It’s just after midnight on Oct. 28, 2018. Malcom Madsen, a 68-year-old snowbird from Sutton, Ontario, and his 43-year-old Mexican girlfriend, Marcela Acosta Ramos, are sitting at a table inside Andale’s Restaurant and Bar, a popular tourist spot in Puerto Vallarta.The place is hopping. Customers in tank tops and shorts sip beers, down shots and sway to the music beneath a disco ball. A security camera, mounted on the ceiling, records the festivities, including what happens at Madsen’s table. Madsen leaves to go to the washroom. When he’s out of sight, Ramos pulls what appears to be a white pill or powder from her purse and cradles it in her left hand. She scans the bar and then rests her hand beneath the table, out of sight, just before Madsen returns. Madsen leans in close to speak into Ramos’s ear, and his sightline to his drink is momentarily cut off. Ramos brings her left hand up from beneath the table and appears to sprinkle the powder into Madsen’s drink. Then she stirs it.About 20 minutes later when his glass is half empty, Madsen makes several attempts to take more sips but is stopped by Ramos. She gets the drinks put in to-go cups, and the couple leaves the bar.Madsen hasn’t been heard from since. It’s been more than a year, but Mexican police and Global Affairs Canada officials haven’t rushed to find the retired real-estate agent and jeweller. Madsen’s daughter and only child Brooke Mullins has pleaded with them to help find her dad. Frustrated with their indifferent and sluggish responses, Mullins started investigating the case herself. She has taken multiple trips to Mexico and tried to retrace her dad’s steps. She, not the police, found the security video from Andale’s Bar. And she, not the police, found GPS co-ordinates that show the odd route Madsen’s van took during the wee hours after he left the bar. Ramos has told Mexican police that she has done no wrong. Ramos did ...
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