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Two Kentucky mothers who were allegedly drugged and raped in the Bahamas spoke out Sunday after the United States issued a travel warning to the popular vacation spot.
Longtime friends Amber Shearer and Dongueira Dobson had a traumatic first vacation without their children when they decided to go to the beach after their Carnival cruise ship docked on the island. He said the incident ended after he was assaulted in broad daylight.
They are now warning other women. The mothers were relaxing on the beach at Grand Bahama when resort staff offered them a two-for-one drink deal, they told NewsNation.
They accepted and took pictures with their tropical drinks (one with pineapple and one with coconut).
However, they soon found the drink to be much stronger than expected. Dobson told the station that even his loved ones back home were worried because the women sent back videos of them appearing to be highly intoxicated just 15 minutes after taking their first sip.
“Less than a few [sips] When we started our second drink we realized something was wrong. Something went horribly wrong,” Shearer said.
When I went to look for seashells to take home for the kids, a male staff member at the resort offered to show me the best places to find them.
But the next thing Shearer remembered was waking up to be assaulted by uniformed male resort staff.
“I regained consciousness during the rape,” she told NewsNation through tears.
Bahamian authorities and other staff at the resort were able to quickly identify the two men accused of the 12 p.m. assault through surveillance footage. Shearer said one of the attackers had only been working at the resort for about a week.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force announced in a news release that two men, a 40-year-old man from the Southern Bahamas and a 54-year-old man from Eight Mile Rock, have been arrested in connection with the sexual assault.
Police continue to investigate, but the women claim their complaints were not handled properly and that local police did not administer proper rape test kits despite their complaints.
Upon returning to the cruise ship, the mothers received toxicology test results, which revealed that they had large amounts of drugs, including benzodiazepines, in their systems. They also had very little alcohol in their systems and had bruises on the top and bottom of their legs, Kentucky NBC affiliate Rex 18 reported.
“To see what appeared on my screen [toxicology] The screen was traumatizing all over again,” Dobson said.
Travel advisory issued for Bahamas and Jamaica
- The U.S. Embassy issued a strict safety warning and travel advisory on January 24 after 18 mostly gang-related murders in the Bahamas in January.
- The US embassy urged travelers to “exercise extreme caution” east of Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas.
- Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis said in a statement that his government is working “vigilant, vigilant and proactive” to ensure the island nation remains “welcome” to travelers.
- The State Department has issued a strict travel warning for Jamaica, where 65 murders occurred last month. The U.S. Embassy in Jamaica has raised its travel advisory to Level 3, “Please reconsider travel,” one step below the most severe level, warning Americans to avoid travel altogether. ing.
- Now, the tourism boards of the Bahamas and Jamaica insist that these countries remain safe for tourists, despite the US warning.
The women are now back in Kentucky, where they have hired lawyers to seek justice and are receiving treatment, including $4,000 in HIV prevention medication, local broadcasters said.
Mothers are also angry at Carnival. Carnival says the U.S. State Department did not inform Carnival that it had issued a travel advisory to the Bahamas until after the horrific assault occurred.
The State Department issued a Level 2 advisory on January 26, more than a week after the two American women were allegedly raped. The advisory advises U.S. travelers to “exercise increased caution” when visiting the Bahamas due to crime and gang violence that led to 18 murders in January alone.
Five days before the mothers were assaulted, Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis insisted the country was a “safe” destination for tourists.
“The incidents listed in the January 2024 U.S. Embassy Crime Alert do not reflect the general safety of the Bahamas, which is comprised of 16 tourist destinations and many other islands,” he said.
The newspaper has contacted Carnival Cruises for comment.
