by hominid » Mon Jun 01, 2020 12:08 pm
Is the first text relevant? If so, is it something like "CALL US RIGHT NOW!!!", which makes the man think his family is in danger / there is a family emergency? yes, and now I think all the important information has been discovered.
********************************************SPOILER***********************************************
An American man is in the UK for a few months, and buys a train ticket for a day trip to an area of the UK with poor Internet service. Unbeknownst to him, the company he bought the ticket from is based in Country C. The bank back in the US sees this on his bank statement, and thinks that he must have traveled to Country C without telling them, which he wasn't supposed to do. This makes them angry, and they try to contact the man (which doesn't work because he's in an area with poor phone and Internet reception) and then contact his family. His family has just learned of a horrible event happening in Country C and they are worried that the man was caught in it, which is why he isn't responding to their texts.
The man returns to his home base in the UK not knowing that anything is amiss, but then he receives a text from a member of his family saying "CALL HOME IMMEDIATELY!!!" and he believes that something bad must have happened at home. He also sees on the news that something bad happened in Country C, which makes him sad. He immediately calls home and is relieved to find out that nothing is wrong; there was just a misunderstanding about his bank statement.
This is loosely based on a true story that happened to me, but I changed some of the details to make it a more cohesive puzzle. Congratulations on solving, Doriana, and there were great questions from GalFisk, Balin, and emeraldink.