Malcom Madsen Missing, This week, the three suspects in Canadian snowbird Malcom Madsen’s disappearance, including his ex-girlfriend, will face trial. Marcela Acosta Ramos, 48, her son Andres Javier Romero Acosta, and her brother Martin Alejandro Acosta Ramos are accused with “disappearance committed by individuals,” a term used for unsolved disappearances. According to local media sources, Puerto Vallarta prosecutors are seeking 25–50 years in jail for Acosta and her accused collaborators and will submit 100 pieces of evidence. “Surreal. Brook Mullins, Madsen’s daughter, has investigated his disappearance and pushed Mexican officials to do more. “I had hope that brutally collapsed while searching for my dad. I’ll believe the trial when I see it.”
The week-long trial will include Mullins as a prosecution witness. After drinking with Acosta at Andale’s Restaurant and Bar in Puerto Vallarta, Sutton, Ont., jeweller and retired real estate agent Madsen disappeared. After Madsen disappeared, Mullins left Port Hope, Ont., for Mexico. So started Mullins’ four-year quest to solve his disappearance, which has led to distressing disclosures about the police inquiry, Global Affairs Canada’s lack of cooperation, and a new documentary film about her search. Mullins saw surveillance footage from Andale’s club that night on her first visit to Puerto Vallarta after she stopped hearing from her father.
After midnight, Madsen and Acosta drink at a table. Ramos looks about and pulls a white tablet or powder from her handbag as Madsen leaves for the bathroom. She holds it with her left hand under the table till Madsen returns. He leans in to talk to Ramos and loses sight of his drink as he sits down. Ramos raises her left hand from under the table and seems to sprinkle Madsen’s drink. After many more drinks, the pair leaves. Madsen shuffles out of the pub, seeming unbalanced. The pair gets into a taxi. Madsen, 68, disappeared. Ramos told detectives she is innocent and that she and Madsen went to bed at the house he bought her after leaving the bar. She says Madsen departed the city in the morning for his seaside tree home. She reported him missing five days later.
Mullins’ attorneys and private investigators found significant discrepancies in Ramos’ statements throughout her inquiry. Ramos informed police Madsen’s vehicle stayed in the garage all night. Unbeknownst to Ramos, he planted a GPS monitoring device on the van, which indicated that it traveled across town to four spots, including a junglelike region and a marina, throughout the night. Ramos told detectives that she and Madsen went home after leaving Andale’s, but the cab driver who picked them up informed the Jalisco state prosecutor’s office otherwise. Taxi driver Jose Guadalupe Ochoa Garcia told detectives he dropped Madsen and Ramos off at Mandala, the Star said. The paper claims that Ramos called her son Andres, who then called his uncle and brother Martin.
The Star’s email request for comment from Ramos bounced, and neither the district attorney in charge of the case nor Martin’s counsel answered by press time. Local officials looked unconcerned when Madsen disappeared. Investigators failed to retrace the van’s journey on the night Madsen disappeared, dust the car for fingerprints, run luminol tests for blood, or examine the residence. Mullins’ lawyer filed filings with the Jalisco attorney general to finish some of these stages. In April 2022, Puerto Vallarta officials conducted a combined ground search of a wooded region that yielded no Madsen remains but numerous others. Mullins has repeatedly requested information about her father’s situation and aid with local officials from Global Affairs Canada, but she has received little support.
Mullins requested a trial translator from Global Affairs a week before. The government office informed her the Mexican courts offer translation services, but she may hire her own. Global Affairs notified the Star that “consular services are being provided to the family in Canada” for a missing Canadian citizen in Mexico. “Mexican consular officials continue to contact local authorities for more information. “Global Affairs is committed to providing effective and efficient consular service to Canadians around the world,” the spokeswoman said, adding that privacy concerns prevent further disclosure. Mullins feels abandoned by the agency. “What do you do if you can’t provide a translator?” Mullins says her Global Affairs anger makes her “sick my stomach.” “I shouldn’t have let it get to me so much, but it’s just like a constant betrayal and letdown.”