2 Tourists Slain in Guatemala

The bodies of two tourists from Alaska were found shot in the head a week ago at a popular resort about 40 miles west of Guatemala’s capital.

Lucinda Bousquet, 45, and Ann Ahern, 40, were killed Sunday night, Jan. 7, according to local authorities. Their bodies were found on the boardwalk of the Hotel del Lago in Panajachel on the shore of picturesque Lake Atitlan.

Both women had been living in Anchorage, Alaska, though Ahern was a British citizen. Their identities were confirmed Tuesday by John Roney, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy.

Panajachel is popular among European and American tourists and has a reputation for tolerance of drug use.

At press time Wednesday, police had mounted a large-scale search for the killers. “We have a lot of evidence,” Panajachel police Chief Adan Castillo told the Associated Press.

Although tourists frequently report robberies in Guatemala, attacks on visitors are unusual. Two Americans were shot, but not killed, late last year in the red-light district of Tecun Uman on the Mexican border. Foreigners who live here have been victims of kidnappings and other violence that Guatemalans also suffer.