Peru: American’s death and cover-up, tragedy in the Amazon

(CNN) REPORTED: — Kyle Nolan did his research — his mother made sure of that. She didn’t want her 18-year-old son heading to the Amazon jungle at all — let alone, without learning everything he could about the supposed “medicine” with the bizarre name that he insisted would help him turn his young life around.

A death, then a cover-up

Kyle arrived in Peru in August 2012, a rare overseas excursion for a young man who was more of a homebody than a world traveler. He journeyed deep into Peru’s Amazon with hopes of experiencing a spiritual transformation.

On the third night of Kyle’s ayahuasca session, he never returned from his hut. Days later, when he didn’t arrive home, Oswald called the Shimbre Shamanic Center and spoke to an interpreter for Shaman Mancoluto, who led the center’s ayahuasca sessions.

“He told me, ‘Oh well (Kyle) just decided he wanted to leave, he took off down the road, and he’s left,'” Oswald said. “And I said, ‘I don’t believe you. My son would never ever do that.'”

So she and her daughter flew down to Peru to help local police search for Kyle. For three to four days, they searched hospitals and bars and talked to taxi drivers, asking if anyone had seen Kyle. Read Article