Posted on 01/04/2010 2:38:49 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
MINNEAPOLIS -- Airports are often the scene of emotional moments, but few could top the reunion that took place Sunday at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
"I'm happy they're here," Ashley Thill said while holding back tears. "But I could have lost my parents."
Her parents, Al and Susan Thill, were making their annual drive from western Wisconsin to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico last week. But they didn't get past northern Mexico.
While driving through the north-central Mexican state of Durango on New Years Eve, the Thills said they were chased, first by one car that eventually disappeared, then by another car.
"It's like you were in the movies," Al Thill said.
He drove to the border of Durango and Chihuahua, hoping to get help from inspectors who work at the crossing. But when he got out of his car, he said the suspect put a gun to his head, forcing him to the ground.
"I just laid flat out, face down, and that's when he shot me in my arm," Al Thill said.
The gunman then pointed a gun at Susan, who was still sitting in the car.
"It was so traumatic," she said. "And then you see your husband lying there and I didn't know if he was gonna be -- oh, it was awful."
The gunman drove off with their car and Al was rushed to a hospital several miles away. They were featured in local newspapers and overwhelmed by the kindness of the community.
"They had read about us and they wanted to meet us and tell us they were so sorry," Susan Thill said.
Drug-related violence -- including carjackings -- in Mexico has increased greatly during the past few years. The U.S. Department of State says Americans should be extra cautious when driving through parts of northern Mexico.
The bodies of six men -- including California educator Agusutin Roberto Salcedo -- were found Thursday in Durango. According to CNN, the group was eating in a restaurant Wednesday night when armed men barged in, forced everyone to the floor and abducted six men.
As for the Thills, they flew home Sunday. Al and Susan were supposed to spend one month in Puerto Vallarta and another month at a different resort in Mexico. Their Puerta Vallerta plans have been cancelled but if Al recovers in time, they may return to finish their vacation. But this time they'll fly.
idiots!
I think it’s less than prudent to drive through Mexico in these times.
I think I saw this on a Chevy Chase movie...
These people MUST be brain dead Democrats! I mean I'm glad they lived through this experience BUT to want to go back is just plain lunacy.
You have to wonder what universe they live in that they thought it was safe to drive there. Craziness!
I’m sure by the time TSA is unionized, it will be safer to fly (sarcasm...).
While driving through the north-central Mexican state of Durango on New Years Eve....
Stay away from Durango, and DO NOT drive at night...use the main toll roads only....”been there done that”
Mexico is nothing more than the bottom of a Porta Potty...I would not recommend anyone visiting that Third World hellhole.
Thank God these people survived...many visitors do not
And, scary, is that we have politicians in both parties who support Open Borders and Illegal Alien Amnesty. Sick that people want to import all that hell from Mexico
By the time TSA is unionized? I thought unionization was part of its charter-what else explains TSA’s incompetency?
That said, Mexico is off my list of places to visit for now.
“they may return to finish their vacation”.
...???...must be dumbass liberals.
Distance 2295 mi Time: 37 hrs 47 mins
That’s an insane trip!
That is some ground covered!!! They drive like Texans!
I wouldn’t think of driving through Northern Mexico, but have spent time in Puerto Vallarta and would not worry about flying there.
Drive through Mexico with Wisconsin plates???
Did they also tape $100 bills to their windows to make themselves more obvious targets?
Yep, it takes the better part of a day just to get out of Texas.
ROFL
Hey Leapfrog0202 a couple of things.
Neither of us are going to drive through parts of Michigan, New Jersey, New York, California, Illinois, etc etc and yes ya gots to be crazy to drive ANYWHERE in Mexico.
Also, How’s things in New Mexico tonight? Ya cold there like everywhere else?
My parents owned a condo in Puerta Vallarta and would travel there every winter. Then, on 9-11, my father saw on television Mexican citizens in Mexico City celebrating the terrorist attack on New York City.
They’ve never set foot, or spent mucho pesos, in Mexico again.
That nation has hate museums featuring the United States. How despicable!
The Thills are stupid to keep going to Mexico.
I have no sympathy for anyone going to Mexico on vacation these days.
I’ve always wanted to go to Cabo San Lucas but my husband refuses to step foot in Mexico, We went to Puerto Vallarta in 1993 and thought it was a pit.
A pre-scheduled two month vacation........
***Blessed are the Cheesemakers..***
Wot’s the cheesemakers got that we ain’t got!
Little chilly here Joe, just like everywhere else, but not as bad. I was in AZ last week and Tucson was around 60.
I can tell you that my company sent someone down to Mexico in October for an entire month and they were flying to the main city in each state and then driving to all their locations....I was very concerned about her. Scared the heck out of me.
I have driven through most of NJ, CA and NY on the job, but never had a problem. I’m just very careful where I stay, what hours I’m driving (none after dark if possible) and where I stop. That said I know I’m not immune but it’s either go where you’re sent or look for a different employer. So far (KNOCK WOOD HARD) I’ve been good through 7 years...but Mexico is an entirely different animal.
Another family from San Diego said they go every year for some type of off-road races. That was last year around this time and they were pulled over in their winnebago, laid out on the side of the road, tied, etc. and thought they were dead. They had children with them also.
Their excuse was that they’d been going for several years and so people knew them. Hmmm, not so much.
Why go to Mexico when Mexico can come to you?
The California border area is unsafe. I grew up going to Mexico (Baja) and would still go but it is dangerous. My wife is from TJ and her family won’t travel anywhere in northern Baja. Durango and Chih... are notoriously unsafe. Sinaloa has safe parts but stay out of Culiacan and the mountains. I just spent 8 days in Sinaloa and troops—not Federales were all over the place. We have family there and they all commented how much Sinaloa has improved over the last three years.
These folks were a moving target and they are lucky they are not dead. When natives won’t travel through particular states, why would Americans?
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