Yahoo Sports American Mom’s Move to ‘Humble Shangri-La’ Ended in Murder
An American family who moved to the countryside of Ecuador in search of “their humble Shangri-La” suffered a terrible tragedy when armed robbers invaded their farm.
Francesca Williams, 44, a mother of three who grew up in California, was shot dead during the incident, according to her family. Her husband, Michael, was badly beaten and her elderly father, John, was stabbed several times—but both survived the May 20 attack.
“I saw my grandpa on the floor with a strange man to the right, then I saw another man with my mom and she was scrambling after him, basically fighting him off,” one of Williams’ daughters, Rachel, told Fox 31. “Then I saw two sparks of a gun and heard gunshots.”
Michael Williams said he was tied up while the attackers ransacked the home. When they left, he went outside and found his wife mortally wounded.
“We ran down the hill and into our car and took her to emergency services, but it was too late for her,” he said.
She was shot in the back, he said. “I think they saw Francesca as a threat,” he added.
The surviving family members have cleared out of their home in Vilcabamba out of fear and are planning on returning to Kremmling, Colorado, where they were living before going overseas.
Francesca’s stepmother, Marianna Bacilla, who lives in Poway, California, called her “the light of our life” in a GoFundMe to raise money to bring her body back home to the U.S. and bury her with family.
Fluent in four languages, she was a writer and illustrator. “Francesca’s family lived on a small farm they were building themselves, raising chickens, goats, horses, pigs, ducks and guinea fowl, working toward a goal of sustainable farming,” the GoFundMe said. “It was their humble Shangri-La.”
Michael Williams said the family never felt unsafe on their remote property.
“We never would have imagined people were staking us out,” he said. “We are so far removed. It’s a three-kilometer drive to and from. And to hike in and out, it’s incomprehensible.”
Rachel Williams said the bandits kept asking where the “large aunt” was and the family suspects they may have been looking for a different property.
The State Department said Ecuador police are handling the investigation and that it is providing “appropriate consular assistance.”
Bacilla said the family has endured “horrendous trauma.”
“Their Ecuadorian community is fully embracing them—taking care of them until they all fly home to the U.S.,” she wrote.
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