Kimberly Sue Endicott, tourist in Uganda, rescued from kidnappers, authorities say

[Zorro]

Source: LA Times

An Orange County woman and her driver who were kidnapped at gunpoint by a group of men in a Uganda national park last week have been rescued from their captors, authorities said Sunday.

Kimberly Sue Endicott, 56, an aesthetician from Costa Mesa, and her driver, Congolese national Jean-Paul Mirenge Remezo, were rescued by security services, the Ugandan government tweeted. No other details about their rescue were available.

Their kidnappers had demanded a $500,000 ransom for their release.

Endicott was traveling in a car on an evening game drive with Remezo and two other tourists in the national park on Tuesday when four men held them at gunpoint. The other tourists, an elderly couple, escaped, but the gunmen took Endicott and Remezo, said Uganda deputy police spokeswoman Polly Namaye.

Read more: https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-kimberly-endicott-kidnapped-uganda-rescued-20190407-story.html

---

I believe I read previously that she ignored recommendations by authorities to hire guards for her excursion. She's fortunate to have been rescued.

[Mr.Bill]

1. ABC News is saying that

a ransom was paid.

https://news.yahoo.com/american-kim-sue-endicott-guide-rescued-kidnapping-ordeal-160527563--abc-news-topstories.html

[Zorro]

2. That's an expensive vacation, then

I had no idea that an aesthetician -- whatever that occupation is -- had the financial resources to pay what was a substantial ransom.

[DirtEdonE]

3. aesthetician

"a person who is knowledgeable about the nature and appreciation of beauty, especially in art."

Sounds like a fairly broad based, specious occupation, doesn't it? I mean, since beauty is, supposedly, in the eye of the beholder.

Someone has found a way to make money off of people who are too afraid to express their own thoughts on beauty.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

4. It's a gross bastardization of a good word in the language. Now means "beautician"/"cosmetologist".

[vsrazdem]

5. With all the Botox in California, she probably does make money.

[BlueFlorida]

8. Only physicians can use Botox nt

[Princess Turandot]

6. Per the article, she was there with a wildlife tour company, not on her own. Security would...

...have been their responsibility. (There were two other guests in the vehicle.)

Endicott was traveling in a car on an evening game drive with Remezo and two other tourists in the national park Tuesday when four men held them at gunpoint. The other tourists, an elderly couple, escaped, but the gunmen took Endicott and Remezo, said Uganda deputy police spokeswoman Polly Namaye.

The tour vehicle, which belongs to Wild Frontiers Uganda, was left parked and the kidnappers took the key, Namaye said.

Pam Lopez, who met Endicott through her work as an aesthetician, said it was her friend’s lifelong dream to go on safari in Africa to see gorillas. Lopez had been following Endicott’s trip through photos her friend posted on Instagram. One image showed four armed soldiers who were guarding the group.

[Grins]

7. Hire guards...?

That there is a recommendation to hire guards, not from the wildlife but the locals, should be a scream to not go at all!

These trips into the bush bring in a lot of money to Uganda, money they really need. There have been significant cancellations already because of this. It's going to hurt them for a while.