One Crucial Choice. One Careless Misstep. One Desperate Situation - LOCKED UP ABROAD

14 New Episodes Take You Inside Riveting Firsthand Survivor Accounts of Kidnapping, Imprisonment, Betrayal and Realization of Hell

"I was the only American in jail and I was wearing a dress ... not a good combination in a Mexican jail."

14-Part Series Locked Up Abroad Premieres Wednesday, April 1, 2009, at 10 PM ET/PT

Being held captive far from home is every traveler's worst nightmare.  What would you do if you were taken hostage at gunpoint, held for political reasons or thrown in jail thousands of miles from home?  What if one decision, made at your most vulnerable moment, stole your freedom in the worst possible way?

Starting Wednesday, April 1, at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT, National Geographic Channel (NGC) premieres the third season of the critically acclaimed series Locked Up Abroad, with 14 new episodes, taking viewers inside firsthand accounts of kidnapping, imprisonment and pure terror far from home.  Presented entirely from the subject's point of view, hear every critical detail and watch each heart-pounding moment of the harrowing journey unfold:  the panic, sweat, pain, regret, tears and complete desperation.  Combining revealing personal interviews with dramatic re-enactments - often in the countries where the incidents occurred - each 1-hour episode focuses on one extraordinary situation, recounting the brutality, the bravery and, in some cases, the bad decisions that put the traveler in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Their excruciating stories seem like they could be a plotline from The Sopranos or Lost, but in fact they are very real:

* Simon has a clean record and an admittedly dull life ... until he meets Sarah in a bar and quickly agrees to become her new travel partner, never aware of her scheme to transport drugs from Peru.

* Greg becomes a volunteer missionary in the Philippines to bring inspiration to his downtrodden life.  When violent rebels capture and beat him, he begins to lose hope of ever seeing his children again.

 
* Jake is a free-wheeling teen, selling drugs in a Mexican beach paradise.  He never dreams that a gun-toting client would shoot police officers and land Jake in prison for a crime he didn't commit.

* Brendan and his friends have been grabbed by Brazilian federal agents and are nervously standing with their pants around their ankles, revealing cocaine taped to their bodies.

New episodes this season include:

Locked Up Abroad:  Cuzco
Wednesday, April 1, 2009, at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT

"Sarah's not only destroyed my life, but she's also destroyed my faith in humanity."  ― Simon

Through drinking, drugs and partying, Sarah racks up a debt she can't cover.  Too embarrassed to go to her family, she turns to a loan shark for money.  But her inability to repay leaves her at his mercy.  His solution:  bring back two suitcases of cocaine from Peru and her debt will be forgiven.  To avoid suspicion while traveling, she invites along Simon, an innocent-looking man with a clean record whom she met at a bar.  But she never tells him her true intentions.  They spend a few days enjoying Peru, but on the last day, Sarah is given two new suitcases to carry home.  While curious, Simon dismisses the luggage.  Everything goes smoothly until Sarah is detained by Peruvian law enforcement when they discover the drugs.  Both she and Simon are thrown in prison for months.  Sarah accepts full responsibility and Simon maintains his innocence.  After nearly a year in jail, he is finally released but still stuck in Peru while courts decide the case.  Sarah is still in jail with a 7-year sentence.

Locked Up Abroad:  Caracas
Wednesday, April 8, 2009, at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT

"I felt terrible, not being able to tell her everything.  But it was like keeping a Christmas present ...What could possibly go wrong?"  - David Evans

David Evans was a struggling musician in Atlanta, Ga., and was having serious trouble making ends meet.  When a club-goer named Melvyn offers David an opportunity to make $5,000 for delivering cocaine from Venezuela to Europe, along with a vacation in a tropical climate, David sees an enticing way out.  He doesn't tell his girlfriend, Julie, who plans to meet him in Amsterdam for a concert tour.  Melvyn reassures David that the smuggling is safe.  But when David's suitcase - loaded with aerosol cans containing cocaine - is examined at the airport, he is imprisoned in Venezuela, sleeping on concrete floors with roaches, while Julie is abandoned in Europe.
 
Locked Up Abroad:  Kidnapped in the Philippines
Wednesday, April 15, 2009, at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT

"I could see that if they didn't get the information ... that they were going to kill me, and I knew my time was running out."  - Greg Williams

Greg Williams, a former hospital supervisor, has seen his life spiral out of control after an injury leads to unemployment and divorce.  In an effort to get back on track, he volunteers to work as a missionary on a Christian crusade in the southern Philippines.  But on the way to join his new colleagues, his taxi is ambushed by armed men.  He is covered with a hood, beaten and shoved on a boat.  On land, he is shackled to a tree, and later brutally tortured with a cattle needle.  His violent Islamic captors, called Abu Sayyaf, intend to claim a ransom for Greg.  Realizing that he can't give them the whereabouts of colleagues, which could lead to ransom money and save his life, Greg works out a plan to escape - or else risk being beheaded, as a fellow hostage was.  But only the bond formed with one of his captors will save his life.

Locked Up Abroad:  Puerto Vallarta
Wednesday, April 22, 2009, at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT

"I was the only American in jail and I was wearing a dress, and that's probably not a good combination in a Mexican jail." ― Jake

After high school, Jake hitchhikes from his home in Beaumont, Texas, to Mexico, and starts selling marijuana to make some extra cash.  He meets Steve, a tourist from Houston, who wants to buy a large supply.  Paranoid that he might get ripped off, Steve brings a gun.  The deal goes awry:  police arrive and Steve shoots the officers.  Jake runs to a safe haven, but is shot badly in the leg.  He plans to dress up like a girl and slip out of town, but is captured, thrown into jail and accused of shooting the police.  While Steve escapes scot-free, Jake is pressured repeatedly to sign a confession and his leg is getting progressively worse.

Locked Up Abroad:  Brazil (wt)
Wednesday, April 29, 2009, at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT

"[It was] the rock-star lifestyle ... not even thinking about what tomorrow was going to bring ... Didn't take into thought one minute the price - what it was going to cost us for this whole thing." ― Brendan

Brendan and his friends are nightclub promoters, living a party lifestyle and hobnobbing with celebrities.  To sweeten his income, Brendan and his friends accept an offer to go to Brazil, pick up a package and take it to Hungary.  They are expected to tape cocaine to their bodies and walk through airport security.  But their fears are realized:  they are strip-searched and locked in an elevator for 2 days because of jail space limitations before being sent to the federal police station.  Here, they buy a closet-sized cubby hole so two of the four men can take turns lying down.  Other inmates have dug a hole to escape, which Brendan temporarily considers.  He must decide whether to join them or wait while his father hires the top criminal defense lawyer in Brazil.  But the worst may be yet to come, as they are to be moved to the most dangerous prison in South America.

Other Locked Up Abroad episodes this season include Iraq, Barbados, Indonesia, Cuba, Ecuador and Sierra Leone.

NGC will be running a Locked Up Abroad marathon all day Saturday, March 28, and National Geographic will release the first two seasons on DVD on March 24, 2009.

Locked Up Abroad is produced for the National Geographic Channel by Raw TV Limited.  For Raw TV Limited, executive producer is Dimitri Doganis, series producer is Sam Maynard, director is Neil Rawles and editor is Gary Scott. For National Geographic Channel, executive producer is Noah Morowitz; senior vice president of production is Michael Cascio; executive vice president of content is Steve Burns.