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06/24/09
Mystery at the Moon Palace, Cancun, Mexico; Scottish Grandmother Missing
Filed under: Cancun Casa Blog, Cancun Tourism, Missing: Julia Howard
Posted by: Dangers @ 6:54 pm

 Today, we’re updating our previous blog regarding the strange disappearance of a Scottish woman, 77 year old Julia Howard, from the Moon Palace in Cancun Mexico, this past Monday, June 16, 2009, shortly after arriving the night before from the UK. The missing woman is a grandmother visiting the Moon Palace for the fifth time, based on reports, with her daughter, son and daughter-in-law. Ms. Howard has been now missing for eight days despite attempts by her family and Moon Palace resort personnel to locate her amongst the grounds of the sprawling Moon Palace Resort.

 Earlier today, a person claiming to be a family member in a now confirmed report on Trip Advisor Cancun claimed that the Moon Palace and Cancun authorities under duress of threat of adverse publicity finally began a professional search of the resort’s tropical forested areas and coastline utilizing search teams, trained search dogs and marine police, yesterday.
http://cancun-hotels.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g150807-i8-k2893410-o10-Missing_Edinburgh_Woman-Cancun_Yucatan_Peninsula.html


Mounted Police Search Moon Palace Grounds
(Courtesy of Diario de Quintana Roo)

 The family of Julia Howard, both in Cancun and in the UK has been frantically trying to mount public support in an effort to leverage the local Cancun authorities and Moon Palace personnel to formally and professionally search the area and publicly acknowledge the missing woman for the better part of a week, even going as far as contacting the UK Embassy in Mexico.

(Quintana Roo Attorney General, Bello Melchor Rodriguez Carrillo)
 For their troubles, they received a politically incorrect smack down from the Attorney General of the State of Quintana Roo, Cancun’s home state via the local media. The Quintana Roo AG, Bello Melchor Rodriguez Carrillo, was quoted by Focus Radio in Mexico as stating; “The first presumption is that the Attorney General’s (Office) is against the family, they just had to take care of the management of this person, because we don’t know the clinical history of this person (Julia Howard), who may have mental deficiencies, (we’re) totally unaware of the physical health this person arrived in and this seems to be that the family, her (Howards’)  son and daughter were in a recreational area in the pool area of Hotel Moon Palace, and when she said that the case was to return to the room, to find some things, and to join up again with them, and it seems that (she) left for a time, and as I said the people responsible for her, these guests (Howard’s adult children), which apparently they took of no great importance, continued to enjoy their holiday ” . (Translation by CancunCasa) The Focus Radio report goes on to further indicate that the AG personally believes that it was the neglect of Howard’s family members vacationing with her that she has disappeared and that the AG’s office has no clues as to the disappearance of Julia Howard. http://www.enfoqueradio.com.mx/?p=26175

 In this writer’s opinion it appears absolutely callous and irresponsible the remarks of the Quintana Roo Attorney General regarding this situation but not surprising considering his past remarks regarding similar cases, including the Case of Dana Rishpy, an Israeli National, whose case among the missing (from Tulum) remains unsolved for over two years. http://dangers.cancuncasa.com/?p=34

 What further complicates this case is that no one at this time knows what has become of Julia Howard, in reality, most of us long time Cancun followers over the years have often read tales of missing tourists, usually these stories end up as domestic disputes, suicides, people running from something, usually the law, accidents (drownings and falls) usually accompanied by excessive alcohol or drug use and/or general health issues. Currently, based on the known reports, it’s difficult to figure out where a 77 year old grandmother, familiar with the resort, in good health as per family reports falls into any of the aforementioned categories. Of course there’s the unknown or unmentioned, abduction, a sudden health problem, assault and possible even attack from nearby wildlife, crocodiles, jaguars, poisonous snakes or even accidental drowning in the Caribbean though the Moon Palace surf isn’t known for it’s danger.


 However, right now, it just doesn’t add up, how a Scottish Grandmother from Edinburgh on vacation with her family at a premier Cancun resort can suddenly vanish without a trace, as to her whereabouts, her family is wondering the same thing, and wondering why representatives of the Moon Palace and authorities in Cancun waited so long to assist them.

 Then again, one only has to read the statement by the Quintana Roo Attorney General to figure that one out.

Other Links:
http://www.dqr.com.mx/index.php/Benito-Juarez/Nota-RojaBJ/No-cesan-en-busqueda-de-escocesa.html

http://dangers.cancuncasa.com/?p=69

http://www.dqr.com.mx/index.php/Benito-Juarez/Nota-RojaBJ/Sin-pistas-de-escocesa.html

http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/world/Family-tell-of-39nightmare39-.5385902.jp

 

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