The day I found out Brenda was in trouble was a very bad day in my life. I got a phone call about two months after she was incarcerated in Mexico. When she called, she asked me, “Mom, are you sitting down?” When she said that, I knew it had to be something really bad. She said, “You better sit down mom. I’m in a Mexican jail.”

Growing up Brenda loved people; she liked to cook…she still likes to cook. I always called her my butterfly because she was a free spirit. She had two marriages, but both of these husbands have stuck behind her, which says something about her character. She and her last ex-husband honeymooned in Puerto Vallarta and she loved it, so that’s where my butterfly landed.

I would have rather had her in Canada, but I’ve always tried, with all my children, to give them freedom. When they’re little, you can mould them to a certain extent, but when they get older, you have to let them go and let them learn by their own trial and errors. I love all my kids dearly and they always know they can come to me whenever.

The first person Brenda called when she was incarcerated was her ex-husband. She just thought she would be in and out, and she knew I’m a bit of a worry wart, so she figured it wouldn’t be good to trouble me. When I found out, I just thought, ‘You’ve got to be kidding; this can’t be possible.’ With that, she was gone, and I just went berserk.

Soon after I got a call from her ex-husband Don, and he gave me the file number and the 1-800 number in Ottawa to call about her case. They didn’t really tell me anything; they just said they couldn’t interfere. I phoned Amnesty International and they told me I should get a hold of my local MP, and that’s what I did. He wasn’t very helpful either.

That all happened in 2006 of course, and at that time I never anticipated it would go on as it has. In February 2007, a reporter did a story about Brenda.

You know, I’d never really dealt with the media before. I’m a senior; I’ve never been in trouble with anybody in my 69 years, and neither had Brenda. Nobody likes to air problems in public. I’m just an unassuming person who pays her bills.

The coverage got the word out about Brenda. When the media got involved, the government actually gave me a free call from Brenda once a week every Thursday. It just shows you that the media is quite powerful.

Every time I talk to Brenda, she just begs me, “Mom, you’ve got to get me out of here. I didn’t do anything.” Her mental state has been getting worse and worse the longer she’s been there. It’s the worst it’s ever been.

Because she’s innocent – and I know she is innocent – it’s been playing on her mind. To be locked up and not be able to get out is terrifying. It’s a very small cell; it’s nine by 12 feet, and she’s with people that are from another country and are hardened criminals. These are people that she’s never been in contact with before.

There are even children in the cell…babies. There was a newborn baby in her cell at one time, and I think she’s still there. One of the women in her cell is the head of the biggest gang in Mexico. These are people that have cut off fingers and used them for blackmail. One lady killed her children with blunt scissors. These are not normal people.

I’ve noticed Brenda going down, both mentally and physically. Of course she keeps telling me she’s not well and can’t eat the food because it’s just so spicy. She has dysentery. They don’t supply anything in that prison – no toilet paper, no soap…

Little by little I’ve been learning things about what’s happened. For a while there, they had no hot water and just had to throw a bucket of cold water over the wash. I guess it’s not a very sanitary place, and I worry. Brenda turned 51 years old in January. I worry that she’ll never get over this. Will her body withstand what’s happened to her?

I think people should be very careful when they go to Mexico. There’s a lot of corruption in Mexico, and this could happen to anybody. Brenda was kidnapped from her apartment in Puerto Vallarta, and this all happened five years after the fact of Alyn Waage. She had five years to get out. You’d think if she was guilty of something that she would have left Mexico while she could have.

If Brenda was involved in Waage’s investment scheme, which I know she wasn’t, she would have had money to pay for her way out of prison. I’ve been finding out that this is how people get out of jail – paying a bribe. Why should you have to pay a bribe if you are innocent? That’s not the way I was ever brought up.

Brenda didn’t know Waage was a crook. She was just the chef. When her employment ended, Brenda used her severance to reinvest in the company. She wouldn’t have invested in the company if she knew it was crooked.

I’m not very rich. I’m only a senior, living on a limited pension. At first Brenda was calling collect and the calls got expensive. But of course I’d do without food before I’d refuse to take her call. I’d find the money somewhere.

We got together $10,000, and Brenda’s first lawyer just made off with the money. The next lawyer had 400+ clients and couldn’t speak English. The next lawyer was only a real estate lawyer. Brenda needed a criminal lawyer!

Nobody wants to take the blame, and I think no matter what the lawyer did, it was going to come down this way.

Brenda wasn’t given an interpreter when she was kidnapped. She’s never had a trial. I hope she hasn’t signed anything, thinking it was something else.

I try to keep myself so busy that I don’t have time to think. Over the holidays I had 16 people over for dinner, and I did all the cooking and preparing. It was a lot of work, but it kept me occupied. I do a lot of praying. I believe in God. I’ve been overwhelmed with the outpouring of support.

If people want to help, they can write the Prime Minister. They need to ask the government to help my daughter. I’ve never heard from the Prime Minister or anyone in the Conservative government personally. The Prime Minister says there were 100 interventions, but I’m not sure what he’s talking about.

A man named Paul Macklin was the one who set up the Save Brenda Fund [2]. He sat weekend after weekend at the grocery or the liquor store so people could sign petitions.

I’m willing to take anybody’s help; it doesn’t have to be political. I think the help really has to come from the people in government because they are the most powerful. Yet, it shouldn’t be about politics. It should be about my daughter’s life.

I already lost one daughter. She died at 34 years old from a car accident. She left four children. I cannot lose another daughter. I love her with all my heart.

I know that she didn't do anything. It’s a terrible punishment for doing nothing.

There are some reasons to hope. So many people have gotten a hold of me, one of them being Brenda’s father. I was told he had died in a car accident. I hadn’t talked to him in 49 years. Brenda looked for him in the 70s but never found him. Now Brenda has talked to him, and I think that gave her some hope too. She’s got new stepbrothers and stepsisters she can look forward to meeting.

There’s always tomorrow. Every time Brenda calls, I tell her not to give up. There are so many people all over that are trying to help her. She can’t give up because I need her. She has to hold on.

What would I say to the Mexican government is, “Please don’t hold my daughter for that ransom. Maybe Mr. Waage owes you, but I don’t have the money. I know my daughter’s innocent. Just let her go. Let her come home.”

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This Saturday there is a Save Brenda Martin rally. For more information, click here [3].