Push for Justice in Cristinas Death Abroad

Hi there.

My name is Meagan Johnson.

My mom, Cristina Kuptzin-Johnson, passed away unexpectedly at the age of 52 while living in Belize. She moved to Belize in 2015 to continue her career in journalism. Her story was even published in International Living Magazine! Reading that article will give you a lot more insight into who my mom was, what she was doing in Belize, and just how incredibly hard she worked to build her life there from scratch.

The nature of, and circumstances surrounding her death are extremely suspicious, and because it happened in another country, we are left with virtually no answers. In fact, every stone that gets turned just leads to more questions. This has been an absolute rollercoaster and I have hardly slept. On top of pushing the Belize law enforcement and the US Embassy for answers as much as we can from here, we are also still left with tying up her estate and handling her memorial. It has been so hectic, I feel like we have barely been able to grieve.

My mom left behind absolutely nothing in terms of money, and with my grandfather, Ron, battling cancer, him and my grandmother, Cindy, have far too much on their plate right now already. Unfortunately, the financial responsibility has landed on my shoulders. I'll be 29 this week (happy birthday, right?! Ha) and I'm a stay at home mom of two, so this was absolutely not something I was prepared for emotionally or financially, but I am doing my best to make sure we get answers, and ensure my mom gets brought home so we can put her to rest.

One thing my mom did while living over in Belize was buy a small plot of land. She put every dime she had into starting to build her own little house on it. Though she never fully completed it, she built it herself by hand and she was very, very proud of it. I want to make sure it gets cleaned up, and properly handled. Any money recieved through your donations will be going toward the cost of her cremation, bringing her home, paying off any debts to ensure her property isn't taken, hiring of an attorney in Belize to file everything there, having her house cleaned, everything else involved with closing her estate; as well as resources to push for answers in her death. I also am having any of her personal belongings shipped home that I can because her family has nothing of my mom's to remember her by here in the states. However, shipping a lot of things internationally adds up extremely quickly.

My mom helped so many people across the world. I have gotten messages from friends in the US, Kenya, Mexico, Belize, ... you name it. My mom touched so many lives, and I just wish she were here to see it! If any friends, family, or kind strangers want to donate to help, it would be appreciated beyond words. If you are unable to donate through GoFundMe, my CashApp and Venmo are both $BeerWench

With love.