By the A.M.
Costa Rica staff
The Interpol Office of the Judicial
Investigation Organization is asking
for the help of the public to locate
Canadian citizen Alan James More, 48
years old, who disappeared in
October 2018.
According to the investigators, Mr.
More arrived in Costa Rica by way of
the Juan Santamaria
airport* in Alajuela, in
October last year. He came alone and
traveled through tourist sites in
the Santa Cruz*
and the Tamarindo*
area of Guanacaste and stayed at a
hotel in Tamarindo.
In October, he called his family to
report that his backpack had been
stolen with his passport and told
them he had filed a robbery
complaint of robbery with the police
and the Canada Embassy.
That was the last communication he
had with the family. After they were
unable to contact him, relatives
made a complaint directly with
Interpol and Interpol contacted
agents of the Judicial Investigation
Organization on Tuesday.
Agents call on citizens, especially
those in the vicinity of Tamarindo,
Guanacaste, to report any
information that may be helpful in
locating Alan James More.
The confidential number is:
800-8000645. Messages can also be
sent to the WhatsApp number: 88 00
06 45 of the Confidential
Information Center.
Another recent case of an tourist
lost in Costa Rica is that of Harvey
Lee Bernstein, age 65, and was
reported on by A.M. Costa Rica on
January 22nd of this year. He had
disappeared after two days in San
José.
After this case was reported in A.M.
Costa Rica, the manager of a Barrio
Amon hotel where Bernstein booked a
room confirmed that even though he
paid for the hotel room, he never
stayed there.
Two days after booking the room the
U.S citizen returned to the hotel to
request his passport and luggage,
the hotel manager said. The manager
said Bernstein told him that he was
going to the airport to take his
flight back to the U.S. at 2 a.m. on
Monday.
The manager responded to A.M. Costa
Rica, as follows:
"This is an update to a story you
released about a missing person,
Harvey Bernstein. He checked in with
us on Wednesday afternoon but never
ended up staying with us and was
reported missing by his two friends
the next morning. Anyway, this
morning, at about 12:30 a.m. I
received a call from our
receptionist that he was at the
hotel to pick up his passport,
travel bag and was going to the
airport for his 2 a.m. flight back
to the U.S.," said the hotel
manager.
The hotel manager requested that his
name and the hotel's name not be
revealed.
Where Bernstein stayed is a mystery
because even judicial investigators
could never reach him to interview
him.
After being alerted by a reporter,
the Judicial Investigation
Organization confirmed that
Bernstein did leave the country to
return to the United States, as the
hotel manager said.
Bernstein arrived with two friends.
The trio had rooms reserved at the Barrio Amon*
hotel, but on Wednesday, when his
friends could not find Bernstein
they reported him missing, judicial
agents reported.
Another recent unresolved case is
that of U.S. businessman William
Sean Creighton-Kopko, who was
kidnapped on Sept. 24, 2019.
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Judicial
Investigation
Organization courtesy
photos
In October, he called
his family to report
that his backpack had
been stolen with his
passport and told them
he had filed a robbery
complaint of robbery
with the police and
the Canada Embassy.
As A.M.
Costa Rica has been
reporting, eight Costa
Ricans are in pretrial
detention for six
months in the case.
Five of them were
detained in Costa
Rica: a man surnamed
Vega-Aguirre, a woman
surnamed Aguirre-Leal,
a man surnamed
Martinez-Chacón, a man
surnamed Ford-Dauman
and a woman surnamed
Sanabria-Abarca.
The rest of the
suspects were detained
in Spain and they are
also in jail. A
Spanish court is
handling an
extradition request by
Costa Rica. Those
suspects were
identified as a man
surnamed Morales-Vega,
a woman surnamed
Solis-Chaves and a
woman surnamed
Vega-Aguirre.
According to the
investigation, the men
forced the victim into
a pickup and drove to
a property in the
village of La
Trinidad in Moravia*
where the leader's
grandmother,
Aguirre-Leal, was
living.
After taking the
victim to the property
in La Trinidad in
Moravia, the suspects
communicated several
times with relatives
of the victim. At
first, they asked for
a ransom of $5
million, but a payment
of $950,800 was
accepted. The payment
was made in bitcoin
currencies in four
different accounts.
"Once the kidnappers
received the ransom,
all communication
between the suspects
and the victim's
family ceased," said
the investigators.
Investigators theorize
that Creighton was
targeted for two
reasons. The victim
had a good income as a
result of his
sportsbooks company,
and the gang members
knew that the victim's
business involved
bitcoin. The
kidnappers probably
thought that
transactions in
bitcoins were more
difficult to detect,
suspect agents.
The case's
investigation
continues.
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Are the expats too
naive when they come
to Costa Rica? We
would like to know
your thoughts on
this story. Send
your comments to: news@amcostarica.com
*Link to reach the
map
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