Vilcabamba Ecuador: Three Expats Face Harrowing Ordeal In Home Invasion

Three Expats from Three Different Countries Victims of Traumatic Home Invasion by Masked Armed Assailants

This is a continuing report from original story Vilcabamba, Ecuador: Owner of farm, expats victims of home invasion (updated). *This is still a developing story and information is still being gathered by Latinamericacurrentevents.com/ Some information is not being posted at this time in order to protect the victims identities and not to taint the police investigation. There were three minor children present. Sources reveal to Latinamericacurrentevents.com they were not harmed during the ordeal. Sources are not being identified in this story.

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At approximately 4:00 AM on Saturday April 29th, twelve individuals (some armed) assaulted a farm in the tiny idyllic hamlet of Masanamaca about a fifteen minute drive south of Vilcabamba, Ecuador. Three adult expats and three children were present during the attack. Their nationalities are U.S., Spanish, and British nationals.

The assailants first attempted to enter a residence of a British national who was house sitting on the property for an American expat couple. He attempted to keep the thugs from entering the house and stabbed one of them in the hand with a knife at which time an attacker fired a gun into the house. The assailants eventually stole cash belonging to the expat that was hidden in different areas on the property.

The assault then moved to a second residence who is the owner of the property and a long time expat in Ecuador from Spain. The victim attempted to fight them off when the door was bashed in. She was punched in the face and received a number of contusions during the ordeal. Her life was threatened and the assailants stated they were going to kill her if she did not reveal where she had money stored on the premises and that they would cut her hands with a machete and drown her in the bathtub. She was also threatened by an assailant putting a gun in her mouth. An unidentified source revealed the assailants believed there may be a large amount of cash belonging to the expat located underground on the property.

Attackers then entered the residence of the U.S. expat. She had heard a commotion on the property and hid in the bathroom. A gunmen carrying a short barrel shotgun entered and removed her. She complied with his orders and turned over what little cash she had. She was tied up with clothing and then removed to another of the residences with the adult expats and the children. She was not physically assaulted.

After about a two and half hour time frame, the assailants left the premises. Victims contacted individuals staying in a small apartment complex who apparently were not targeted and claimed not to have heard anything during the ordeal. The victims then left to Vilcabamba. Police were notified on Saturday evening. The U.S. expat also notified the U.S. Consulate and the British embassy was notified. Police reports are currently being taken and an investigation is in the process.

Other facts:

The assailants did not appear to be well organized and were reminiscent of a rag tag team.
One Assailant wore a police hat and memorabilia and claimed to be a policeman.
One Assailant wore a military jacket.
The radio system on the premises for emergencies did not work as planned.
Alarm was activated by one of the victims and did not engage for about ten minutes. Assailants made victim turn alarm off.
Various personal items were stolen belonging to the victims. (computers, cellphones etc.)
Internet connections were disabled except in the apartment complex.
Assailants left in vehicles.
Some of the assailants had Colombian accents.
Several of the assailants spoke passable English with one having good English skills.
Many of the assailants had whiter than normal complexion for many Ecuadorians.
One of the assailants appeared to be of Afro-Ecuadorian descent.
Several sources believe that the assailants may have known the victims and that it could have been an inside job.

ORDEAL OVER

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Acoording to one of the victims it was a very scary and traumatizing experience. “At the end, they told both myself and the other female victim to lay down on the ground and put our heads on the ground. We had both been sitting up. So we did that. But, they only were talking in Spanish at this point the other victim (Spanish Speaking) made sure I knew what to do. I’m not sure what else he may have said before that. He then left the bathroom and closed the door. We were actively trying to untie ourselves at that point while I was praying out loud for us. She got her hands free first and we waited at least 5 minutes. Then she hopped to the door and checked. Didn’t see or hear anyone. Waited some more. Finally she went over to the other room where the Brit and children were. He had gotten himself untied and was just sitting there with his girls, other girl was sleeping. I untied my legs first and waited in the bathroom longer though as I wanted to ensure they were gone. Then I went to the room as well and that is when I got my hands untied. Then we started trying to decide what to do.”

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