Kidnapping south of the border really happens. Not an urban myth.
I used to play on online strategy game and one of our members was an amusing Mexican fellow who lived in Texas. He got a big job promotion that required him to travel a lot in Mexico. He had to drop out of the game not due to lack of time, but because if he was seen in airports with a laptop it draws the attention of kidnappers and he was genuinely worried about being kidnapped.
Nobody knows how many kidnappings there are in Mexico. I know people who know people who have been kidnapped in Mexico. Most of the kidnappings in Mexico are not reported because the police are involved in the kidnappings.
My BIL, a doctor here in S.E. Michigan, is from Honduras and led by him, the rest of the family have taken many vacations to Honduras over the years.
My BIL is almost 80 and all his brothers and their wives have long since died, leaving him only with two living nieces, only one of which had 4 daughters and one son. (his only two nephews have both died)......
Three daughters of the niece have been fortunate enough to have found three Christian men (all friends) in New Jersey who have married them and have been living happily ever since.
The one son of the niece in Honduras disappeared about 5 years ago, and nothing was heard from or about him ever since.
The only story given was that David was hanging out with several brothers who came from a rich family and those brothers always traveled with an armed security guard.
On the last day David was seen, he had received a call from his friends stating they were meeting a couple from Mexico in order to turn over the keys to a house they were going to rent out. After arrival at the rental house, a van pulled up and a number of armed individuals jumped out and ordered David, his two friends and the Mexican couple into the van and they were never seen again..........This was the story the armed security guard gave to the local authorities.
With that being said, my BIL is finally convinced that not only were the two friends of David involved in drug trafficking but that David may have been as well.
So what does all this mean?
While my BIL and sister still consider the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras as a frequent vacation spot, he will never set foot in Honduras again due to the imminent danger of kidnappings by the out of control drug cartels..........