A Maryland woman was left battered and bruised after allegedly surviving a horrific kidnapping while on a trip in Northern Africa.
Jameka Ivy, 31, was on vacation with her friend in Tunis, the capital city of Tunisia, when she was allegedly abducted from her hotel lobby.
In a scene echoing the popular Liam Neeson film Taken, Ivy recounted returning to The Penthouse Suites Hotel after a night out at a club. Her last memory was of asking the front desk for tissue before she found herself waking up in the back of a car.
In the film, Neeson’s teenage daughter and her friend are abducted by sex traffickers in Paris after sharing a cab with a stranger.
Ivy detailed in a viral TikTok post that she had stopped at the front desk to secure a working key for her room. Once inside, realizing there were no tissues, she returned to the lobby to request some.
‘That is the last thing I remember, being at the front desk. The next thing I remember is waking up in the back of a f**king car,’ she said.
“I start freaking the f**k out, I’m trying to get out… When I finally got out, this guy, he got out of the car and we’re tussling. We’re f**king fighting. I’m f**king fighting for my life. All I kept thinking about was my f**king kids, man. I had to make it back home to my kids.”
She said the kidnapper punched her in the face and tried to cover her mouth while she fought back.
Horrific photos show Ivy with two black eyes and covered in cuts and bruises across her whole body.
Jameka Ivy (pictured), 31, was left battered and bruised after allegedly surviving a horrific kidnapping while on a trip to Tunisia
Horrific photos show Ivy suffered two black eyes and is covered in cuts and bruises across her whole body
Ivy claimed she managed to escape her attacker’s grasp and ran through a wooded area until reaching a busy road. There, she flagged down a taxi that took her back to the hotel where her friend Queen was waiting.
Queen told Fox 5 that she was desperately trying to locate Ivy, but the hotel staff claimed she had ‘made a friend’ and left.
‘And I’m like, “How can she make a friend? She doesn’t speak these languages,”‘ Queen said.
The women said the hotel refused to show them any surveillance footage and declined to call the police.
Queen mentioned attempting to alert the hotel staff, but they dismissed her concerns. “They’re like, ‘This didn’t happen here. We don’t know what you’re talking about,'” she recounted.
Ivy stated that the hotel claimed she was “snatched from the club,” but she contested this, pointing out that her purse and cellphone, which she had taken to the club, were in her hotel room when the kidnapping occurred.
‘They did not expect for me to make it back to that hotel,’ she said.
Eventually, Ivy was able to contact the US Embassy and they showed up at the hotel with police officers.
Ivy’s friend Queen (left) said she was desperately trying to locate Ivy, but the hotel staff claimed she had ‘made a friend’ and left
She said the kidnapper punched her in the face and tried to cover her mouth while she fought back
Ivy said she was abducted from the lobby of The Penthouse Suites Hotel in Tunis (pictured) after asking for tissues
Ivy’s experience was like a scene out of the hit Liam Neeson film Taken, where his character’s daughter is abducted into sex trafficking while on trip to Paris
The status of the police investigation is not immediately clear. Daily Mail contacted the hotel and the US Embassy for more information.
The Penthouse Suites Hotel in Tunis is a five-star hotel with lavish amenities and a standard room rate of approximately $200 per night.
Ivy has set up a GoFundMe to help cover her medical and legal expenses after the incident.
‘I woke up in a situation I never imagined I’d face, and to this day I am still processing the trauma and working to gather the facts of what happened,’ she said.
‘Since that night, I’ve been doing everything I can to stay safe and to start the long process of recovery.
‘I have reported the incident to local authorities and I am pursuing legal action, but I need help covering the costs of that process as well as the immediate supports I require to heal.’
The US government advises travelers to Tunisia to exercise increased caution due to the threat of terrorism, according to the State Department.
