BOISE — Teryn McDonald’s trip to Mazatlan, Mexico didn’t work out like she hoped.
She lays on a table all the tickets she had planned to use and the extras she had to buy when her trip fell apart.“These are all the tickets it took to get us home,” she says as she fans the tickets out in front of her.
Just after arriving in Phoenix, AZ to catch a connecting flight to Mexico, the Mexican military, acting on intel from the U-S, killed a drug cartel head known as El Mencho sparking violence across Mexico.
“They announced on the loudspeaker canceled and Mexico and the US are saying no more flights are going into Mexico,” says McDonald.
It took another 600 bucks and many more hours for Teryn and her mom to return to Boise.
But It could have been worse.
"I definitely count myself lucky cause they started telling all the Americans to tell the embassy you’re there and to shelter in place. Like all over Mexico,” says McDonald.
Triple A says it’s unusual for the state department not to issue a warning in advance for a possible hot spot.
“The pressure builds before it boils over so you have some sort of advance notice on a lot of those things but sometimes things do catch us off guard,” says Triple-A Director of Public Affairs, Matthew Conde.
But a question remains: Why would the U-S be caught off guard if it was providing intel for the operation?
Whatever the reason, there are thousands of Americans south of the border, who are now fearful for their lives.
McDonald says her aunt had a premonition 6 weeks ago about trouble in Mexico.
“She said grandpa came to her in a dream and said tell Teryn and Kelly not to go to Mexico because something is going to happen with the cartel,” recalls McDonald.
They didn’t listen to the premonition then. And even though they spent long hours in the airport and missed out on their planned trip, they say they are grateful they didn’t catch the last flight out to Mexico.
