Carley Quinn was born in Orange Walk District, Belize, in 1960. Shortly after graduating from secondary school, she left her Mennonite community of Blue Creek Village and moved to Belize City to find her own way in life. Two years later, when she married local construction worker Tom Bowen, her family disowned her and they havent spoken since. Tom was a drunk and often out of work, but Carley worked as a waitress and kept food on the table for fifteen years before Tom was killed in a work-related accident. She used Toms life insurance to pay off their house and open the Pirates Cove bar, on Belizes seamy lower waterfront, which she has operated for just over ten years. For the past two years, the property housing the bar
has been owned by Rob Jefferies, an American retiree.