Episode 8: El secuestro (2) Episode 8: Die Entführung (2) Episode 8: The kidnapping (2)

**Luis von Ahn:** Vi que Juan estaba muy nervioso. Luis von Ahn: Ich habe gesehen, dass Juan sehr nervös war. Luis von Ahn: I saw that Juan was very nervous. Era probable que iba a sentirse responsable por la muerte de Marta. It was likely that he was going to feel responsible for Marta's death. Nadie pudo dormir esa noche. No one could sleep that night. En la mañana, todos saltamos cuando sonó el teléfono. In the morning, we all jumped when the phone rang.

**Martina Castro:** Juan had been waiting near the phone and picked up quickly. Martina Castro: Juan hatte in der Nähe des Telefons gewartet und schnell abgenommen. But it was just a distant cousin asking if there was any news about Marta.

**Luis von Ahn:** Al día siguiente, el Tío Sam no llamó. Luis von Ahn: Am nächsten Tag hat Uncle Sam nicht angerufen. Luis von Ahn: The next day, Uncle Sam did not call. Muchos familiares se fueron de la casa. Viele Verwandte verließen das Haus. Many relatives left the house.

**Martina Castro:** After the third day without word from the kidnappers, members of the family who had been camped out at Marta's house started to pack up their things and head home. Luis took this as a sign that they had lost hope of Marta returning alive.

**Luis von Ahn:** Yo empecé a sentir pánico. Luis von Ahn: I started to panic. ¿Y si mi tía nunca regresa? What if my aunt never comes back? Pero unas horas más tarde, el Tío Sam llamó. But a few hours later, Uncle Sam called.

**Martina Castro:** El Tío Sam sounded even more agitated and angry than the last time he called.

**Luis von Ahn:** Juan le preguntó si mi tía estaba viva, y el Tío Sam dijo que sí. Luis von Ahn: Juan asked if my aunt was alive, and Uncle Sam said yes. Juan le dijo que solo teníamos 50,000 dólares. Juan told him that we only had $50,000.

**Martina Castro:** Surprisingly, Tio Sam said that was fine. He asked them to put the money in a suitcase and to leave it in a trashcan in a mall a few kilometers from the house. But first…

**Luis von Ahn:** Juan le dijo que antes de pagar, necesitábamos otra prueba de vida. Luis von Ahn: Juan told him that before paying, we needed another proof of life. Una hora después, el Tío Sam llamó con la respuesta correcta a otra pregunta para mi tía. An hour later, Uncle Sam called with the correct answer to another question for my aunt.

**Martina Castro:** Tio Sam then asked that the ransom money be taken to the mall immediately. He warned that he would be watching the area, so they better leave it there within the hour. Marta's family put the cash in a small suitcase and handed it to Juan to make the drop.

**Luis von Ahn:** Cuando Juan regresó a la casa, dijo que no vio nada raro en el centro comercial, y que había dejado el dinero donde pidieron. Luis von Ahn: When Juan returned home, he said that he did not see anything unusual in the mall, and that he had left the money where they asked. Las próximas horas fueron muy largas. The next few hours were very long. Pasamos otra noche casi sin dormir. We spent another night with almost no sleep.

**Martina Castro:** Hours passed, but they received no news from Marta, nor calls from the kidnappers confirming the receipt of the money.

**Luis von Ahn:** Pensaba en mi tía, quien era como una segunda madre para mí. Luis von Ahn: I thought of my aunt, who was like a second mother to me. Me preguntaba si la volvería a ver. I wondered if I would ever see her again.

**Martina Castro:** Then early the next morning… The doorbell rang…

**Luis von Ahn:** Era mi tía. Estaba viva y bien, pero muy nerviosa. She was alive and well, but very nervous.

**Martina Castro:** Marta stood in the living room, while everyone sat around, eyes fixed on Marta. The 65-year-old woman trembled as she told them what happened the days she was kept captive.

**Luis von Ahn:** Nos dijo que estuvo en una habitación pequeña y oscura, y que no podía ver porque sus ojos estaban cubiertos. Luis von Ahn: He told us that he was in a small, dark room, and that he couldn't see because his eyes were covered. Dijo que los secuestradores le habían dado de comer, pero que tuvo mucho miedo. He said that the kidnappers had given him something to eat, but that he was very afraid.

**Martina Castro:** Days after being placed in that room, she was able to make out the face of someone familiar through her blindfold. She recognized one of the army generals who had worked with her ex-husband. For fear of retribution, she never denounced him for his crime.

**Luis von Ahn:** Después del secuestro, mi vida cambió. Luis von Ahn: After the kidnapping, my life changed. Cada día me preguntaba si alguien más iba a ser secuestrado. Every day I wondered if someone else was going to be kidnapped. ¿Sería yo, mi mamá, uno de mis amigos? Would it be me, my mom, one of my friends? Meses después, me fui a Estados Unidos a estudiar en la universidad, en parte por la inseguridad de Guatemala. Months later, I went to the United States to study at the university, partly because of the insecurity in Guatemala.

**Martina Castro:** And he never moved back. Just months later, in December of 1996, the decades-long war in Guatemala officially ended. Luis says, today, the country is much safer. But people walk around with ghosts from that time — loved ones they lost, regrets and fears that they were never able to shake. For Luis, his ghost is Marta's kidnapping…

**Luis von Ahn:** Todavía puedo sentir la ansiedad de esos días del secuestro de mi tía. Luis von Ahn: I can still feel the anxiety from those days of my aunt's kidnapping.