California woman goes missing on yoga retreat in Guatemala

A California woman is missing after attending a yoga retreat at a volcanic lake in Guatemala, according to multiple news outlets. 

Nancy Ng, 29, of Monterey Park in LA County, disappeared on Oct. 19 while at Lake Atitlan in the Guatemalan Highlands. Ng had previously attended the same retreat in 2022, and liked it so much she returned for a week-long stay, KTLA reports. Ng’s family told the outlet they first learned of her disappearance via a phone call from the retreat organizer. The details of her disappearance remain sparse, but the lake at the popular tourist resort has reportedly been searched with divers, boats and drones. 

“The last two weeks have been a living hell because when we first got the news that she was missing, we just had so many questions,” Nicky Ng, Nancy’s sister, told KTLA. “What happened? Where is she now? Is there a chance she’s alive? We didn’t know anything.”

“She loves yoga, traveling, hiking with her family, and cuddling with her cat,” reads a GoFundMe organized by the family to aid search efforts. “She has a kind heart, a big smile, and can talk to anyone about anything.” The post said that a private search-and-rescue team had been hired, and claimed that witnesses in the case have not been forthcoming. 

“With every passing day, our family nightmare gets worse,” Jared Lopez, Nicky Ng’s partner, wrote in an update to the GoFundMe page last week. “Our fears of never finding her more real.”

The FBI’s Los Angeles field office told SFGATE on Monday that they do not have a statement on the case at this time, and referred questions to authorities in Guatemala, who could not be reached at time of publication.