Two best friends on a birthday trip to Mexico are trapped at their hotel amid surging cartel violence are struggling to find their next meal.
Misha Gardner and her friend Amanda Scott were meant to fly home to Arkansas on Monday, but due are now stuck in Puerto Vallarta to travel restrictions.
The duo, who are on their third trip to the tourist hotspot, said they have been urged to shelter-in-place at the Hotel Amaca resort as long as the city is in a state of unrest.
Signs have been posted around the resort stating it is 'strictly prohibited to leave the property until further notice,' KHBS reported.
The restriction has made it hard to access food because the hotel does not have an on-site restaurant, Gardner explained, adding that Hotel Amaca only has a few water tanks.
'We did have some really nice friends that shared their food with us yesterday, which was really nice,' Gardner told the outlet. 'And, we raided the minibar.'
The pair eventually managed to find a local cafe and beachfront restaurant that were willing to serve them.
Much of the country has been on lockdown after the Mexican army killed Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of the most powerful criminal organizations in Mexico.
The pair have been hunkering down at the Hotel Amaca resort, where on Sunday they were able to see smoke billowing from car fires started by cartel members after the killing of crime boss Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes.
Their hotel does not have an on-site restaurant, Gardner explained, which has made it hard for them to access food. The pair ventured around Puerto Vallarta on Monday in search of a bite to eat and saw deserted streets and shops that had been vandalized and raided.
More than 70 people died in the attempt to capture Oseguera Cervantes - known as El Mencho - and the aftermath, authorities said Monday. The body count includes security forces, suspected cartel members and others.
Locals suspect the city will begin to reopen on Tuesday, Gardner wrote on Facebook.
'We are back at the hotel. We are trying to keep our spirits up,' she posted late Monday night. 'We have our hotel for tomorrow and then we need to figure something out for the remainder of the week.'
She said that although they are 'hearing things are opening up tomorrow and school will resume Wednesday', they plan to stay put until they see more cars on the roads and know that flights are taking off.
Scott is currently scheduled to fly home on Saturday and Gardner on Sunday, she added.
The pair have also urged their loved ones to contact the US government and their respective senators because they 'need their help getting home safe'.
The US Embassy in Mexico is urging American citizens to continue to shelter in place due to the 'ongoing security operations and related road blockages and criminal activity'.
The Embassy said Monday night that the situation has 'returned to normal' in tourism hotspots of Cancun, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum, as well as Sinaloa and Tamaulipas.
Signs have been posted around the Hotel Amaca resort stating it is 'strictly prohibited to leave the property until further notice'
The pair are booked at Hotel Amaco through Tuesday, but will need to find another place to through the end of the week, Gardner said
The pair also managed to find a local cafe and beachfront restaurant (pictured) that were willing to serve them on Monday
They made friends, pictured, who helped them find what Gardner described as the 'nice place on the beach that was open for food'
But flights in Puerto Vallarta continue to be disrupted, officials added. All airports in Mexico are open and most are operating normally.
The US Embassy said it remains in close contact with airlines to monitor their plans.
Heavily armed Mexican security forces kept up their battle with cartel gunmen on Monday following the killing of Oseguera Cervantes.
The capo died after a shootout with the Mexican military on Sunday. Mexican Defense Secretary Gen. Ricardo Trevilla said Monday that authorities had tracked one of his romantic partners to his hideout in Tapalpa.
He and two bodyguards fled into a wooded area where they were seriously wounded in a firefight. They were taken into custody and died on the way to Mexico City, Trevilla said.
In a different location in Jalisco, soldiers killed another high-ranking cartel member who Trevilla said was coordinating violence and offering more than $1,000 for every soldier killed.
Oseguera Cervantes was the boss of one of the fastest-growing criminal networks in Mexico, known for trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine to the US and staging brazen attacks against Mexican government officials.
The cartel responded to their leader's death with widespread violence, including erecting more than 250 roadblocks across 20 states and setting fire to vehicles.
A bus set on fire by the cartel at one of the main avenues in Zapopan, state of Jalisco, Mexico, on Sunday in response to the killing of Oseguera Cervantes
Burned cars are seen in the parking lot of a Costco retail store in Puerto Vallarta on Monday
Tourists walk past the burnt wreckage of buses on Monday after a series of blockades and attacks by the cartel following a military operation in which Nemesio Oseguera was killed
Mexican authorities reported that 25 members of the Mexican National Guard were killed in six separate attacks, while some 30 criminal suspects were killed in Jalisco, and four others in the neighboring state of Michoacan.
The Mexican army killed Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of the most powerful criminal organizations in Mexico, on Sunday. The US provided intelligence support to the operation to capture the cartel leader
Also killed were a prison guard and an agent from the state prosecutor's office.
The White House confirmed that the US provided intelligence support to the operation to capture the cartel leader and applauded Mexico's army for taking down a man who was one of the most wanted criminals in both countries.
Mexico hoped the death of the world's biggest fentanyl traffickers would ease Trump administration pressure to do more against the cartels, but many people were anxious as they waited to see the powerful cartel´s reaction.
As the threat of more violence loomed, several Mexican states canceled school Monday, while local and foreign governments warned their citizens to stay inside.
In Guadalajara, the state capital, some ventured out into the streets to work and buy supplies,a notable change from Sunday, when Mexico's second-largest city was almost completely shut down as fearful residents stayed home.
More than 1,000 people were stuck overnight in Guadalajara's zoo, where they slept in buses. Families were left stranded, unable to return home to nearby states like Zacatecas and Michoacan.
President Donald Trump has demanded Mexico do more to fight the smuggling of fentanyl, threatening to impose more tariffs or take unilateral military action if the country does not show results.
The US State Department had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest of El Mencho. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel began operating around 2009.
In February 2025, the Trump administration designated the cartel as a foreign terrorist organization. It has been one of the most aggressive cartels in its attacks on the military - including on helicopters - and is a pioneer in launching explosives from drones and installing mines.