When several Americans planned to travel abroad for relaxing vacations, their dream vacations quickly turned to real-life nightmares and terror.
Here are some of the crimes against American tourists that happened during 2024.
California woman shot dead in Mexican resort town popular with Americans
An American woman died in the crossfire of an apparent drug deal gone bad at a popular Mexican beach resort in the municipality of Tulum.
The victim was 44-year-old Los Angeles native Niko Honarbakhsh.
Prosecutors maintain that Honarbakhsh died as a result of a stray bullet.
Other tourists in recent years have died in gang-related crossfire in Tulum, including a California travel blogger and a German, who were killed in 2021 while eating in a restaurant after rival drug dealers started shooting each other.
Last year, the U.S. issued “Do Not Travel” warnings for parts of Mexico ahead of the popular March spring break travel period, citing gang violence and noting that U.S. citizens have “become seriously ill or died in Mexico after using synthetic drugs or adulterated prescription pills.”
Oregon nurse murdered while on European vacation by man she met at nightclub: police
In November, an Oregon nurse was found dead during her vacation in Hungary after she disappeared from a nightclub.
Budapest police said 31-year-old Mackenzie Michalski, a nurse practitioner from Portland, was killed by a man she met.
Michalski’s friends alerted authorities after she missed her departing flight and her belongings were left in her Airbnb.
Authorities were able to track down surrounding security footage and identified a male suspect who was last seen with Michalski.
Police later detained an Irish citizen in connection to Michalski’s disappearance, who admitted he met her at a local nightclub and danced before leaving together for his apartment.
Police said that the pair had “gotten intimate, and he killed her in the process.”
Authorities said that after the murder, the suspect cleaned his apartment, placed her body in a wardrobe cabinet and went out to purchase a suitcase. He allegedly placed Michalski’s body in the suitcase, rented a car and drove it to Lake Balaton, approximately an hour and a half drive from Budapest.
Police said he hid Michalski’s body in the woods before driving back to Budapest, where he was arrested outside his apartment.
Authorities, who have not released the suspect’s name, said he confessed to killing Michalski but claimed it was an accident.
American couple killed in Mexico, found shot in pickup truck: officials
Last week, the bodies of two Americans from California were found after being found shot to death in a pickup truck in Mexico, according to officials.
Authorities located Gloria Ambriz, 50, and Rafael Cardona, 53, while responding to a report of a shooting in Angamacutiro in the western state of Michoacán on Wednesday night, according to Fox 11 Los Angeles, citing the state attorney general’s office.
The couple, who were on vacation visiting family, was traveling in a black 2016 Ford Platinum pickup truck when gunmen opened fire near an intersection.
Ambriz was pronounced dead on the scene, and Cardona succumbed to his injuries shortly after being taken to a hospital in Puruándiro, officials said.
The Michoacán State Attorney General’s Office has put together a team of prosecutors, police and forensic experts to determine the motive and identify those responsible for the killings.
Michoacán is listed as a “do not travel” spot in Mexico, according to the U.S. State Department.
Mexican authorities reveal bizarre reason they believe Australians, American were murdered on surfing vacation
In May, Mexican authorities confirmed two Australians and an American were killed on a surfing trip because thieves wanted the tires from their truck.
The three men, brothers Jake and Callum Robinson from Australia and American Jack Carter Rhoad, were on a camping and surfing trip along a stretch of coast south of the city of Ensenada when they disappeared.
All three bodies were later found with gunshot wounds to the head, Reuters reported, citing a source from the attorney general’s office.
Chief state prosecutor María Elena Andrade Ramírez theorized that the killers drove by and saw the foreigners’ pickup truck and tents and wanted to steal their tires. But “when [the foreigners] came up and caught them, surely, they resisted.”
Ramírez said the thieves allegedly went to what she called “a site that is extremely hard to get to” and allegedly dumped the bodies into a familiar well.
One of the suspects believed to be connected to the murders allegedly admitted to his girlfriend that he killed all three, Ramírez said.
The BBC reported that Ari Gisel, the girlfriend of suspected killer Jesús Gerardo Garcia Cota, said he showed up at her house on April 28 and told her he did something to “three gringos.”
After admitting to the crime, Garcia Cota reportedly took Gisel outside to show her his vehicle, which reportedly had the tires on it that were allegedly stolen from the victims’ truck, Gisel explained in court.
During a tribute, the Robinsons’ mother, Debra Robinson, said, “Our hearts are broken, and the world has become a darker place for us. They were young men enjoying their passion of surfing together,” the Associated Press reported.
Oklahoma college students say they were drugged at Cancun resort pool bar in vacation nightmare
A dream vacation turned into a nearly fatal nightmare after two Oklahoma State University students were allegedly poisoned after ordering water from a poolside bar at a Cancun resort.
Photos shared by Zara Hull and her family show the moment Hull and Kaylie Pitze say they became unconscious after drinking the tainted water on Aug. 1.
Hull and a group of friends were in Cancun for a four-day trip that was quickly cut short.
Stephanie Snider, whose son, Jake, is Hull’s boyfriend, said in a series of Facebook posts that Hull and Pitze were slipped a drug while they were at the resort in Cancun.
“What started out as a fun vacation with friends for them ended up as our worst nightmare,” Snider wrote.
After leaving the pool, Jake explained that Pitze was taken back to their room in a wheelchair, while he carried Hull. Hull began throwing up and having what he thought was a seizure.
“Zara started having what the resort doctor called a ‘seizure’ and said she needed to be taken to the hospital. Once she was there, the hospital demanded $10K just to look at her to help her and start treating her. The money was sent. By the next morning, we were told more money was needed to continue treatment,” Snider said.
Snider said Pitze did not end up in the hospital but struggled the following day after the incident.
“Neither of the girls have any memory of what happened after they took that last drink, which happened to have been a glass of WATER. We think it was whatever was put in that glass of water that did it. Both girls collapsed at the very SAME time. They both are battling feelings of not knowing what happened and ‘why them?’” Snider said.
Nearly 27 hours later and after spending thousands of dollars, Hull’s family was able to negotiate with the U.S. Embassy and have her flown to Dallas to continue medical treatment.
Snider said she hopes this is a warning for others traveling to resorts like this.
“They did exactly like we told them. Don’t leave the resort. You have no reason to leave that resort. You stay there,” said Snider.
“Like people say, ‘Don’t leave the resort, and you’ll be fine.’ It started at the resort. The resort was not safe,” Hull said. “They say the resort is the safest place; don’t leave it. That’s not true.”
Snider said the name of the resort or hospital is not being released at this time due to legal and privacy issues.
American tourist, 60, found ‘beaten to death’ at 5-star hotel in Ireland frequented by celebrities
In November, a 60-year-old American tourist was found “beaten to death” at a lavish five-star hotel in Ireland, police said.
According to a release from Ireland’s national police and security service, Garda Síochána, an unidentified American citizen was found unconscious in his hotel room at Ballyfin Demesne, a luxurious hotel in Laois, Ireland.
The victim was later pronounced dead by police.
Police in Ireland arrested and detained a 30-year-old man in the assault.
The suspect and victim traveled together, the Irish Times reported. The outlet noted that the suspect is also an American.
The Ballyfin Demesne is a five-star hotel in Ireland that has hosted celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, who stayed there for their honeymoon in 2014.
Actor George Clooney and his wife, Amal, have also stayed there.
Local independent councilor James Kelly told local outlet RTE that nearby communities were “shocked” to hear about the incident at the distinguished hotel.
“There would be a lot of staff from the area, and they’re totally shocked by what has happened here,” he said. “It’s something we didn’t think we’d be waking up to this morning.”
