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"Nick and Beth, a young British couple, embarked on the journey of a lifetime; a motorcycle expedition from Texas to Ushuaia, Argentina. However, their adventure took a harrowing turn in Belize:
It's almost 1am and Beth and Nick are camped in an established campground in Belize when five men armed with guns and machetes cut their way into the tent claiming to be police. After being pulled outside, the pair were then bound with ropes and forced to surrender all their possessions: Phones, GPS devices, Cameras, Go Pros, Helmet Comms, Tools, $700 in cash and memory cards filled with cherished trip photographs. This process involved an hour of Beth and Nick watching while the thieves broke into / cut open all their luggage, tipping all of their belongings onto the floor in pouring rain. Within the hour Beth and Nick’s losses amounted to almost 7000 GBP / 8800 USD.
Sadly it gets worse. After finding some spent ammunition kept as a souvenir from the USA, the thieves believed Beth and Nick were armed. Repeated explanations about the spent brass were in vain and Nick endured physical assault, being repeatedly kicked in the face with his hands tied behind his back, he was hit in the back of the head with a hunting rifle and suffered a bad concussion. Beth endured a terrifying sexual assault. Nick described to me the terror they felt while thieves put a machete to each of their throats and pointed a gun at their kneecaps, repeatedly counting down to zero in an attempt to make them reveal the location of the non-existent guns. Beth and Nick were eventually left, albeit with nothing of value but their motorcycles (which the thieves were unable to operate) face down in the mud with the hands tied. They remained here for several hours before being freed.
The police were then called, who visited the scene of the crime at 4am for just 30 minutes before leaving without offering the couple any shelter, form of communication, or peace of mind. Despite the trauma and lack of support from local authorities, Nick and Beth displayed remarkable resilience. They decided to leave the campsite immediately for their own safety, packing their soaked belongings into what luggage was still useable, they rode through the night seeking refuge in a gas station 40km away until the morning. " - Charlie Reynolds
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