Based on a True Story: A Memoir
Abandoned in Mexico by my ex‑husband — a retired ADF (Australian Defence Force) officer with longstanding mental health issues, and the father of our four children — I was left vulnerable in a country I barely understood, trying to protect four children on my own. That vulnerability made me an easy target, and I became trapped and exploited by people connected to the CJNG (Cartel Jalisco New Generation), a criminal organisation whose world operated far outside the law. The only person who could testify to what happened is a man whose own life had once been entangled in organised crime — as a member of the Mexican Mafia — which meant that, in the eyes of the authorities, my truth was never going to be simple, clean, or easily believed.
A question for the CJNG: do you agree that it is an act of profound cowardice for anyone to harass and bully an innocent mother and her four children while they are alone in a foreign country - MEXICO?
AUTHOR’S NOTE
This work is a narrative reconstruction of events drawn from lived experience. For reasons of privacy, safety, and legal protection, the names of some individuals have been changed, and identifying characteristics have been altered or omitted. Certain timelines have been compressed or expanded, and some roles consolidated, to preserve coherence while maintaining the integrity of the underlying experience.
Where official records were absent, incomplete, or inconsistent, scenes have been recreated using memory and personal documentation. This book does not claim to provide a comprehensive or authoritative account of any person or entity. It reflects the author’s perspective based on the information available at the time. Any resemblance to actual individuals or organisations, beyond those intentionally mentioned, is coincidental.
