The family of a Southern California woman who disappeared in October while on a yoga retreat in Guatemala is still desperate for answers and fear that authorities abroad are not investigating their loved one’s case with the kind of urgency that’s needed.
The missing woman, Nancy Ng, 29, from Monterey Park, disappeared on Oct. 19 at a retreat in Lake Atitlán, according to her family.
Nancy, a former Cal State L.A. student who worked with special needs students in the Alhambra Unified School District, had planned to relax at a week-long yoga retreat, something she had done the year prior.
She left on Oct. 14 and just a few days into her trip, her family said the retreat organizer called to say she had vanished.
Since that terrible news, the 29-year-old’s family has traveled to Guatemala to speak with prosecutors and police themselves and even three months later, they are still waiting to hear from key witnesses.
“Nancy is the first thing I think about in the morning and the last thing I think about before bed,” Nicky Ng, Nancy’s sister, told KTLA’s Rachel Menitoff.
In video believed to be the last time anyone saw Nancy alive, she is seen paddling on a kayak in Lake Atitlán, waving to someone off in the distance with a smile on her face.
Along with traveling to Guatemala themselves, Nancy’s family has hired a private search and rescue team to scour the lake using helicopters, drones and boats.
“I feel like I carry the weight of finding justice for her,” Nicky explained.
According to the 29-year-old’s family, they have been unable to speak to key witnesses in the case.
One of those witnesses, Christina Blazek, was the last known person to see Nancy alive.
“My client has from the very beginning done everything she can do to shed light on what happened and cooperate with giving whatever information that she has,” Blazek’s attorney, Chris Gardner, told KTLA.
Blazek’s attorney said his client saw Nancy out on the water and cautioned her that it was not a good place to swim, but that her warning was ignored. According to Gardner, Blazek twice tried to get Nancy’s kayak to her, but at some point, Nancy disappeared underwater.
“My client went looking for her, tried paddling to the area right above where she thought she was. She was screaming her name, trying to find out if she could help her. Looking down into the lake, it was pitch black,” Gardener explained. “Apparently, it’s very dark in that area. She saw nothing. She quickly realized that Ms. Ng. is missing, is underwater. There’s nothing that my client could do except get to shore as quickly as possible and try to get help and that’s what she did.”
Despite the attorney’s account of what Blazek saw and did, the Ng family says they want to hear directly from the people who were with Nancy before she disappeared so that they can work on piecing together her whereabouts.
“What we want is answers,” Nicky said. “We want to know what happened to Nancy that day and where to find her and we want that information to come from the only witness that was with Nancy at the time of her disappearance, and we want that through official channels.”
While the Guatemalan government is the lead agency in the investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed that it has interviewed witnesses and offered resources to Guatemalan officials.
The FBI also told KTLA that it is not aware of any evidence of foul play.