomes a kidnapping/political situation.
Civilians traveling on their own are ON THEIR OWN.
Stupidity has the best of us these days. Last week a couple of British bikers got killed in an accident in Malaysia and nobody jumped the gun blaming the Malay people. Of course, that maybe because the very same stu*id people don't have the slightest idea where Malaysia is...
They could of got hit and run over and are is some deep ditch on a remote highway with steep ravines. That couple got hit in Southeast Asia last week and killed. Sad. If they were being kidnapped some scumbag would of tried a ransom by now. I'm afraid they could be dead.
Some really nice places in the US to bike through.
Also, Americans should stay home because all these countries are snake pits of corruption, hell, look what's happened to Mexico. We should just cut them all off and rebuild our economy and let these heathen countries die their own death. Their sucking America dry of wealth and jobs. They take the American dollar from NAFTA and TAFTA and turn around and buy weapons from the Russians. The Russians are "banking rich" ofF these countries and their poor are even much worse off. The poor are now first class armed and gansta. Pollution is out of control and toxins are spilled everywhere their water is @!$%#. Fk em all.
Everyone has a pretty good "gut feeling" of what really happened. The man was probably forced to watch them rape his girlfriend and then murdered. She was either then tortured and sold into slavery or tortured and then murdered.
When are naive, stupid Americans going to wake up and learn they are kidnap targets for thieves and terrorists. I am retired and before that I traveled the world for a defense munitions contractor. Our security people told us to keep quiet and not to discuss our business in public. We were warned to never stray from our hotels. Americans you are not safe outside the borders of the USA. Don't kid yourselves about what the rest of the world thinks about us.
Those are the same 'stupid Americans' who think their 'rights' follow them out of the country, into another, because they are American. They go blindly charging into a third world nation without learning anything of the laws, culture, language or relationship to the United States, and once they get into trouble, they EXPECT the government to get them out. Frankly, I wish our government would stop doing so...
Another example of Americans believing they can go anywhere in the world they wish without anything happening to them. I hope they are safe. But given that they have been missing for a month, it doesn't look like they are. Hopefully the future will reveal a world that is safe to travel for anyone. But we cannot be naive for the current times. I wish them and their families the best outcome.
Right on time
I feel for their parents. Being a parent no matter what the situation, it must be difficult on them. I do hope they return unharmed.
Next time try bicycling between Afghanistan and Iran. I here it's much safer there.