N.J. couple among thousands stranded in Mexico

Frank and Megan Trosky had told their 8-year-old twins that they would be back home in Pitman on Tuesday. They didn't say they were spending their 10th wedding anniversary in Mexico - the twin brother and sister loved snorkeling there on previous vacations and would have "thrown a hissy fit," a relative said.

Turns out, the kids should probably be glad they were left home.

The Troskys are two of more than 30,000 travelers estimated to have been stranded when Hurricane Odile hit Los Cabos, Mexico, on Sunday. The Category 3 hurricane devastated luxury hotels and tourist spots, left residents lighting bonfires to protect their homes from aggressive looters, and created return-travel nightmares for vacationers when airports closed.

"We're talking about thousands of people. We're next to this country, we're supposed to be friends with them, it's frustrating the U.S. isn't doing anything to get its citizens," said Frank Trosky's mother, Pat, of Hazleton, Pa. She said she has been in close contact with the couple.

Frank Trosky, of the Gloucester County Public Defender's Office, and Megan Band Trosky, an owner of the Roxborough Primo Hoagies franchise, were told before the storm that Capella Pedregal, a 24-acre resort complex in Baja California, would be safe.

The night of the storm, Odile ripped away roofs and necessitated an evacuation.

The couple got on one of four buses chartered by the hotel. They are among 450 travelers in a group, mostly Americans, heading north to the border.

On Thursday their bus only made it 200 miles in 18 hours due to road blockages, mudslides, and washouts. Some passengers slept outside the bus, desperate for fresh air, as roads were being repaired ahead of the traffic standstill.

Friday evening the bus was in San Quentin, about four miles from Tijuana, Pat Trosky said. The plan is to cross the border in Tijuana, get to San Diego, and fly home.

"Really, what it comes down to is, of course, we want my son and daughter-in-law to come home, but my son keeps emphasizing, 'We have 450 people with us, they're all American. There are thousands still stranded in Baja and it doesn't look like anybody is doing anything from the United States,' " she said.

The Mexican military has flown out approximately 18,000 people, 5,000 of them tourists, according to reports from CNN, and on Thursday the U.S. consulate was encouraging people to make their way to the reopened Los Cabos airport, where a line extended one mile outside the entrance.

Mexico's Interior Ministry declared a state of natural disaster for affected areas following Odile, the 12th-strongest eastern Pacific hurricane on record, according to reports.

Frank Trosky's coworkers at the Public Defender's Office contacted Sen. Robert Menendez (D., N.J.) and Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R., N.J.) looking for help. They've also reached out to the State Department requesting that a reserve unit or helicopter be sent in.

"The worst thing here, other than what Frank and Megan are going through in that bus, is the fact that they have two small children who expected them home Tuesday," said Deputy Public Defender Jeffrey Wintner. "They're staying with their grandparents, the kids are OK, but they're young, and it's sort of hard to explain why their parents aren't home."

Pat Trosky said she filled out the same form twice only to have Menendez's office tell her the State Department told his office it had no record of any filings.

"Listening to what information they're getting, it sounds like the State Department doesn't know what it's doing," Trosky said.

Reports have come in from around the country of bachelorette parties turned disastrous, people staying in damp basements, and looters ripping off grocery stores, with resort owners fearing they will be next. Fifty stranded Chicago-area residents who described the destination wedding they went to as a vacation from hell returned safely Thursday.