Kidnappings in C.A.

We made it to San Pedro Sula and spent the last few days just hanging out...shopping for crap to make our bags heavier and eating at american chain restraunts. Its been refreshing. Not to mention our hotel has air conditioning and a hot shower and a tv...3 things we have had very little of in the last month or so.

Anyways, the place we are at is owned by a couple and their 2 teenage children. They speak good english and have no idea I can sometimes understand them. So they are all sitting downstairs talking loudly about god knows what and the daughter is on the porch by herself. All of a sudden they hear a car door shut and the dad gets up and flies out the front door and starts freaking out when his daughter isnt there. The brother and mom say they dont know where she went and everyone is starting to get really really loud and frantic and I have not a clue whats going on. Finally the mom yells to the coworker upstairs, he yells back and they all settle down. Whitney and I, sitting there confused, finally get an explanation of the chaos.

Apparently kidnappings are tremendously common around here. Locals who work at the banks have deals with criminals...the bank workers inform the criminals which families have money and then they go kidnap their daughter and then ransom her for money. Knowing how much they have in their bank account, the kidnappers know how much they can ransom her for. The dad that owns the hostel said for this reason he puts all his money into things and never into bank accounts because it is not safe.

Significantly freaked out, ya?