It started as just a day at the beach.

Ari Giselle and her boyfriend Jesus Harardo were relaxing at Punta San Jose, near the Mexican city of Ensenada with two of their friends.

Beaches like this one in Baja, California, are off-grid, uncrowded, and breathtakingly scenic.

Baja is an incredible part of Mexico.

It's very different from the mainland. It almost feels like a

different country. It has its own culture. It's very rugged, wild, remote. Baja is home to

world-class wildlife and surfing. It attracts adventure tourists from all over the globe looking

for the waves of their lives.

And so it was no surprise when Giselle spotted another group sharing the beach,

Australian surfers Jake and Callum Robinson and their American friend Jack Carter Road.

But though both groups were enjoying the same beach, they were marked differences between them.

One group was tourists and the other's locals. One were the haves and the other the have-nots.

Giselle couldn't help but notice. It all made the 23-year-old single mother think about just how

little she had in comparison.

Both groups finished their idyllic day of rest and relaxation, then drove off to their

accommodations for the night.

For Giselle, that meant Herardo dropping her off at home.

Meanwhile, the tourists settled into their campground, and that's where the differences

between the two groups grew wider than anyone would have anticipated. The date was April 27,

2024. One group would wake up the next morning. The other would never be heard from again.

This is the opportunist, an original podcast from Podcast One. I'm Sarah James McLaughlin.

Today we're telling the story of Ari Giselle and how her chance

...