(Editor’s note, the blog below this has important weather alert information for those in or traveling to the Yucatan Peninsula)
In a rather bizarre twist to the case of missing Scottish grandmother, Julia Howard, Novedades Newspaper in Quintana Roo is reporting that they have a report, a press release, from representatives of Palace Resorts in Cancun, that Julia Howard has been seen alive in Valladolid, a small city in the southeastern Yucatan, not far from the Maya City ruins of Chichen Itza, about two hours west from Cancun and the Moon Palace resort where she was last seen.
Novedades further reports, based on their source, the press release from Palace Resorts, that residents of Valladolid have claimed to have seen Howard, missing from the Moon Palace resort in Cancun since June 16, 2009. The report claims residents have recognized Howard from published photographs in the media.
The press release from the Palace Resort hotel chain indicated that the
authorities investigating the case did not rule out that the tourist
who apparently suffers from mental problems, has left the resort of her own volition as per Novedades. Local Newspaper Por Esto has confirmed the story and the source as Palace Resorts, adding that Palace Resort representatives have also stated that they have continually searched for Ms. Howard since she was first reported missing on June 16, 2009. Ms. Howard’s granddaughter, Gill Greaves, has stated previously in interviews, that her grandmother does not suffer from dementia, contradicting the Palace Resorts report to some extent.
Por Esto has also reported that the police officials in Valladolid, while aware of Ms. Howard’s disappearance, have no reports of Julia Howard being sighted in their jurisdiction.
As of this time, we (the blog) have been able to confirm the Novedades story via a report in today’s Por Esto. Both news sources confirming that Palace Resorts is the source of this report and not local authorities involved in the investigation into the disappearance. We would remind our readers that Julia Howard has not yet been found to our knowledge and the Palace Resorts report/statement is the source of both news reports. At this time, we would urge caution to our readers in putting a strong reliance into the Palace Resorts statement until further confirmed by the responsible government officials. The writers at Por Esto have called the Palace Resort report “intriguing conjecture” and the writers at Novedades have utilized the words, “Hypothesis and Clues” describing the same report issued by the Palace Resort Hotel chain.
The links to both the Novedades and Por Esto stories can be found below;
http://www.poresto.net/quintana-roo/42066-la-senora-howard-en-valladolid
http://www.sipse.com/noticias/4555-pistas-sobre-turista-britanica-desaparecida.html