Nancy Ng (Photo courtesy of family)
Nancy Ng, a U.S. citizen and a resident of Monterey Park, went missing on Lake Atitlán in Guatemala on Thursday, October 19, 2023.
By News Desk
Nancy is 29 years old. She loves yoga, traveling, hiking with her family, and cuddling with her cat. Her family describes her as someone who has “a kind heart, a big smile, and can talk to anyone about anything (and often, everything). She’s a caring daughter, a loving sister, and a supportive friend.”
Air and water searches are still underway in Guatemala. Nancy has now been missing for 11 days. Despite an extensive search involving helicopters, dive rescue teams, drones, local rescue teams, and kind volunteers, her whereabouts are still unknown.
The Head of Search Operations from Black Wolf Helicopters is Master Aircrewman Chris Sharpe (info@blackwolfhelicopters.com). Chris is the Helicopter Association International Safety Award recipient and has over 16,500 flight hours in Search and Rescue Operations. He states that “search operations are currently hampered by the failure of key witnesses to Nancy’s disappearance not coming forward and providing a witness report. This has led to an extensive search of Lake Atitlán, a volcanic lake approximately 130km (80 miles) square and reaches a depth of 350 meters. Currently, search teams are taking great personal risks due to the climate and altitude, but without knowing the full background to her disappearance – we are unfortunately only able to scratch the surface of such a large area of water and remote locations.”
As there is no state-funded search and rescue service in Guatemala, search efforts have been funded through local donations and volunteers from the Bomberos Voluntarios Air Rescue Section and Bomberos Dive Team.
A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to direct funding towards the local Bomberos Teams for basic essentials such as food and vehicle fuel. An increase will allow the dive team to purchase their own boat, as they are currently relying on generosity from local tour boat operators. This campaign has also funded the use of helicopters, drones, divers, and boats to search such a vast area.
The need for witnesses (many of whom have returned to the United States in the past week) to provide any information they may know is imperative.
The family says that “due to lack of key witnesses sharing key information, this search is now subject to investigation by local Prosecution Authorities, the FBI, and the Department of State.”
Any information can be sent confidentially to helpUsFindNancy@gmail.com.
Leave a Reply