Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Americans Abducted, Robbed And Beaten In Peru
The horrifying story of three Americans abducted, robbed and beaten in Peru recently has seen the light of day, but not to the extent I would expect it to.
I first came across the story of brother and sister, Jennifer Wolfrom and Joseph Wolfrom, and Joseph's wife, Meghan Doherty, on Reddit the other day. The story had hardly been viewed, but I couldn't take my eyes away from it. What should have been an innocent trip to Cuzco, Peru, on the way to Machu Picchu became a nightmare when the three Americans were forced to park their car under a nearby bridge because of intimidating darkness. It was Jennifer's 30th birthday, so the three shared two beers. As reported on their blog, two villagers came by and told them it was alright for them to park their car in the spot overnight. Curiously though, the villagers began blowing whistles and alerting other villagers to their presence through cellphones. More villagers gathered near the group and demanded to see the documents of the travelers. The American travelers refused to show documents to people who weren't police or government officials. They felt nervous and decided to leave, but the villagers began throwing rocks at their car.
They decided to drive back in the direction from which they had come. The road came to a dead end after about 10 minutes of driving, however, and a man at the end of the road told the Americans that they could not stay there. The travelers had no choice but to drive back in the direction toward the villagers where rocks were again continuously thrown at their vehicle and a barricade was built hastily by villagers. While trying to avoid the rocks being thrown at the car, Joseph drove the car into a ditch. They tried to repel the attackers with bear spray and ran away on foot. Villagers continued to chase the three, pelting them with rocks all along the way.
"There were at least 30 people chasing us and throwing rocks at us at one point. We were running for our lives for between 30 minutes to an hour through the village hills and rivers," Jennifer said in an entry online.
They were eventually so badly hurt that they were abducted by the villagers and taken back to a man called the "Presidente." He ordered them to walk through cold rain toward a village school. They were beaten along the way and once they arrived to the school, dozens of villagers urged the man to kill the three of them. They were whipped and beaten for hours. Joseph's teeth were knocked out. All of their possessions and documents were stolen from them. During at least one point in the night, a shot was fired toward the group while they begged for their lives.
After all of the abuse, they were asked to sign a document, which asserted that they had crashed the car because they were drunk and that they sustained their injuries through the car accident. Fearing for their lives, they signed the false document. They were eventually taken back to their gutted vehicle and villagers stayed with them until the police arrived and stood by as they told the police the fabricated story.
The Americans were then transported to a nearby town where they finally were able to use a phone to call the US Consulate in Cuzco. They filled out a police report at that point in time describing what had actually happened and they were treated for injuries. Between the three of them, around 100 stitches were administered. As of the latest update, they are still stranded in Peru and receiving medical attention while planning their trip home to the U.S.
Read more about this travel nightmare on their blog, Adventure Americas.
[Photo Credit: Digital Journal]
"There were at least 30 people chasing us and throwing rocks at us at one point. We were running for our lives for between 30 minutes to an hour through the village hills and rivers," Jennifer said in an entry online.
They were eventually so badly hurt that they were abducted by the villagers and taken back to a man called the "Presidente." He ordered them to walk through cold rain toward a village school. They were beaten along the way and once they arrived to the school, dozens of villagers urged the man to kill the three of them. They were whipped and beaten for hours. Joseph's teeth were knocked out. All of their possessions and documents were stolen from them. During at least one point in the night, a shot was fired toward the group while they begged for their lives.
After all of the abuse, they were asked to sign a document, which asserted that they had crashed the car because they were drunk and that they sustained their injuries through the car accident. Fearing for their lives, they signed the false document. They were eventually taken back to their gutted vehicle and villagers stayed with them until the police arrived and stood by as they told the police the fabricated story.
The Americans were then transported to a nearby town where they finally were able to use a phone to call the US Consulate in Cuzco. They filled out a police report at that point in time describing what had actually happened and they were treated for injuries. Between the three of them, around 100 stitches were administered. As of the latest update, they are still stranded in Peru and receiving medical attention while planning their trip home to the U.S.
Read more about this travel nightmare on their blog, Adventure Americas.
[Photo Credit: Digital Journal]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Michael Jan 9th 2013 6:09AM
This is very rare and hopefully Peru will not get a bad rep off this. I have been back and forth between Peru the last 10 years with no problemns whatsoever
Ernie Jan 8th 2013 3:43PM
Ler's send Peru some foreign aid, so they can abuse more Americans, I don't expect the government officials in Peru or for that matter most other countries could care less to how Americans are being treated !!!
rap Jan 8th 2013 5:17PM
only if you knew it was the americans that made them this way.
chichalimona Jan 8th 2013 5:39PM
Yes, that is one side of the story. It sounds like a horrific experience, but there was probably more going on than that, which is not in any way to excuse the violence, but just to suggest, that we don't really know the whole story. Most likely some pretty awful cultural and linguistic miscommunication got way out of hand and the reaction by the people in Pallca, unfortunately, was violence and mistreatment. http://chichalimona.blogspot.com/
Bob Jan 8th 2013 10:03PM
I read your blog entry but don't have time to respond fully. All I have time to say is that you've presented a defense of violence as a reasonable response to "miscommunication" based on generalizations and 3rd world sterotypes of "travelling" Americans, and inferences that the Wolfroms instigated the violence. by their ignorance.
If my community in the US did this, would you feel the same? I doubt it.
Elizabeth Jan 8th 2013 5:53PM
Chichalimona,
I read your post on this. While I believe you bring up some good points in understanding the full scope of the situation, the violence doesn't seem warranted by any possible scenario. You acknowledge this and you address the motive and other complicated factors, but the violence is the focal point of this story and the main problem at hand. Reasons why the violence happened do need to be understood and I would encourage a Peruvian who is both good with English and the internet to tell the other side of the story on behalf of the people of Pallca, if possible. I'm interested in hearing their story, but I don't believe any scenario will excuse the horrible violence suffered in this case.
Elizabeth Jan 8th 2013 5:54PM
I also should add that I recognize that this is, so far, a one-sided report.
JT Jan 9th 2013 6:19PM
Readers should note that this story never reached mainstream news in Peru just small news outlets contacted by the so called victims. Photos of the injuries caused to the travelers have not surfaced nor video testimony. The tourists have raised over $20,000 in donations without a single video or photograph or evidence of the attack. Locals just don't attack tourists for no reason, especially in an area that relies heavily on tourism, if the attack did happen there was likely provocation or arrogance on the part of the tourists. The story of the villagers have also never surfaced, as of today this remains a non event in Peru and many think it a scam to raise money. Everyone should be extremely skeptical of this story.
Pedro Jan 11th 2013 4:16PM
Wonder how many tourists or Americans have been beaten and robbed in NYC or
Philadelphia or Los Angeles....Probably more than 3
Hector Jan 11th 2013 4:17PM
Wow.
What a stupid story......Why would you publish this if you do not know it is even real.
None of this story makes any sense.....Completely stupid.....30 Peruvians chasing 3 Americans for an hour? On foot? And "bear spray"? Please.....you need to keep you mouth shut and stay off the internet.
Chris Jan 25th 2013 4:24PM
Check this out from NBC
http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50585772/
Elizabeth Jan 25th 2013 4:25PM
Thank you for posting that video, Chris. It helps to clear up a lot of speculations some have had to see their actual photos from the incident.