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|  Published Thursday, July 9, 2020
Agents ask for help to find
missing German tourist
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Agents from the Garabito delegation in Puntarenas of the Judicial Investigation Organization, OIJ, request the collaboration of the public to help find a German citizen identified as Karin Holzapfel. She was reported missing since June 29.
According to the agents, the 33 year old has a slim body and wavy brown hair. On the day of her disappearance, she was wearing a light blue blouse, black petticoat and sandals.
The woman was last seen in the Garabito sector, near Jaco Beach, in Puntarenas Province on June 28. She arrived in the country five months earlier with plans to do tourism.
The woman's relatives filed the complaint with the OIJ after losing contact with her.
If you know any information that may help locate the woman, contact the judicial agents, at the line 800-80-00-645 or by message through Whatsapp 880-00-645. There are bilingual agents who can answer calls in English or Spanish. The call is confidential.
Holzapfel is one of three documented cases of missing tourists in Costa Rica, so far this year.
OIJ agents report that they continue investigating the case of Christian Tijerino López and Kent Alexander Madsen.
In the case of Tijerino, the agents from the Liberia District station in Guanacaste Province continue searching for evidence that allows the case to progress.
Tijerino, 33 years old, arrived in February to visit his family in Costa Rica. On February 18, his relatives lost contact with him and filed a missing person’s complaint.
Investigators reported that Tijerino was last seen on February 18 near the Montenegro area in Bagaces District of Guanacaste Province, said Walter Espinoza, Director General of the Judicial Investigation Organization.
"From that moment on, his family members lost contact with him and opened the case of the investigation into a possible disappearance or kidnapping," Espinoza said.
He was seen leaving his hotel driving a blue-color Ford Explorer. On Feb. 22, the car was found abandoned in the community of Bagaces. However, there were no traces of Tijerino.
There is a channel approximately one kilometer long that has piqued investigators' interest, Espinoza said. Scuba diving experts from the Ministry of Security and investigators searched for clues that could be in the waters of the Montenegro canal.
Investigators confirmed that they found evidence that could give an important advancement in the investigation. However, the items found must first be analyzed to establish whether it could be new proof in this case, Espinoza said.
While authorities continue to work on Tijerino’s case, there is still the open case of a foreign tourist missing which was reported on Friday March 13.
At the time judicial agents requested help from the public to find Canadian citizen Kent Alexander Madsen, 59 years old.
According to the judicial investigators, Madsen was last seen that Friday when he was diving off of Cocos Island, located in the Pacific Ocean, approximately 550 km southwest of the Costa Rican mainland in Puntarenas Province.
According to the information of the investigators, Madsen was scuba diving with a group of tourists who were taking scuba diving lessons near the coast of the island.
However, by the time the lesson was over, all the tourists returned to the boat except for Madsen.
Professional scuba divers tried to track Maden for 72 hours, finding only his scuba equipment on the beach of Manuelita Island but there was no trace of the Canadian.
Manuelita Island is located on the north coast of Cocos Island.
Agents continue investigating these cases. If you have any information regarding any of these missing people cases, please call the Judicial agents.
A.M. Costa Rica urges readers to share these missing person’s cases with their contacts.
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Have you heard about missing foreign tourists in your community? We would like to know your thoughts on this
story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com
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