On Monday, June 15, 2009, Julia Howard and her family were just starting what they had hoped would be a relaxing tropical vacation in Cancun, Mexico at the beautiful Moon Palace Resort located on the Caribbean Sea just south of the Cancun Hotel Zone and 10 minutes away from the Cancun International Airport along the Cancun to Tulum Highway (#307). Little did anyone realize that the 77 year old Scottish Grandmother from Edinburgh, Scotland would mysteriously disappear from the hotel 12 hours into her stay there, having spent one night in her room after arriving from the U.K. the previous evening, leaving family and local officials mystified as to her whereabouts.
Traveling with Julia Howard were family members, including her daughter Julia Brock, son Henry Harvey and his wife Glynnis. In the UK, other family members have pleaded for help from authorities there while trying to assist their family via Internet research to any and all avenues that might assist in finding their beloved missing family member. Among them, granddaughter Gill Greaves, whom has appeared on interviews in the Scottish Media as well as in press accounts attempting to gather information and critical contact points with multinational government representatives in both the UK and Mexico.
Por Esto, a regional newspaper in Cancun reported in their June 23,2009 edition that Julia Howard’s son, Henry Harvey, was quoted by Scotland media at STV “We’ve have not had any contact with the Cancun Police, we’ve not had any contact at all, the hotel has been protecting it’s reputation, (they) seem to be hiding from us, we’ve been left in limbo. We are already believing that something unfortunate has happened. I can not understand how a 77 year old lady can vanish from the earth at a five star resort”. Por Esto further reported that the family has accused authorities in Cancun of doing little to assist in searching for their missing loved one and that the resort security personnel have no record of Ms. Howard ever leaving the resort.
http://www.poresto.net/quintana-roo/41418-anciana-perdida-toda-una-semana
http://www.thesun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/2489471/Gran-vanishes-on-Mexico-hol.html
http://news.stv.tv/scotland/east-central/103612-edinburgh-grandmother-goes-missing-in-mexico/
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/latestnews/Family-tell-of-nightmare-.5385902.jp
http://news.stv.tv/scotland/east-central/104118-growing-concern-for-missing-edinburgh-woman/
http://www.enfoqueradio.com.mx/?p=26175
http://radioquintanaroo.com/lleva-perdida-toda-una-semana-anciana-en-el-hotel-moon-palace-de-cancun/
June 24th, 2009 at 9:41 am Very strange story indeed. I must admit my first thought is not foul play, but rather an accident. I don’t know the layout of the Moon Palace, any chance she wandered into some mangroves and met a crocodile? Drowned in the sea? If it was foul play, it would be very odd indeed, not many violent crimes against tourists, particularly random ones. Thanks for posting Dangers, I had missed this in the news. Will look for updates.
June 24th, 2009 at 12:40 pm Thanks Dangers for posting this on your blog. As the days go by, we have to wonder if Julia is still safe. The authorities should have sent out search teams with dogs on the first day she was missing. IMO it doesn`t sound good at this time…….elmo
June 24th, 2009 at 1:46 pm CC~ like you, when I first saw this story out of the Scotland press a few days or so ago, I thought it was likely a mix up of tourists (they occur frequently in Cancun) or an accident of some type, we all know the Moon Palace grounds are vast and tropical in nature outside the building areas and golf course. The lack of response (Cancun Authorities and Moon Palace) here is concerning though, a 77 y/o grandmother doesn’t fit the typical tourist gone missing scenario or the frequent alcohol and/ or drug related accidents.
June 24th, 2009 at 1:49 pm Elmo, one of the alleged,family members is claiming now on Trip Advisor that full scale search teams started looking for Julia Howard yesterday after the family started pressing the adverse publicity factor. I’m with you, I hope they find Ms. Howard and find her in reasonable good health.