Mags

After reading the report on the young woman from Wisconsin dying this past January, and that her parents and brother suspect that both the young woman, Abbey, and her brother Andrew had been drugged, I came upon this website and decided it was time to share what happened to my husband and I just a little over a month ago in June of 2017. My husband and I decided to have a very small wedding and instead, take a fabulous and exotic trip for our honeymoon. We were married on June 10, 2017 and arrived at the Sandos Playacar all inclusive resort 2 days later on June 12, 2017. We had done an extensive amount of research on the area and different resorts...and ultimately decided on the Sandos Playacar because of its beautiful beach and also because it was located in the gated community of Playacar, just a hop away from Playa Del Carmen. The first day was heaven...we checked into our wonderful suite in our Hacienda...and then came the second day. We were tricked into an almost 3 hour long presentation, which we were told originally was just a "welcome breakfast" and a "tour of the resort". After that and A LOT of frustration, we went back to the room, changed, and debated on whether to go to the beach or the adults only section with the swim up bar. We decided on the swim up bar...and how I wish we could go back and just go straight to the beach. We arrived at the swim up bar and ordered two shots of tequila a piece and a beer. We drank our tequila and sipped on our beers as we started talking to a couple from Argentina. They seemed so nice and informed us that some friends of theirs, staying in the adults only section, had the safe in their room stolen. The safe that had both of their passports and all of their cash. All the while I noticed that the bartender at the swim up bar was eyeing me...smiling at me and I could not deny the instinctive feeling I got from him...which was creepy. Very creepy. As we were talking to the couple from Argentina, the bartender came up to my husband and I. He smiled and pointed at us and said enthusiastically-"You want another shot!" Being only the second day of our honeymoon...of course we wanted another shot! My husband and I drink our fair share and we both know our limits so I knew that another shot would be perfectly fine...but I ignored my gut instinct that I got from the bartender and accepted. It was both mine and my husbands first time out of the USA period and looking back I wish we would have been more aware. I remember the bartender going around the bar, and suddenly he was out of sight. I thought it was odd at the time, but shrugged it off and kept having a good time. He finally came back around with two tequila shots...he sat one in front of me and one in front of my husband...mine was in a different shot glass than my husbands and different from the shot glasses in which we had the previous 2. I remember noticing but shrugging it off and they sat there for a few minutes. I started talking to a woman from Texas who was sitting beside my husband to his left. I swam from his side to the right and to his left, and continued our conversation. A few minutes later, my husband and I took the 3rd tequila shot. I took the one meant for him and he took the one meant for me. Within 20 minutes, I noticed my husband acting very, very strangely. After about 25 minutes of his strange behaviour, I started feeling exhausted and fatigued from the sun and heat. I am of Irish descent and have not only very, very fair skin but also get sun poisoning and exhaustion from the sun very easily. I tried my hardest for 20 minutes to get my husband to come back to the suite with me. Normally, as soon as my husband knew I wasn't feeling well, he would do absolutely whatever he needed to to get me feeling comfortable and well again. He refused. After 20 minutes of trying, I finally got so frustrated and fed up I left by myself to go to our room. The whole walk to the room I was thinking to myself how bizarre my husband was acting and feeling bad that I left him...but I knew I needed to lie down. I got back to the room and fell asleep almost immediately. I awoke about 2 hours later to my husband entering the suite. He stood over me and yelled, "Why did you leave me there?!" I reminded him that I had tried my best to get him to come with me before I came to the room. He then, to my shock and horror, started beating me. This was not my husband. This was not the man I had been with for three years and loved with all of my heart. My husband, in his right state of mind, is the kindest, most gentle and sweet man I know. He hit me-I don't know how many times. At least twice on the face, then my arms came up in defense, taking most of the beating. At some point, he threw me off the bed and onto the hard tile floor. His hands went around my throat...choking me and I knew I was going to die. He squeezed and squeezed and all along, in my mind, I was thinking-"I am going to die. This is not my husband. What has happened?" My very life flashed before my eyes and suddenly I started losing consciousness...and then I found the will and strength to fight. I pushed him off of me for just a moment. Then he grabbed me by my hair and hit my head against the tile floor as hard as he could...twice. I bit his hand and it gave me just enough time and space to rear my legs back to my chest and kick. I kicked him as hard as I could and he went flying off of me. I ran out of the suite-naked except for the bathing suit bottoms I had on. As soon as I ran out of the suite I yelled help...and almost immediately, three security guards came rushing up the steps of the hacienda and into our suite. I ran to the back of the hacienda and jumped into the hot tub(after realizing my nakedness)-which every hacienda there has, along with a private pool. I was in absolute shock. I had never, in my 28 years, ever had anything like that happen to me.
A very kind security guard brought me a robe and questioned me about what happened. I told him that I knew, in my heart, that my husband had been drugged. I knew that he had not that much to drink when I left and he was acting bizarrely then. The man then told me to thank one of the other security guards-that he had saved my husband from drowning in the pool. (One of the reasons that the story of the young woman from Wisconsin chilled me so). I was escorted back into the suite and got some things and my husband was passed out cold. I had never seen him like that in 3 years and we have done a fair share of drinking in our time together. I was taken to another room. I eventually fell asleep and woke up before dawn. I decided to call the suite in which my husband was still asleep. He answered the phone and actually sounded like himself. As soon as he heard my voice, he said, with worry, "Where are you?! I woke up and didn't know how I got here and didn't know where you were and I have been scared to death!"(my cell had no service in Mexico and the wifi at the resort was terrible) I told him about what happened and he started sobbing and expressing not only how sorry he was but that the last thing he remembered was talking to the couple from Argentina. My husband came and got me and we went back to our suite. We were supposed to go on an excursion to Mayan ruins that day and had to postpone because of my injuries. I had a broken finger, a black eye...bruises all over my arms, legs and neck and two cracked ribs. And my husband was in a fog for days after. I know my husband was drugged...beyond a shadow of a doubt. I know that whatever he had been drugged with-which I feel confident was meant for me-caused a night of horror for us both...along with the days and weeks that followed. This was confirmed the day we left Mexico. As my husband was checking out of the resort, I decided to go to one of the "premium bars", for which we had exclusive passes(because we were staying in a suite in a hacienda). I ordered 2 mojitos...my husband and I had been very, very paranoid and cautious about what we drank after the incident at the swim up bar, but I decided to get a drink. as the bartender is making our drinks, a familiar looking man walks behind the bar. Asking strange questions such as "You go to the swim up bar?"...then says, "You are honeymooner! Oh yes. I remember you. Where is your husband?" he then laughed and once again I got an intuitive feeling that something wasn't right with this guy. The bartender gave me the mojitos and as I was walking back into the lobby it hit me. That was the bartender who served us at the swim up bar. I was mid sip when I realized and immediately spit it back out into the cup. I looked back towards the bar and the bartender from the swim up bar was staring and laughing at me. I felt so sick and preyed upon and vulnerable. My husband came rushing over from across the lobby and said, "That was the bartender. The one who drugged me and tried to drug you. He was staring in my direction." We both turned around and as soon as the slime ball realized we knew, he ran off and out of sight. A great deal of our honeymoon was ruined. More importantly-my husband and I both almost lost our lives. I feel lucky that we are both alive today. While my bruises and injuries have healed(though my finger that was broken and ribs that were cracked still hurt from time to time), my memory from that night is still with me. My husband still has no memory of that night-just my account of what happened. He didn't feel right for days after. And is still beating himself up for what happened on that horrible night. Anyone traveling to that area...be aware! Be vigilant! Predators are looking constantly for people whom they believe to be easy targets. This horrific experience has not discouraged me from travelling in the future...but it has made me feel more aware and wise. I just feel blessed to be alive and well today!