How can I get in touch with mother in Europe? PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!1?

Question

My mother left for a 10 day trip to Italy on Friday. Saturday Morning my grandfather called to say that my grandmother who has been fighting leukemia has now become unresponsive. I have been trying to get in touch with my mother for four days now but am so unsuccessful. I am told by a sister who has talked to her that she does not have a phone charger therefore she is conserving battery. I consider this a true emergency my mother needs to know. Is there another way I can reach her?

Answer 1

Both Bla Bla and Willeke have given you excellent suggestions. Unfortunately, most tourists here do not actually get in touch with the embassy or consulate to register with them. However, tourist passports are copied by the hotels and sent to the police to record their presence and the consulate may be able to help. If you do have an itinerary and know the hotels where your mother is supposed to be staying I can try to help from here. Please feel free to send me an e-mail with any details (the address is listed on my profile page).



Is your mother with an escorted tour or traveling independently? If she's with a group, you should also contact that company to help you track them down.

Answer 2

Start by getting all the info you have e.g.

- did she make an itinery of where she would be from day to day (ie where in Italy)

- did she tell you any of the details of the hotels she would be staying in

- is she planning on visiting any friends contacts there



Collect as much contact info as you can from the above, call hotels and explain the situation. I used to work in a hotel when I was a student and they will be more than happy to help to do whatever they can to contact her if she is staying at their hotel



Leave messages with the friends (if any) she is visiting.



Also contact the US consolate and ask them for help as well and they might be able to offer other suggestions. As far as I know (and hopefully Conley will read this and can help as well as he lives in Italy and knows much more than me), tourists have to register on arrival and maybe the US consolate can find out where she is staying from this registration. Here are the contact details with the consolate in Milan (there are 3 in the country and not knowing where in Italy she is staying I picked this one http://milan.usconsulate.gov/acs.asp ):



EDIT - Thanks Conley, good to get your input as normal :0)

Answer 3

Besides all things the others have adviced you to do, send text messages.

If/when she turns the phone on for whatever reason, the messages send in the last few hours should be received, but maybe not the ones that are older than that.

So repeat sending every 6 hours or so.

Answer 4

Do you know the name of the hotel where she's staying, and where it is? If so, google them, get the number and phone them, give your mother's name and check she is indeed staying in that hotel, and tell them to tell her to phone you, because it's a very very urgent family matter. If you don't know that, find a way of getting into your mother's e-mails to get her hotel booking details, you should get phone numbers etc. from that.



Hopefully she won't have any trouble getting back, what with this cloud of volcanic ash over Europe at the moment.