The Bahamas resort claims its surveillance cameras ‘conflict’ with women’s allegations, but two men were arrested
The mother of one of the women allegedly raped at a Bahamas resort expressed that she sensed “something was not quite right” about two hours before her daughter sent a text that left her stunned.
“Call us now we’ve been drugged and raped,” Dongayla Dobson texted her mother, Frankie King, who spoke to Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview.
👉👉 Drink this “belly fat oil” to lose 27 lbs in 21 days 👈👈
“They were on a live video that they just posted or something. They were like falling all over the place,” King said. “They don’t drink a lot, but I’ve seen both of those girls drunk. I knew there was something else going on. Like something’s not quite right, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.”
That was around 9:30 to 10 a.m. on February 1, the day her daughter and best friend since fourth grade, Amber Shearer, were allegedly drugged with a laced cocktail and attacked. Two hours later, King received the bone-chilling text.
“It’s a parent’s worst nightmare,” King said. “Your child is in trouble, in danger, and scared, and they’re 300, 500 miles away, or whatever, across the water, and I can’t get to them.”
A resort housekeeper discovered Shearer and Dobson unconscious in a bathroom at the Pirate’s Cove resort on Grand Bahama Island, according to King.
A nurse practitioner helped save the women’s lives, documented their injuries, and has been checking up on them daily since their return to their home in Kentucky, the concerned mother said.
But service was shoddy. It was challenging for King, her wife, and their son-in-law to fully grasp the situation or determine when they would return to the port in Jacksonville. Additionally, both women have children aged between 4 and 17.
They all endured over 24 hours of waiting before the survivors were finally reunited with their families.
“I never realized how traumatized they were until I saw them at the airport,” King said. “It was like they were children again. They came running into me and jumped on me. I mean, they almost knocked me down.
“Everything came pouring out all at once. We were all just sobbing uncontrollably. We stood there for I don’t know how long. They wouldn’t let go, and we just rubbed their backs, saying, ‘I’ve got you. You’re safe now.'”
Both women, who have been friends since fourth grade, come from modest backgrounds. They had been saving money since March for this “once-in-a-lifetime girls’ trip,” King said.
Just a couple of sips into what the women claim were drug-laced cocktails, their dream vacation turned into a fight for survival. They stated that they lost consciousness, and it was during this time that they were allegedly sexually assaulted.
“I vaguely remember glimpses of his face,” Dobson told “Good Morning America” on Thursday. “I don’t remember everything. I remember enough that he was a staff worker, he had a goatee, and he was a local.”
Their toxicology results showed a combination of drugs in their systems.
The Royal Bahama Police Force announced in a statement on February 4 that they had arrested two men, aged 54 and 40, in connection with the alleged sexual assault. The names of the suspects were not disclosed.
Sexist comments and threats aimed at the survivors and their kids
Unaware of the State Department’s travel advisory to the Bahamas issued in late January, the survivors turned to social media to alert other women about the ordeal they had endured.
“That was their main focus when they began posting,” King said. “They wanted to make others aware that it’s a risky place because they felt like they had no one to turn to. We were unaware of this travel warning. No one informed us about it.”
According to King, there were numerous encouraging and supportive responses from people, including individuals who shared their own traumatic experiences.
But others, shielded by anonymity, responded with the most sickening, venomous remarks.
“There were a couple in particular that I recall,” King said. “One said, ‘If you hadn’t been in those bikinis, maybe it wouldn’t have happened.’ They were on a beach, and it was 90 degrees. Sure, okay.
“And then another person said, ‘Well if I had been there, I would’ve done the same thing.’ Some said, ‘They got what they deserved.’ Nobody deserves that. Nobody asks for that.”
The awful comments, accusations of lying, and threats reached their children, so the women decided to close their social media accounts.
They’re all together with Dobson’s husband and their children, trying to cope with the mental pain and handle the expensive medical bills, including for HIV prevention.
“My daughter is worried about her husband leaving,” King said. “We’re all helping each other. I started a GoFundMe to try to get them some support. I’ve been a nurse for 30 years, but the girls aren’t working, and right now my son-in-law is taking care of my daughter, so he’s not working at the moment.
“And, you know, a gallon of milk costs around six bucks now, so it’s tough. Insurance only covers a portion, and I still have bills to pay. So, I can only help them so much financially. But the money is just a small part of it.
“The most important thing we’re focusing on is emotional support. When you’re still scared of being apart, so you stay in the same room with your best friend.”