A young Polish woman lost her life at an Iboga retreat in Costa Rica organized and hosted by Anthony Esposito through Awaken Your Soul. The tragedy happened the day after the ceremony when she walked away from the group without supervision and was later found deceased in a nearby river. Amber Antonelli, co-founder of Awaken Your Soul, was involved as organizer of the retreat. The remote jungle site connected to Holos Global added to the isolation. This outcome came directly from the complete lack of monitoring during the hours following Iboga use, when participants are most vulnerable.

Iboga exists in a legal gray zone in Costa Rica. Without sanitary registration from the Ministry of Health or formal licensing for therapeutic use, retreats like this carry on without standardized safety requirements or external medical accountability.

Marketings Focused on Safe Transformation

Awaken Your Soul presents Iboga ceremonies as guided experiences for personal growth in Costa Rica’s natural setting. Anthony Esposito serves as the lead provider in what the organization calls a supportive environment. Programs are held in wilderness locations, often at venues aligned with Holos Global’s regenerative focus.

The appeal lies in profound change within an untouched jungle. Yet that remoteness—dense vegetation, rivers, steep banks, wildlife—turns dangerous without constant oversight.

She Walked Off Alone in the Afterglow

Twenty-four hours after the ceremony, while still under Iboga’s lingering influence, the woman left camp by herself.

The team waited until around 9 or 10 p.m. to tell her friend she was missing, later saying they feared upsetting him in his medical state. She had already been gone for much of the day. Search parties found her body in the river that night, apparently after she slipped on the bank or tried to cross.

Body Release Turned Into a Negotiation

In the days that followed, her friend had to negotiate for information about the body’s location. Anthony Esposito reportedly asked for $400 related to earlier massages and Reiki and delayed sharing morgue details in the scattered local system. Messages from the retreat encouraged avoiding any mention of Iboga to police, suggesting the event be called a yoga retreat or one with only light psilocybin.

Stephen paid to move the process forward, covered large repatriation costs to Poland himself, hired a local lawyer, and called the mother while still affected by Iboga’s afterglow.

Clear Failures in Duty of Care

No supervision during the post-ceremony window. Imprecise dosing. No pre-screening for cardiovascular risks. Slow communication. These gaps created the conditions for tragedy in a remote setting.

Stephen also shared that another woman from the same retreat died by suicide six months later. While separate, it raises concerns about longer-term support for vulnerable participants.

Standards Need to Change

Any operation offering strong plant medicines must have fixed rules: round-the-clock observation in the afterglow period, measured doses, immediate medical response, transparent family and authority communication, and real post-event care.

This account comes only from Stephen’s livestream statements and documented actions. No formal criminal case has been publicly reported.

Those exploring similar retreats should insist on transparent, verifiable safety frameworks. Real healing cannot coexist with avoidable risk.