1. They were drunk - this is why they don’t remember much
2. 10:1 odds the taxi driver was in on the robbery
3. Lochte - get the heck out of there. Find a motorboat to get to one of the cruise ships housing the upper crust.
This was decades ago, but my friends were robbed in much the same way, in Rio. Most of the street punks that rob foreigners will take anything of value, all your cash, and give back the wallet, credit cards, and passport.
#3 recalled this:
“I know a fellow with a motor launch for hire
A skinny man with two-tone shoes
Cause tonight they’re arranging a small reception just for me
Behind the big casino by the sea
I know what happens
I read the book
I believe I just got the goodbye look”
Donald Fagen “The Goodbye Look”