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 Travel & Outdoors | June 2005 
Aruba Case Sheds Light On Travel Risks
 Kimberly Durnan & April Kinser - DallasNews.com
| | Tourists relax near the hotel in Aruba where missing teen Natalee Holloway stayed. (Photo: AP) |
Before John Wakeman’s 18-year-old daughter and three girlfriends left for a three-week trip through Europe, the Plano father made clear how he expected them to behave, taking into account their desire for fun with his demand for safety.
“Basically, the key rule is that they should always stay together,” he said. “To be completely explicit, we told them if one wants to go off with a guy, then the other three better go with them.”
He spoke with his daughter, Cheney, by phone Monday morning and gets daily e-mails while she’s traveling. The teens want to socialize, but they also graduated with honors and are smart enough to know how to handle themselves abroad, he said.
“The average European city is far safer than the average U.S. city,” Wakeman said. “Obviously there is danger everywhere, but they have to use common sense.”
That danger has become a reality in a high-profile case involving an Alabama teen-ager.
Natalee Holloway, 18, who was on a trip to Aruba with friends celebrating high school graduation, disappeared May 30 after a night out at a popular bar. Two men have been charged in connection with her disappearance as thousands continue to search for her.
In Aruba and many other countries, the legal age for drinking alcohol is 18. According to arubatourism.com, the drinking age is not widely enforced and tourists usually will not be carded.
Blake Gibbs, 18, and about 30 of his classmates from Plano East Senior High were leaving this week on a senior trip for Cancun – a final shot at summer revelry before the rigors of college.
"It's kind of like one last hurrah for our group of friends. A lot of us have never been on a trip like this," he said.
The tour, organized by an agency specializing in student travel, won't include parents or chaperones. Contacts, however, will be available in the case of emergencies.
"I tried to scare him with some stories. We stressed to him that you don't go off the beaten path, and we're making him check home every day," said his mother, Sherry Blake.
Blake says her family has discussed Holloway's disappearance – a cautionary tale for seniors about to embark on similar trips.
"I'm bad, I guess, but I told him when you go to Mexico there are people who have come up missing. I've told him scary stories like that to put some fear into him," she said.
The 1989 slaying of a University of Texas student who was on spring break in Mexico is one of the most notorious cases of the dangers of travel abroad. Mark Kilroy, 21, was abducted off the streets of Matamoros while bar-hopping with friends. Law officials discovered Kilroy’s mutilated body several days later. He had been the victim of a cult sacrifice.
Other recent high school graduates described an array of senior trips this summer – from cruises with parents to loosely organized tours to complete freedom in foreign lands.
In Frisco, 17-year-old Amanda Tompkins and three friends will leave June 15 for Daytona Beach, Fla., on an unsupervised five-day vacation. Amanda said some students and a travel agency tried to organize a trip to Cancun for Frisco seniors, but it fell through.
Natalee Holloway "My parents would rather there be a parent there," she said. “They don't really like the fact we're going unsupervised, but one of the girls has family near.”
Anthony Chillemi, 18, returned last week from an unsupervised senior trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, with eight Plano West Senior High School classmates.
He said he understands how cases like Holloway's can occur. "It could have happened easy in Mexico because we didn't have any parents, and it's a foreign country," he said.
While cases like Holloway’s are unusual, the U.S. State Department warns that American citizens traveling abroad can become victims of violence, like carjacking, and other lesser crimes, like losing money to pickpockets or scam artists.
The State Department offers many tips on its Web site about safe travel, noting that tourists should be alert for scam artists or strangers who offer to serve as tour guides. They should avoid discussing travel plans or personal matters with strangers; ask directions only from authorities; and be aware of places where they might be victimized, like crowded subways, marketplaces and tourist sites.
And travelers should keep valuables close to the body and copies of important documents, like passports, readily available.
The department also issues warnings about countries that it recommends Americans avoid. Neither Aruba nor Mexico, a popular destination for Texans, is among them. Most of Europe is excluded, although Israel is on the list.
Rabbi Paul Steinberg recently returned from a 16-day educational tour of Israel with 30 eighth-graders, three chaperones, two guides and an armed guard.
“We avoid public buses, as those are prime targets for violence,” he said. “We hire out a bus and driver from the agency. We almost never let the kids go out on their own. If we do, it’s in a closed area, so we know where they are.”
Steinberg said safety was always a top concern. He made sure the kids had cell phones and they stayed close to the group at all times.
Whether taking a trip through school or planning one individually, people should consider using a tour company, said Hank Phillips, president of the National Tour Association, an organization of tourism professionals from across the world.
"The less familiar an individual is with a destination, the better it is to go with a travel company that understands the destination and any risks that should be avoided," Phillips said. "Beyond that, frankly, it comes down to common sense. Trust your instincts. If something doesn't feel right, avoid it."
Phillips said travelers should try to blend in and avoid looking like tourists. Younger travelers, particularly, always should let someone know their whereabouts and leave itineraries with someone at home, he said.
"With student trips or spring break-type destinations, parents need to know what the nature of the trip is," Phillips said. "It should always be done with the knowledge and awareness of the parents or decision-makers."
Traveling students should never separate for extended periods of time and should always have a way to communicate, said Bob O’Brien, director of the missing children’s division of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
“Students should avoid locations that look to be a threat. This becomes a lot more complicated when you are in a foreign country, O’Brien said. “When you have spring break or summer break you are going to have a lot more kids going down to different areas acting foolish and running a high risk of doing things and going places they shouldn’t.”
Although parents expect school- or church-sanctioned trips to be well-supervised, some outings are organized informally and are not associated with the school district.
In Arlington, the schools do not sanction trips unless “there is an educational purpose, which does not mean that teachers or organizers or any other clubs can’t take their own trips during non-school time,” said Veronica Sopher, spokeswoman for the Arlington Independent School District.
Ivette Weis, a spokeswoman for the Dallas school district, said most school trips were taken within the U.S., particularly Washington, D.C., and New York City, for sports and music competitions.
“We have very strict rules the students and chaperones have to follow,” Weis said.
Students must have parental consent and provide an emergency contact list. The ratio of chaperones to students varies but remains tight. “Students are also not allowed to go out on their own to activities and must follow a very strict itinerary,” she said.
FBI spokesman Bill Carter said cases in which Americans go missing on school or group trips abroad are rare. He noted that the agency’s authority is limited in situations like Holloway’s, which frantic parents may not understand.
“We work very closely with the country in question to resolve the case, but if a crime occurs in that country, then it’s up to the authorities in that country to conduct the investigation,” he said.
Carter emphasized, however, that FBI legal representatives, the Department of Justice and state agencies work hard to get full assistance.
“It’s a sovereign country and we have to rely on the cooperation and coordination of the law enforcement authorities in that country to provide information,” Carter said of the Aruba case. “We can’t just walk in there and do what we want.”
DallasNews.com staff writer Karen Ostergren and Dallas Morning News staff writer Paul Meyer contributed to this report. |
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