American tourist in ancient Mayan city goes missing

An American tourist in the ancient Mayan city of Tikal has gone missing.

Guatemalan authorities say Raymond Vincent Ashcroft disappeared suddenly while visiting the temple ruins on February 3. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, this park is located in the remote jungles of Petén State in northern Guatemala.

Ashcroft was reported missing at 2 p.m., and a search party made up of police, tourism administration agents and soldiers was dispatched to search for the 66-year-old tourist, officials said.

His wife Van Hung said. local media Her husband, 40, was on vacation with a bird-watching group when he decided to return to his hotel room. She stayed behind to photograph the alligators and birds before returning to look for her husband.

Ashcroft has been missing for seven weeks. Guatemalan authorities have notified Interpol, which facilitates cross-border law enforcement cooperation, and Interpol has issued a yellow notice. Yellow notifications are issued to help locate missing persons (often minors) or identify people who cannot identify themselves.

One of the most important Mayan archaeological complexes, Tikal was inhabited from the 6th century BC to the 10th century AD and is located on a protected area of ​​57,600 hectares according to UNESCO. According to a World Heritage outlook, the temple and palace ruins are visited by 200,000 people a year.

In 2022, German tourist Stefan Weitz (53 years old) found dead at the park. His body was found two days after he went missing. local media reportedand died of heat stroke.