british tourist killed us

British tourist, 33, shot dead in Jamaica after 'standing by pool at villa'

Sean Patterson was shot multiple times, police say

• 08:00, 4 JAN 2023

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A British tourist has been gunned down and killed while on holiday in Jamaica. Sean Patterson was reportedly shot multiple times at the One Love Guest House in Bogue Hill, St James.

Local police say the 33-year-old personal trainer, from West London , was found with gunshot wounds to his upper body and head at around midday on Monday (January 2). Jamaica Constabulary Force says its Montego Bay officers received reports that the British national was standing by a pool at the villa when witnesses heard 'loud explosions'.

The force told the PA news agency that Mr Patterson was then shot multiple times after a short chase, the Mirror reports . He was rushed to hospital with gunshot wounds to his upper body and head, but was unable to be revived.

READ MORE: Gucci and Rolex watches among luxury haul seized by police in raids on homes and cars

A 34-year-old man from Kingston, Jamaica, has been now taken into custody in connection with the incident, according to local media. Reports in Jamaica claim the suspect had been deported from the UK in 2013.

Mr Patterson is understood to have been in the country since December 29, 2022. A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) spokesperson confirmed to PA they were currently 'supporting the family of a British man who died in Jamaica and are in contact with the local authorities'.

Mr Patterson is the first person to have been murdered in the parish of St James this year, with the suburban area reporting a total of 198 murders in 2022. Jamaica as a whole meanwhile reported 1,421 killings out of a total population of 2.8 million people at the start of December, outpacing the 1,375 killings in the same period last year, a spokesman with Jamaica’s Constabulary Force told The Associated Press.

The prime minister declared a widespread state of emergency last month in response to a surge in gang violence on the island. Last October, Jamaica’s broadcasting regulator also moved to ban music and TV broadcasts deemed to glorify or promote criminal activity, including violence, drug use, scamming and weapons.

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Family of British tourist killed in 2018 Grand Canyon helicopter crash wins US$100M settlement

The family insisted the settlement terms be made public to raise awareness about aircraft fuel tanks they say are prone to rupturing

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RENO, Nev. — A Nevada judge has approved a US$100 million cash settlement to the parents of a British tourist who was among five killed — including his newlywed wife — when a helicopter crashed and burst into flames in the Grand Canyon in 2018.

Under the settlement approved in Las Vegas on Friday, the family of Jonathan Udall, 31, will receive $24.6 million from the operator of the helicopter, Papillon Airways Inc., and $75.4 million from its French manufacturer, Airbus Helicopters SAS.

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The family’s lawyer, Gary C. Robb of Kansas City, Missouri, said they insisted the settlement terms be made public to raise awareness about aircraft fuel tanks they say are prone to rupturing.

“The parents say the fuel tank was basically a fire bomb,” Robb told The Associated Press late Monday.

Lawyers for the defendants, Eric Lyttle for Airbus Helicopters Inc., and William Katt for Papillon Airways, confirmed the terms, according to a transcript of a hearing Friday in Clark County District Court.

Jonathan and Ellie Milward Udall, 29, boarded the helicopter from Boulder City, Nevada, with the three others who were killed. They were touring the Grand Canyon on the Hualapai reservation, outside the boundaries of the national park, when the crash happened.

The family’s lawsuit alleged the helicopter was unsafe because it lacked a crash-resistant fuel system that’s now required for aircraft built after the Federal Aviation Administration issued new regulations in 2020.

Robb said some helicopter manufacturers have voluntarily replaced the fuel tanks grandfathered in under the FAA regulations but many have not.

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“The Udall family wants to shine a spotlight on this issue so the industry will take note and voluntarily seek to correct this public health issue. They don’t want anyone else to go through what their son went through in an otherwise survivable accident — not a broken bone. He would have walked away.”

The Airbus EC130 B4 crashed just before sunset in February 2018 in a section of the Grand Canyon where air tours aren’t as highly regulated as in the national park. Three of the British tourists on board were pronounced dead at the scene: veterinary receptionist Becky Dobson, 27; her boyfriend and car salesman Stuart Hill, 30; and Hill’s brother, 32-year-old lawyer Jason Hill.

Jonathan Udall, of Southampton, and Ellie Udall later died of complications from burn injuries. His parents claimed in the lawsuit that their son could have survived if not for the post-fire crash.

All of them were on the trip to celebrate Stuart Hill’s birthday.

Robb said helicopter manufacturers have been aware the old-fashioned, hard-plastic fuel tanks are prone to rupturing during hard landings.

“The fuel pours onto the passengers, then ignites. It’s just horrible,” he said. “The three people on the right side of the aircraft never escaped. They were completely burned in their seats.”

The National Transportation Safety Board said turbulent winds were a probable cause of the loss of control and tail-rotor effectiveness before the hard landing outside the national park boundaries.

Its final accident report in January 2021 said the investigation found no evidence of mechanical problems with the helicopter but noted it lacked a crash-resistant fuel system. The helicopters in Papillon’s fleet weren’t required to have them, but the company has since retrofitted the aircraft with fuel tanks that expand and seal upon impact instead of rupturing.

The pilot Scott Booth fractured his lower left leg, and passenger Jennifer Barham had a spinal fracture. They also suffered severe burns but survived. Since then, both of Booth’s legs have been amputated, he said.

Papillon Helicopters spokesman Matt Barkett said in an email to AP on Tuesday that safety is the company’s top priority. He noted the NTSB concluded there were no mechanical problems “and our pilot was not found to be at fault due to the extreme weather conditions.”

“Crash resistant fuel cells were installed in Papillon’s entire fleet once the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved their use in the months following this accident. We continue to extend our sympathies to the families of the victims and now close this difficult chapter in our history,” he wrote.

Officials for Airbus didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

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Grand Canyon helicopter crash that killed British tourists caused by tailwinds

Two people survived the crash, including the pilot who had to have both legs amputated.

Friday 15 January 2021 06:16, UK

A Grand Canyon helicopter crash that killed five British friends, including a honeymooning couple, was probably caused by the pilot losing control due to tailwind conditions, a report has concluded.

Brothers Stuart and Jason Hill, 30 and 32, originally from Worthing, West Sussex, were killed in the tragedy , along with Stuart's 27-year-old girlfriend Becky Dobson, when the Airbus EC130 B4 went down shortly before sunset on 10 February 2018.

Their friends, honeymooning newlyweds Ellie Udall, from West Sussex, and Jonathan Udall, originally from Southampton, also died from injuries sustained in the crash.

Jason's girlfriend Jennifer Dorricott survived but with life-changing injuries after the aircraft burst into flames on impact.

The group were on holiday in the US to celebrate Stuart's 30th birthday and the Udalls as newlyweds with a trip to Las Vegas.

Pilot Scott Booth, who also survived but had both his legs amputated, told the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) inquiry that the helicopter encountered a "violent gust of wind" and began to spin as he attempted to land next to the Colorado River.

The NTSB's final report concluded that tailwinds, potential downdrafts and turbulence were the probable cause of the loss of control of the aircraft.

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Post-accident examination of the helicopter and engine found no evidence of mechanical problems, according to the findings, which did not include any safety recommendations.

Investigators said that the remote location of the accident site and communication difficulties meant victims were not taken to a hospital until around six hours later.

The "most significant factor" affecting survival of those onboard the helicopter was the post-crash fire, according to the findings, with the aircraft "not equipped, nor was it required to be equipped, with a crash-resistant fuel system".

The parents of Mr Udall sued helicopter company Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters and aircraft manufacturer Airbus Helicopters over failing to equip the helicopter with the crash-resistant system, in a case that is ongoing.

What the Murder of Two British Tourists Tells Us About Thailand’s Dark Side

T he brutal murder of British tourists Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24, on the Thai resort island of Koh Tao, has reverberated around the world.

Beach cleaners discovered the Britons’ naked bodies 20 m apart by rocks on idyllic Sairee Beach on Sept. 15. A bloodstained garden hoe, commonly used by beachside bars to dig fire pits, was found nearby and has now been confirmed as the principal murder weapon, along with a wooden club.

The existence of two weapons has “made us believe that there are at least two attackers,” the deputy national police chief, Police General Somyot Pumpanmuang, told reporters Monday.

Witheridge died from severe head wounds while Miller died from blows to the head and drowning, according to the Thai forensics department. Although there were signs of sexual activity, investigators have not ascertained whether Witheridge was raped.

Thai police initially blamed Burmese migrant workers (“favorite targets,” in the words of Paul Quaglia, a Bangkok-based risk analyst). “Thais wouldn’t do this” pronounced a leading policeman, and officers started rounding up Burmese laborers for interrogation and DNA tests. Stricter rules for hiring migrant workers across the archipelago were introduced in the wake of the killings with astonishing speed.

But when no evidence emerged to pin the murder on any Burmese, the focus shifted to other outsiders: Western friends of the victims. The spotlight fell on British tourist Christopher Alan Ware, who shared a room with Miller, with police hinting at “a crime of passion.” Ware was arrested at Bangkok’s main airport with his brother James. It turned out that the latter had left Koh Tao the night before the murders and so was above suspicion. DNA tests on a cigarette butt found at the scene have now cleared the former.

Next, suspicion turned to a pair of Thai men that Sean McAnna, a 25-year-old Scottish friend of Miller’s, claims to have witnessed molesting Witheridge on the night before she was killed — an altercation from which she was apparently rescued by Miller. McAnna, a busker well known on Koh Tao as Guitarman, took a photo of the Thais and uploaded it to the Internet, after which he began receiving death threats. He has now apparently fled into hiding in fear for his life.

Police revealed that the two Thais had been interviewed but were released after refusing to provide DNA samples.

“The problem is all the distractions,” Quaglia tells TIME. “The police are getting a lot of not only domestic media coverage but also international, and are under pressure to make statements about progress.”

The case of Witheridge and Miller has, once again, laid bare the dichotomy between Thailand’s palm-fringed islands and dark underbelly — immortalized in Alex Garland’s 1996 dystopian novel The Beach . Drugs, rape and assault are an unfortunate consequence of Thailand’s reputation for hedonism, and the criminal elements it attracts.

Thailand receives over 20 million tourists each year, drawn by the pearl-white beaches, stunning temples and sumptuous food. The vast majority of them have safe and enjoyable holidays, but a few are not so lucky. A quick scan of English-language news portals for the booming resort of Pattaya — one of the country’s most popular destinations — reveals a shocking litany of muggings, phone snatchings, shootings, stabbings, fatal car crashes, drownings, and more, all involving visitors. Sexual assault and rape, much of it unreported, bedevil Koh Phangan’s world famous full-moon parties .

But far from attempting to address the issues of visitor safety, Thai army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha, the nation’s self-appointed Prime Minister following a May 22 military coup, has stoked outrage by pointing fingers at the victims. “We have to look into the behavior of the other party [Witheridge and Miller] too,” he said.

In a separate address, for which he has since apologized , he said that tourists “think our country is beautiful and is safe so they can do whatever they want, they can wear bikinis and walk everywhere.” The general even suggested that the only tourists who should feel safe in bikinis were those who were “not beautiful.”

He didn’t mention the fact that eight days after the killing of Witheridge and Miller, not a single suspect has been identified or remains in custody. But nobody familiar with Thailand’s feeble justice system is surprised by that.

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Watch CBS News

American woman killed by elephant in Zambia, the second such attack this year

Updated on: June 21, 2024 / 2:36 PM EDT / CBS/AP

A New Mexico woman visiting Zambia was trampled and killed by an elephant on Wednesday, local officials said. It marked the second such attack in the country this year.

Officials said Friday that 64-year-old Juliana Gle Tourneau was killed when an elephant that was part of a herd the tourists were watching attacked their vehicle in the Zambian city of Livingstone. Tourneau was thrown from the vehicle and trampled by the elephant.

Tourneau was part of a group that had stopped near the Maramba Cultural Bridge due to the traffic caused by the elephant herd near the bridge, officials added.

"Juliana Gle Tourneau, 64, of New Mexico, United States of America, died on Wednesday around 17.50 after being knocked from a parked vehicle which had stopped due to traffic caused by elephants around the Maramba Cultural Bridge," Southern Province Police Commissioner Auxensio Daka told the Zambian national broadcaster, ZNBC.

It is the second such attack this year after another American tourist was killed in March this year during a game drive in Zambia's Kafue National Park . In that incident, an elephant charged a truck, flipped it over, killed the tourist, and injured five others.

Family members confirmed that Gail Mattson, a 79-year-old Minnesotan, was killed in the attack. In a post on Facebook, Rona Wells said her mother died in a "tragic accident while on her dream adventure."

The attack was captured in a harrowing cellphone video. The clip, shot by tourists, begins inside an open safari vehicle during the game drive.

In the distance, a large bull elephant can be seen coming toward the vehicle. The vehicle's occupants cannot be seen in the video clip, but someone is heard, saying "Oh my goodness," before a man says, "It's coming fast."

The vehicle stops and then another voice, presumably the game ranger, tries to ward off the elephant verbally as the large pachyderm hooks its tusks onto the vehicle and rolls it several times.

Zambian authorities have called on tourists to exercise extreme caution while observing wildlife around the country.

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Brit tourist, 33, chased and shot dead while on holiday at luxury villa in Jamaica

A Brit tourist has died after he was shot multiple times by a gunman while staying at a luxury guest house in Jamaica, with local media reporting that the suspect had previously been deported from the UK

• 01:12, 4 Jan 2023
• Updated 08:41, 4 Jan 2023

A British tourist has died after he was shot multiple times while holidaying at a luxury villa in Jamaica.

Personal trainer Sean Patterson, 33, from West London, was reportedly gunned down during a stay at the One Love Guest House in Bogue Hill, St James on Saturday.

Jamaica Constabulary Force told the PA news agency officers from Montego Bay Police had received reports the 33-year-old was standing by the accommodation's on-site pool when witnesses heard “loud explosions”.

Mr Patterson, a British national, was then shot multiple times after a short chase. He was transported to hospital with gunshot wounds to his upper body and head, but was unable to be revived.

A 34-year-old man from Kingston, Jamaica has been now taken into custody in connection with the incident, according to local media, who additionally reported that he had been deported from the United Kingdom in 2013.

A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) spokesperson confirmed to PA they were currently “supporting the family of a British man who died in Jamaica and are in contact with the local authorities”.

Mr Patterson is understood to have been in the country since December 29.

He is the first person to have been murdered in the parish of St James this year, with the suburban area reporting a total of 198 murders in 2022.

Jamaica as a whole meanwhile reported 1,421 killings out of a total population of 2.8 million people at start of December, outpacing the 1,375 killings in the same period last year, a spokesman with Jamaica’s Constabulary Force told The Associated Press.

The prime minister declared a widespread state of emergency last month in response to a surge in gang violence on the island

Last October Jamaica’s broadcasting regulator also moved to ban music and TV broadcasts deemed to glorify or promote criminal activity, including violence, drug use, scamming and weapons.

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British tourist fighting for life after being hit by car on holiday

A British cyclist is in ‘critical condition’ after a car crashed into the back of their bike on the Spanish island of Majorca .

The unnamed 56-year-old is believed to have been on holiday there when the vehicle hit them from behind, sending them flying through the air on Saturday.

An ambulance rushed them to a hospital in Palma, the Mediterranean island’s capital, where the cyclist was treated for severe head, chest and pelvic injuries.

Their description has been described as ‘critical’.

Reports suggest the cyclist was trying to cross a motorway near a turn-off to the Cala Major family resort, which overlooks the Bay of Palma’s clear blue waters.

Cyclists are banned on Spain’s motorways.

They also claim the car driver was travelling towards Andratx, a town and luxury resort near the western tip of Majorca.

However, this has not been confirmed and police could not be reached for comment early this morning.

Millions of visitors descend on Majorca, one the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, each year.

It’s particularly popular among both amateur and professional cyclists , many drawn by the winding roads of the Tramantura mountains.

With mild winters and sunny skies , coupled with the 90kms of relative isolation, it has become a popular spot with cyclists trying to prove themselves.

But the roads in this part of Majorca, famed for its olives , have seen injury and tragedy among British tourists before.

A lorry hit and killed Graeme McGilvray, a Glaswegian 49-year-old, died on Majorca in March 2016.

Last September, another Brit, aged 45, was seriously injured after being hit by a lorry on the island.

That Briton fell more than 30ft down an embankment at the roadside after he was run over.

It left him with ‘very serious’ injuries to his head, chest and stomach, emergency crews said.

That happened near Caimiri, a small town of stone houses at the foot of the Tramuntana moluntains

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected] .

For more stories like this, check our news page .

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British tourist almost killed after being knocked off quad while on holiday

Holly Thomas has been told by doctors that some of her injuries will take months to heal

• 15:39, 27 JUN 2024

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A Brit tourist's holiday to a Greek island paradise turned into a nightmare when she was knocked off a quad bike by a 'speeding' car - landing on her face. Holly Thomas had jetted off from Bristol Airport to the Greek island of Zakynthos with her family on June 5 for a week in the sun but has been left 'traumatised' by the trip.

When the group of four arrived at their all-inclusive hotel, they hired two 125-euro quad bikes through an external company so they could explore the island while away. But on their journey back from the Blue Caves on day three of their holiday, the 21-year-old claims a car travelling at 50mph hit the back of her quad bike, sending her flying through the air.

Graphic photos show Holly's face covered in scrapes and bruises and a large swollen 'blood pool' on the back of her right leg caused by the crash. Following the incident, the fines officer was rushed to hospital where she underwent a brain scan and received stitches in her head.

Unfortunately, her trip was completely ruined by the incident as she was forced to spend the remainder recovering in her hotel room before flying back to the UK on June 12. Holly is now recovering at home but has been told by doctors some of her injuries could take months to heal.

She says this was her first time riding a quad bike and following the accident says she'll never go on one again. Her mum, Alison Wilson, issued a warning to other British holidaymakers advising them to 'please think twice before hiring a quad bike' abroad and to ensure they wore a helmet if they do.

Holly, from Pontypool in South Wales, said: "I literally watched the car go into the back of us and then I closed my eyes when I went up into the air. I felt a scrape on my face first. I didn't feel any pain at first because I think I was in so much shock.

"I know it seems morbid but when I was on the floor after scraping my face, I was waiting for a car to run me over. I thought it was the end of my life. When I opened my eyes I then got straight up on my feet as I wanted my mum and dad to know that I was alright. At this point, I didn't know it was that serious.

"I got fully knocked off the quad and flew through the air. I was on the back of the quad so I had nothing to hold onto whereas the driver did because he didn't suffer any injuries whatsoever. Where the impact hit from the back, this is what flung me up. I would never get on a quad bike again now. It was my first and last time.

"I'm not sleeping properly. It keeps playing over and over in my head. It's more the shock than anything and it's going to affect me further down the line." Holly's mum Alison had been travelling on another quad bike with her daughter's dad David Thomas, 53, behind and says she watched the crash take place.

The 52-year-old claims Holly will be left permanently scarred from the incident and has issued a warning to other travellers about the danger of quad bikes on holiday. Alison said: "A car overtook us and they were going really fast so it made me quite nervous anyway.

"They then overtook Holly but then there was oncoming traffic on the other side of the road and they realised they couldn't make it, so they pulled back in and hit Holly's quad. Holly's quad was hit completely off the road. I initially panicked and then I ran over to her.

"Holly will be scarred 100 percent where she suffered her head and body injury. Holly's helmet saved her life. I wished we had never hired the quad bikes after what had happened. I didn't feel safe on it anyway.

"I feel like they are just given to anyone as long as you have a licence. They haven't got health and safety like we have over here. It's too easy to get one. There needs to be more checks in place before you can hire one. They don't drive on the roads the same as we do in the UK and it's quite fast there. It's completely different."

• Most Recent

US teen guilty of murdering 2 British tourists

A Florida teenager is facing a life sentence after a jury convicted him of first-degree murder Wednesday in the shooting deaths of two young British tourists last April, a case that generated blaring tabloid headlines in the U.K. press.

Shawn Tyson, 17, sat stone-faced as the jury's verdict was read and as two friends of the victims spoke angrily about the crime. The verdict came after two hours of deliberations. Because he is under 18, Tyson is ineligible for the death penalty and is facing a mandatory life sentence.

During the trial witnesses testified that Tyson shot James Cooper, 25, and James Kouzaris, 24, last April 16. The two men were vacationing in Sarasota and spent an evening drinking when they got lost and walked into a housing project where Tyson lived. Details of their deaths have gripped the British news media. Tabloids there have written stories saying the men were "slaughtered" in a Florida "ghetto."

In a statement, the families of Cooper and Kouzaris accused Tyson of being "evil," saying that they had been given "a life sentence when our sons were so brutally and needlessly taken from us. Ours is a life sentence, with no chance of parole from a broken heart, and a shattered soul."

Joe Hallett, a friend of the victims who sat through the entire trial, said the pair befriended people from different walks of life and would have tried with Tyson, as well.

"I have to try to make you understand the pain you brought to so many people," Hallett said to Tyson. "It was through your deadly action that you've taken us all on a journey to hell. Every night before you go to sleep, every morning you wake up, I want you to think of my friends who were murdered."

A prosecutor also read a statement from Cooper's parents and played a video at the request of his parents. The video, which portrayed the young man from the time he was born, was also played at his funeral.

Kouzaris was from Northampton and Cooper was from Hampton Lucy, Warwick. Both were considered fun-loving world travelers by friends -- but also smart and cautious. Authorities said both were drunk when they got lost and wandered just before 3 a.m. into the housing project where Tyson lived.

Witnesses testified that Tyson told them he saw two "crackers" -- his phrase for white people -- walking through the neighborhood and that he intended to rob them. The tourists said they didn't have any money and begged Tyson to let them go home. The men also told Tyson that they were lost.

"Since you ain't got no money, then I have something for your ass," Tyson recounted to a witness, then added that he shot the men several times.

The tourists' bodies were found shirtless on the street and their baggy pants were pulled down to their thighs. Both men still had their wallets and did in fact have money; Cooper also had a cellphone and camera in his pants pocket. Authorities later found that Kouzaris' blood alcohol level was 0.243 and Cooper's was 0.214 -- well past Florida's legal limit for intoxication when driving, which is 0.08.

'An opportunity to rob and kill' During closing arguments, Assistant State Attorney Ed Brodsky told the jury that the case was about "opportunities."

"For James Cooper and James Kouzaris, they had seized an opportunity to travel abroad," Brodsky said. "Shawn Tyson seized upon an opportunity to rob and kill two men."

In the end, Tyson was his own undoing. Several prosecution witnesses said Tyson told friends about the shootings in the hours after the killings, then asked friends to hide the murder weapon and bury bullets. A DNA expert said Tyson's skin cells were found on Cooper's jeans.

Tyson maintained to police that he was at home during the murders. But witnesses spotted him crawling into his window shortly after hearing gunshots.

Tyson did not testify. His attorneys called only one witness, a crime scene technician, and questioned him briefly. Defense attorneys also tried to discredit the witnesses by saying many of them had criminal records and cooperated with detectives to avoid jail time.

The defense also said no one saw Tyson shoot Cooper and Kouzaris.

Authorities say Tyson wasn't alone the night of the shooting; police have not charged the second suspect because they don't have enough evidence. That person is currently in prison on unrelated charges.

Paul Davis, another friend of the men who attended the trial, had another message for Tyson.

"You might think that being a man is about carrying a gun, but it isn't," Davis said. "The stupid thing about what you've done is that you've ended your own life."

NEWS... BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT

British sailor found dead in mysterious circumstances off coast of Greek island

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A British man has been found floating in the sea with head injuries off an exclusive Greek island.

His body was discovered in the water off the island of Spetses in the southeastern Attica region.

The man, who was in his forties, had reportedly been taking part in an annual yachting regatta near the small island.

Authorities said he was found dead on Friday floating in the sea in the island’s port area, The Sun reports.

The man appeared to have injuries on the left side of his head, according to Sky News citing the coast guard.

He was rushed to a local hospital, but he was confirmed dead, the coast guard said.

An autopsy will be carried out to determine his cause of death, the broadcaster said.

Greek media reported the sailor was taking part of a team taking part a classic yacht regatta held from June 26 to 29, which sees dozens of yachts take part each year.

The historical Spetses island is home to only 3,748 people.

It has featured on recent movies, with Maggie Gyllenhaal’s drama The Lost Daughter starring Olivia Colman and Glass Onion mystery-comedy being filmed there.

The man’s death comes just weeks after TV doctor Michael Mosley died after going missing on the island of Symi.

The 67-year-old doc was found dead in a rocky area some meters away from a busy beach after collapsing following a long walk from a beach trip.

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'He was too cautious to do anything illegal': Family and friends deny British tourists shot dead in Florida ghetto were trying to buy drugs

By Paul Thompson for MailOnline and Michael Seamark for MailOnline Updated: 16:38 EDT, 19 April 2011

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The family and friends of two British holidaymakers who were shot dead in a Florida backstreet have denied the pair were trying to buy drugs.

Residents in Sarasota had claimed James Cooper and James Kouzaris would only have visited the gang-infested Newton area to buy marijuana.

The two university friends, who were staying at Longboat Key 12 miles away, were killed after they were both shot several times in the back as they tried to run away.

Denial: Liz Clare, an ex-girlfriend of James Kouzaris, has said the Briton and his friend would not have been trying to buy drugs

Victim: James Cooper pictured having fun in a bar just hours before he was gunned down alongside his friend

The final picture: James Kouzaris photographed earlier on in the night that he was killed in the notorious district of Newtown

The Sarasota Police Department released CCTV images showing Cooper and Kouzaris in Smokin' Joes bar at 00.14am on Saturday April 16 shortly before they were killed.

Liz Clare, who dated Mr Kouzaris, 24, for three years, told the Evening Standard: 'I just can't understand why they were there. They're not stupid.

'I was with [James] for three years and he was so cautious. We used to call him grandad because he was so cautious.

'My biggest fear is what people might think about why they were in a dodgy area. Some people are saying there might be a link to drugs but everyone who knows them both knows it would never be that.'

Arrested: 16-year-old Shawn Tyson has been charged with two counts of murder following the shootings

James Cooper's grandfather, Desmond Walton, said: 'He never did drugs. He did not even smoke - he hated people who smoked.

'He was a professional tennis coach. Taking drugs would be the last thing on his mind.'

It comes after the last pictures taken of the two friends the day before they were murdered were revealed.

Pictured enjoying themselves in a bar, university friends James Cooper and James Kouzaris appeared to be having a good time as they enjoyed a three-week holiday in Longboat Key.

The 16-year-old charged with murdering the two Britons was freed by a judge two weeks ago after he was arrested over an armed robbery.

Shawn Tyson, who allegedly shot Mr Cooper and Mr Kouzaris, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon following that incident.

However as it was his first offence he was released from custody while police investigated the case.

He will now be charged as an adult and, if convicted of first-degree murder of the two Britons, could face the death penalty.

Police investigators were last night trying to piece together how the two university friends were murdered in a gang-ridden neighbourhood in the city of Sarasota.

U.S. officers were said to be mystified that the two middle-class visitors were in the Newton district.

One theory, however, is that  they may have accepted the offer of a lift back to their upmarket resort 12 miles away, only to find themselves being set up for a robbery.

A blogger known as 'Laklak' wrote: 'The Courts public housing project is a cesspit. There are drug dealers and hookers openly plying their trade at all hours.

'Most likely they were looking for a bit of weed... I wouldn't go into this area for any reason at all, even armed to the teeth.'

Gunned down: James, 24, from Northampton (right) and James, 25, from Warwickshire, were murdered during a holiday in Florida with family and friends

Best buddies: The two became friends after meeting at university. Police don't understand what they were doing in such a dangerous area at 3am

'RIP to a legend': Tributes said James Kouzaris, left, drinking beer with a friend 'lived every day to the fullest'

The pair were fleeing for their lives when they were shot ‘multiple times’ in the back with a handgun at 3am.

They were left to die in a run-down housing project infamous for drug-dealing and violent gang activity. Their bodies were found 50ft apart surrounded by at least 20 bullet cases.

It was understood that the weapon allegedly used by Tyson was a TEC-9, a semi-automatic handgun.

Mr Cooper, 25, a tennis coach who once played Andy Murray, and Mr Kouzaris, 24, a town planner and leading amateur rugby player, met while studying at Sheffield University.

They had arrived in Florida last week in time to celebrate Mr Cooper’s 25th birthday on Wednesday.

They had planned to stay for three weeks with his parents Stanley and Sandra at their £1,200-a-week rented condominium in Longboat Key, an island resort renowned for its pristine white sandy beaches.

On Friday night, the two men went bar-hopping in downtown Sarasota, a beach city familiar to countless Britons who have headed to Florida for winter sun.

Police suspect they were driven from the bar area to Newtown because there was no sign of a hire car in the area, which last year accounted for 43 per cent of Sarasota’s armed robberies and 83 per cent of its murders.

At the peak of a recent crime wave, violence was so bad many residents stopped wearing jewellery in public for fear of being robbed.

Mr Cooper had a girlfriend in Florida, 31-year-old Gina Cross. The couple had kept in constant touch since meeting two years ago and spent Thursday night together.

‘I don’t know how they ended up where they were found,’ she said. ‘It’s a very bad neighbourhood – somewhere I would not even drive.

‘So why they were there is the big question on everyone’s mind.’

Detectives say they have found no evidence to suggest that the pair had been trying to buy drugs.

Although cash was found on the Britons’ bodies, sources in the Newtown neighbourhood said they had been lured into an ambush by masked gunmen.

Murder scene: James Cooper and James Kouzaris were found dead on this one way street which is off the usual tourist trail

Sonja Seymour, who lives on the street where the men were found in the early hours of Saturday, said: ‘I heard that when they arrived here there were already some people waiting for them. They were wearing masks.

‘The men ran away and they were shot. I saw one of them lying in the street on his back with his arms outstretched.

‘The other was across the road and lying on his back. They were not moving.

‘The ambulance arrived and tried to work on the two men but they couldn’t do anything. They were covered up and taken away and the police put up all the yellow tape.’

Captain Paul Sutton, of Sarasota police, said: ‘We are still investigating why they would have been in this area. It would be wrong to say they were buying drugs as no drugs paraphernalia were found on them.

‘It is very unusual to find tourists or visitors in this area. It is a residential neighbourhood with no shops and no bars. We do not know what brought them here at 3am.

‘This is not an area that you would expect tourists from England to venture into. This is a low-income area which has had its problems with crime.’ At Longboat Key last night, a family friend said that 58-year-old Stanley Cooper, a retired BBC executive, and his 52-year-old wife were ‘too distraught’ to speak about their only child’s death.

‘They are both hysterical and are still just coming to terms with what has happened.’

Well-travelled: Mr Kouzaris is believed to have taught English while living in Taiwan

Fun-loving: James Kouzaris with pictures from his round-the-world holiday posted on Facebook

Mr Walton added: ‘As it was getting late his mother rang his mobile and got no answer. She carried on ringing until the early hours and eventually a policeman answered it – they had picked up his mobile.

‘They came to get Sandra and his dad and took them down to the police station, and only then did they tell them that boys had been shot and killed.

‘Sandra is shattered, as are we.’

In a brief statement released through Northamptonshire Police, Mr Kouzaris’s family said: ‘James was a wonderful son.

‘We loved him so much and we can’t believe he has gone.We are absolutely devastated and in a state of complete shock.’

Murder victim James Cooper's family home near Warwick, with a Jaguar and a 4x4 in the driveway

His sister Emily added in a tribute on Facebook: ‘My brother was a legend and he will be missed and loved by many, many people.’

Mr Kouzaris’s aunt, Carole Kouzaris, of Syston, Leicestershire, said: ‘We’ve got no idea what James and his friend would have been doing in that part of the city at that time of night.

‘Nobody knows. They’re the only ones that know that, and sadly they won’t be able to tell us now.’

An uncle, Michael Kouzaris, 63, from Dartford, Kent, described his nephew as ‘one in a million’.

He added: ‘James was a real family guy, very caring and he loved to travel.

‘He would go abroad a fair bit as I think he wanted to get it all out of his system before he settled down. He was ambitious and liked to see the world and to broaden his perspective and understanding of different places.’

The tennis prodigy and the friend who lived to travel

Talented: James Cooper was a county level tennis player who later became a coach and said his claim to fame was that he once took on Andy Murray

James Cooper was a talented tennis player whose main claim to fame was playing Andy Murray at the age of 14.

He had spent Thursday evening with an American woman he met when he travelled to Florida with Mr Kouzaris two years ago.

Gina Cross, 31, from Sarasota, said: ‘He was by no means my boyfriend because he lived so far away, but you could say we were casual dating. It was a friendship that had the potential to go a lot further.

‘James kept in touch with me for two years. He was unlike anybody I had ever met before – he was special.

‘I’m heartbroken, I’ve spent all week telling my friends what a great guy James is and how he is a gentleman.’

Miss Cross had been hoping to introduce Mr Cooper to her friends on Saturday evening, hours after he was gunned down.

Mr Cooper lived with his parents, Stanley, 58, and Sandra, 52, in a £850,000 converted barn in Hampton Lucy, outside Warwick. The couple are also both keen tennis players.

Although a professional career proved beyond their son, he had stayed in the game, playing at county level for Warwickshire.

Since graduating in management from Sheffield two years ago, he worked as a tennis coach for a company called Inspire2Coach, which runs courses at Warwick University and other venues around the Midlands. Mr Cooper had recently been promoted to a head coach role.

He attended Kenilworth School in the town where he grew up and was a season-ticket holder at Coventry City football club, attending games with his father, who was said to have taken early retirement from the BBC.

A keen traveller, he enjoyed a trip to Australia in January last year, visiting the Australian Open tennis tournament.

His grandfather Desmond Walton, 79, from Southgate, North London, said he was a ‘good boy’ and said the pair were more like ‘mates than granddad and grandson’.

Keen traveller: Mr Cooper can be seen taking a boat trip during a trip to Australia last year, where he also visited the Australian Open tennis tournament

‘Whenever James called me he would always finish off by saying ‘I love you Granddad’. That’s the sort of boy he was. He wouldn’t hurt a fly.’

James Roe, who was James Cooper’s doubles partner at Kenilworth Tennis Club, said ‘People still asked him about the day he played Andy Murray.

‘I’ve known him since he was 14. He was a very good junior and represented Warwickshire and played in all the local leagues.

‘I was his doubles partner from 2003 to 2009 when we won the club championships. Tennis was his whole life.’

James Kouzaris was described as a ‘gregarious’ free spirit.

Since leaving the University of Sheffield with a masters degree in town planning in 2008, he fitted work around his major passion – travelling.

He had returned only a fortnight ago from a three-month journey through Latin America, visiting Ecuador, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Bolivia. He is thought to have spent a week with his parents, Hazel and Peter, both 52, at their home in Northampton, before flying out to Miami for the ill-fated three-week break with his friend.

James Kouzaris lived in Taiwan but had spent months touring South America before meeting up with his friend

Mr Kouzaris was signed up to Northamptonshire County Council’s register of temporary workers and helped across a variety of departments. He had been due to return to the authority to fill a position in the finance department later this month. 

Born in Northampton, he attended the 470-year-old Northampton School for Boys, captaining his year group at rugby for three years.

In 2002 he led the school rugby team on its tour of Australia and New Zealand. He also captained a team at Old Northamptonians Rugby Club from the age of nine until he left for university and taught English as a foreign language on his travels while in Taiwan.

Holiday: An image posted on Mr Kouzaris' Facebook page show him in a bar

Shortly before he flew home from his travels last month, he had written on Facebook that he was heading ‘back to normality soon’.

In a reference to their forthcoming Florida break, James Cooper replied: ‘U have got to be kiddin, ur back a week and then we go off to America.’

Relatives said James Kouzaris had been planning to settle down in London, where he had a girlfriend, but had talked of emigrating to Australia.

Deadly side of the Sunshine State

As a  destination long favoured by British tourists, Florida conjures up a wealth of enticing images: sun-drenched beaches, long-drives along coastal highways with breathtaking views, magnificent theme parks such as Disneyland, and wonderful food to suit every budget.

But there is another Florida, a world away from this travellers’ paradise. The peninsula state also has a far darker, seamier, more violent side, where only naive or criminal visitors dare to tread.

The dangers of this environment were graphically exposed by the fatal shooting of two Britons. What has so perplexed the Florida police about this double murder is that few tourists visit the deprived neighbourhood where they were killed, particularly because there are no nightclubs or restaurants.

Poverty: People sit on porches outside their homes in Florida, where the contrast between rich and poor is one of the biggest in the western world

This tragic case shows just how risky it can be to stray into the wrong neighbourhood in Florida. That is certainly what I discovered during my spell between 1998 and 2006 as the British Consul in Orlando, one of the most popular places for visiting Britons.

Away from the all the luxury and glamour of the attractions and hotels, a gun-toting, drug-fuelled menace awaits where people live in abject deprivation on a scale unimaginable in Britain, with our generous welfare state and infrastructure of public services.

This desperate poverty and squalor has served as the breeding ground for serious, often lethal crime from young men who feel they have nothing to lose, in a society which has given them nothing. And it is precisely this sense of desperation which makes these neighbourhoods so dangerous for those outsiders unfortunate or foolish enough to enter them.

The United States has always been a land of extremes. The richest country in the world also contains some of the most shameful poverty in the West. The land of liberty also has the most draconian criminal justice regime of any developed country, reflected not only in the retention of the death penalty but also in the massive prison population.

And although a nation of immigrants which prides itself on being a melting pot, America is still riven by deep-seated ethnic divisions.  

Contrast: The resort of Long Boat Key, where the two men were staying is just 12 miles from Sarasota, but a whole world apart in terms of safety and wealth

How the other half live: Some properties in Long Beach can fetch £30m and belong to celebrities including Tiger Woods - yet within 20miles there are concrete housing estates and shanty towns

These extremes are carried to a heightened level in Florida. What always intrigued me about the state was that affluence and deprivation, crime and security could exist so closely beside each other. In Palm Beach, you can find properties worth around £30million, some belonging to celebrities such as Donald Trump and Tiger Woods.

The rich and famous here don’t just have one swimming pool attached to their mansions, they have two.

Yet within 20 miles you can find the most incredible poverty, either in squalid concrete jungles of housing estates or impoverished shanty towns.

The double murder of the two Britons is a case in point. They were, apparently, staying only 12 miles away from Sarasota in the attractive resort of Longboat Key, but the distance in safety and wealth was much greater. As I found, this disparity can occur even in a small area. Within one part of a Florida city, you could be walking down a street full of appealing shops and cafes.

Then suddenly, if you take a wrong turning, you find yourself on a bleak estate, filled with boarded-up properties and threatening graffiti.

Even in the most notorious areas of Latin America, such as inner-city Bogota in Colombia, you would struggle to find anything as bad. Similarly, you could be driving through the countryside and then come across a group of primitive huts, made of corrugated sheets or derelict caravans, resembling something that you might find in an African village. There would not even be running water, the inhabitants relying on a standpipe.

Bleak future: With the desperate poverty and squalor in some parts of the state, many young men feel they have nothing to lose and turn to crime

It is no surprise to find that Florida is therefore scarred by high rates of crime. In my experience, the state has fewer petty offences than urban Britain – binge drinking is much more rare, for instance. But the incidence of serious crime is much higher. It is telling that Britain has by far the largest prison population in Europe in proportion to its size, at a total of 85,000 inmates.

Yet 100,000 prisoners are held in the jails of Florida, even though the state’s 15million population is only a quarter of Britain’s. Murder, drugs, rape, and firearm offences are all much more common in Florida. Tourists are an obvious target for gangsters and opportunistic criminals. One of the most sinister crime waves I had to deal with as a diplomat involved British hotel guests attacked in their rooms by gunmen.

Not only did the thugs steal cash and personal possessions such as jewellery and passports, but they also sometimes locked the husband in the bathroom while they raped the wife.

I will never forget one case where two British pensioners in their seventies were attacked as they walked into their hotel room. The husband refused to go into the bathroom when ordered at gunpoint. Instead, he leapt at his assailant and, in a life-or-death-struggle, managed to disarm him, though he suffered a severe blow which cracked his skull. 

It was a remarkable act of heroism and devotion to his wife, though the would-be rapist managed to escape. The pensioner told me afterwards at the consulate that he did not mind about the valuables, but when the robber threatened his spouse, he knew he had no alternative but to swing into action.

Hugh Hunter is the former British Vice-Consul in Florida, and author of Our Man In Orlando  

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News Analysis

Russia Sends Waves of Troops to the Front in a Brutal Style of Fighting

More than 1,000 Russian soldiers in Ukraine were killed or wounded on average each day in May, according to NATO and Western military officials.

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By Julian E. Barnes ,  Eric Schmitt and Marc Santora

Julian E. Barnes and Eric Schmitt reported from Washington, and Marc Santora from Kyiv, Ukraine.

May was a particularly deadly month for the Russian army in Ukraine, with an average of more than 1,000 of its soldiers injured or killed each day, according to U.S., British and other Western intelligence agencies.

But despite its losses, Russia is recruiting 25,000 to 30,000 new soldiers a month — roughly as many as are exiting the battlefield, U.S. officials said. That has allowed its army to keep sending wave after wave of troops at Ukrainian defenses, hoping to overwhelm them and break through the trench lines.

It is a style of warfare that Russian soldiers have likened to being put into a meat grinder, with commanding officers seemingly oblivious to the fact that they are sending infantry soldiers to die.

At times, this approach has proved effective, bringing the Russian army victories in Avdiivka and Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. But Ukrainian and Western officials say the tactics were less successful this spring, as Russia tried to take land near the city of Kharkiv.

American officials said that Russia achieved a critical objective of President Vladimir V. Putin, creating a buffer zone along the border to make it more difficult for the Ukrainians to strike into the country.

But the drive did not threaten Kharkiv and was ultimately stopped by Ukrainian defenses, according to Western officials.

“President Putin and Moscow have really tried to make big gains, to break through the front lines this spring,” Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO secretary general, said in an interview with The New York Times editorial board. “They tried and they failed. They made very small gains, and they are paying a very high price.”

Russian casualties have spiked at other times, especially during the assaults on Avdiivka and Bakhmut. But the assaults on those cities were spread out over several months. The push in May, both outside Kharkiv and along the eastern front, involved more intense periods of Russian wave attacks. British military intelligence analysts said Russia’s casualties in May, which they put at an average of 1,200 a day , were the highest of the war.

The fighting last month decimated the town of Vovchansk, about 40 miles from Kharkiv, where Ukrainian and Russian are engaged in a grueling battle for control.

Russian soldiers have said on Telegram, the social media and messaging platform, that their units are suffering high casualties. Some say their ranks are being cut down by drones, machine gun fire and artillery barrages.

Russia’s use of infantry in wave attacks reflects one of its advantages in the war: Its population is much larger than Ukraine’s, giving it a bigger pool of potential recruits.

But the casualties have forced Russia to ship new recruits to Ukraine relatively quickly, meaning that the soldiers sent to the front are poorly trained.

The lack of structured training, and the need to commit new recruits to combat operations, has limited Russia’s ability to generate more capable units. It also increases casualties.

But it is more complicated than that. The changing nature of modern warfare has also increased the body count in recent months.

Ubiquitous drones have made it easy for both sides to spot, and target, enemy forces. And mines and cluster munitions make movement across open ground a nearly suicidal endeavor.

Since Mr. Putin launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022, at least 350,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III recently said. British estimates put the number of Russians killed or wounded at more than 500,000.

U.S. estimates of casualties in the war are based on satellite imagery, communication intercepts, social media and news media dispatches from reporters, as well as official reporting from Russia and Ukraine. But such estimates vary, even within the U.S. government.

Reliable estimates of Ukraine’s casualties are more difficult to come by. Ukrainian officials guard those numbers carefully. Several U.S. officials insist they do not have an accurate account. Mr. Zelensky has said that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the first two years of the war, but American officials say that number appears to understate Ukraine’s losses.

Russia conducted a partial mobilization in September 2022, which led to tens of thousands of young men fleeing the country. But Western intelligence analysts say Russia will not need to conduct another such mobilization or draft this year.

Russia appears to be able to sustain its current campaign by offering financial incentives to recruits, drawing on convicts and bringing in some Russian mercenaries from Africa.

But the major question for this year will be whether Russia’s current strategy can best the Ukrainian military, which is finding its defensive footing. Arms and ammunition from a new $60 billion U.S. aid package are finally reaching the front lines, and Ukrainian commanders are no longer having to ration rounds. Russia still outguns Ukraine, but not by as much.

Ukraine has shifted its posture, building fortifications and laying minefields to slow the Russian advance. War favors the defender, and Ukraine is focusing on holding its lines, American officials said.

“What I see is a slowing of the Russians’ advance and a stabilizing of that particular piece of the front,” Mr. Austin told reporters in Brussels this month. “A couple of weeks ago, there was concern that we would see a significant breakthrough on the part of the Russians. I don’t think we’ll see that going forward.”

And Russia’s new buffer zone at the border near Kharkiv may be a hollow achievement.

Ukraine has still been able to use longer-range American weapons to strike into Russia because of a policy shift by the Biden administration that allows the Ukrainian military to use U.S. missiles to strike military targets just over the border .

American officials said the change is beginning to have an impact, taking out Russian artillery and making it harder for Moscow to strike against Kharkiv.

The result, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said this month, was that the Kharkiv offensive had proved to be “yet another mistake for Russia.”

“The destruction of Russian terrorists’ positions and launchers by our forces, our warriors, near the border really matters,” he said . “It is working. Exactly as we expected.”

But for all of Ukraine’s success around Kharkiv, there are more challenges ahead. In the weeks to come, U.S. and Western officials expect the fighting to shift back to the east and the south, as Russia continues to appear willing to expend forces to make incremental gains.

Julian E. Barnes covers the U.S. intelligence agencies and international security matters for The Times. He has written about security issues for more than two decades. More about Julian E. Barnes

Eric Schmitt is a national security correspondent for The Times, focusing on U.S. military affairs and counterterrorism issues overseas, topics he has reported on for more than three decades. More about Eric Schmitt

Marc Santora has been reporting from Ukraine since the beginning of the war with Russia. He was previously based in London as an international news editor focused on breaking news events and earlier the bureau chief for East and Central Europe, based in Warsaw. He has also reported extensively from Iraq and Africa. More about Marc Santora

29 tourist deaths trigger alarm bells in Medellín

In 2024, there has been one death every 6 days in the colombian city, compared to one every 10 days in 2023. at least half of those killed have been americans.

On Thursday morning, Matthew Watson Croulet got into a cab in Medellín. He was disoriented, remembering nothing but the name of his hotel, according to the police report. The driver took him to the tourist neighborhood of El Poblado and dropped him off. When the 25-year-old American entered his hotel, the staff noted that he looked drugged. It was clear he was not well. Concerned, they called an ambulance. Watson, meanwhile, went up to his room where he was found dead at 9.25 am.

Watson is the latest tourist corpse to be discovered in Medellin in what is becoming a cumulative problem . Last year, there were 37 violent tourist deaths in Colombia’s second-largest city. That is an average of one every 10 days. So far in 2024, 359,000 tourists have visited the city, and there have already been 29 violent tourist deaths, which is more than one per week. If the pace continues, the year would close with 61.

However, a pattern is emerging. On May 31, another U.S. citizen was found dead in a hotel in the tourist district of Laureles. Jaime Eduardo Cisneros, 54, was lying on a bed half-naked, rolled up in a sheet, with no signs of violence. The authorities have not yet determined the cause of death. They indicate that the man entered his room with a woman during the early hours of the morning. After a short time, she came out. He did not.

Tourists, drugs and prostitution

Carlos Calle heads up the Medellín District Attorney’s Office’ Tourism Observatory. His job is to generate reports on tourism activity in the city. He explains to EL PAÍS that the city closed 2023 with the highest rate of foreign visitors in its history: almost 1.5 million. “It was also the year in which the most foreigners met violent deaths ,” he says. According to Calle, Medellín is safe for tourists. However, he says there is an increasingly frequent negative tourist profile. “The situations in which these foreign tourists are negatively affected are almost always related to drugs or prostitution,” he says.

The birthplace of Pablo Escobar , Medellín was once one of the most dangerous cities in the world. However, in recent years it has become a desirable tourist destination. Within Colombia, it has a reputation as the city of innovation, beauty, partying, and narcoculture. This has had both positive and negative consequences. In recent years, more and more foreigners have come to the capital with the aim of paying for sex, which is not a crime in Colombia, provided no minors are involved.

Although the Escobar era is over, Calle points out that the city is home to a large number of criminal gangs, which offer exactly what negative-profile tourists are looking for: drugs and prostitutes. According to Calle, many such travelers end up in dangerous situations, consuming high doses of narcotics in environments that can be unsafe. Some local criminals give them scopolamine. Also known as burundanga , this drug disorients and uncapacitates users. It can be slipped into drinks, snorted, or simply blown into the victim’s face. The victim is unlikely to have any recollection of the event and there could be fatal consequences.

Calle points out that, given the numbers of tourists who travel to Medellín every year, those who come seeking sex and drugs are relatively few, but they are a growing demographic. He adds that it is important they are aware of the law and keep their wits about them. “Number one, in Colombia the exploitation of minors is a crime. We will not tolerate that,” he says. “Number two, don’t accept drinks from a stranger in a bar. Don’t get into a stranger’s car. If you want to go with a girl, share the location or at least try to stay in contact with someone you know.”

Yiri Milena Amado, a former director of the Attorney General’s Office in Valle de Aburrá, the region in which Medellín is located, agrees. In March, she gave an interview to Semana , explaining that there was a common thread to the spate of tourist deaths in the city, namely “deadly cocktails.” The Prosecutor’s Office frequently found the deceased traveler had consumed a combination of drugs: “Cocaine, tusi and marijuana. Also, sexual enhancers, such as Viagra, and bottles of alcohol,” she said.

In plain sight

Last April, EL PAÍS traveled to Medellín to report on tourists and sexual exploitation. The testimonies of several sex workers and multiple visitors made it clear that drugs are ever-present in this context. Sitting in Lleras Park, where dozens of tourists come every night for sex, a prostitute introducing herself as Alexa Gómez explained that she needed drugs to sleep with clients. “It makes you happy, and everyone likes a smile,” she said. Another sex worker, who preferred to remain anonymous, said that her clients would consume a lot of drugs, and that she often encouraged the men to consume more as a way of avoiding having to have sex with them.

At a bar in Parque Lleras, a 78-year-old American who introduced himself as Bob, shared a table with three sex workers. He said he had been visiting Medellín for years for paid sex. “There is an unusual freedom here. You can do whatever you want,” he said. During the interview, Bob gave 50,000 pesos ($12) to a prostitute and asked her to get him cocaine. The woman accepted the money and left but was slow to return.

Over the next half hour, Bob repeatedly asked the other two women about the whereabouts of their colleague and the drugs. Sex worker Yuliet, 24, explained that the American liked to get high: “He does too much cocaine and wants us to do it too. I don’t like it, it scares me. I prefer the tusi. But I still do cocaine when he asks me to do it.”

Sexual exploitation of minors

There are also foreigners who go to Medellín with the specific aim of sexually exploiting minors. On March 28, a 36-year-old U.S. citizen, Timothy Alan Livingston, was discovered by police in a hotel in El Poblado with two girls ages 12 and 13. According to Colombian law, sexual consent for minors under the age of 16 only exists if the person seeking sex is no more than three years older than the minor. Despite Timothy Alan Livingston’s age, the man was released shortly after his arrest and returned two days later to Florida. A Colombian judge, however, issued a warrant for his arrest in April, yet he remains at large in the U.S.

Less than a month later, U.S. police arrested an American pedophile, Stefan Andres Correa. The man had traveled 45 times in just two years to Colombia to abuse minors. During the investigation, the authorities found nine cell phones on which there was extensive evidence of his sexual abuse, including conversations with a Colombian pimp who allegedly hooked him up to underage girls in Medellín.

These two cases have shocked Medellín and prompted Mayor Federico Gutiérrez to launch an extensive prevention campaign. Over the past three months, the city has been filled with posters attempting to prevent the sexual exploitation of minors. “Don’t even try, it’s a crime,” they say.

These posters cover the walls of the city’s two airports. They are also seen in many hotels and restaurants. There are no official figures on how many minors have been sexually exploited in Medellín in 2024, but, last year, more than 320 victims of this crime were reported in the city, according to the NGO Valientes Colombia.

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New Mexico woman becomes second American tourist killed by an elephant in Zambia this year

Juliana gle tourneau was trampled by the animal, local officials said, article bookmarked.

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An American tourist was killed in Zambia this week after she was trampled by an elephant while on a wildlife excursion.

Juliana Gle Tourneau, 64, was thrown from a vehicle in the city of Livingstone this week as a group of tourists observed a herd of elephants . One of the elephants attacked the vehicle her, according to CBS News . Tourneau’s group stopped near the Maramba Cultural Bridge because of traffic caused by the herd. The woman had been visiting the country from New Mexico .

“Juliana Gle Tourneau, 64, of New Mexico, United States of America, died on Wednesday around 17.50 after being knocked from a parked vehicle which had stopped due to traffic caused by elephants around the Maramba Cultural Bridge,” Auxensio Daka, southern province police commissioner, told the country’s national broadcaster ZNBC.

Authorities did not release any more details about the attack.

Another American tourist was killed earlier this year in a similar attack. Gail Mattson, 79, from Minnesota, was killed in Zambia “while on her dream adventure” in March, her daughter, Rona Wells, told CBS News.

Footage of the attack was captured on a cellphone. The group had been on a safari tour in the country’s Kafue National Park. As a large bull elephant came close to the vehicle, its occupants began to become concerned.

In the video, a person can be heard saying “oh my goodness” before a man adds, “it’s coming fast.” The group’s car came to a stop and someone attempted to get the elephant to go away.

However, the animal put its tusks into the car and rolled it several times, leading to the woman’s death.

Zambian officials are asking tourists to use caution while on wildlife excursions.

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Spanish police end search for british teenager in tenerife.

Spanish police said on Sunday they had ended a search for British teenager Jay Slater, who has been missing on the Canary island of Tenerife since June 17, but that the case is still open.