On April 1 2014 these two Dutch women, aged 21 and 22, went for a hike in a jungle in Panama and were never seen again.
Photo: https://mysteriesrunsolved.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/IMG_20200524_061854_compress62.jpg
Extensive searches were done of the entire area and no trace was found. This case drew a lot of international attention due to the mystery of what could have happened.
More extensive overview of the case here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OPhUt_XJ6Q
Theories of what happened to them fall into two categories; some believe they went off the trail and got lost, others believe they were abducted and murdered.
Two months after their disappearance a backpack was found by a woman next to a river near the small town of Alto Romero. It contained their two cell phones and two bras, among other items. A pair of shorts were also found by the river.
A few months later bones were found scattered about over a large area next to the river. The tour guide who they had a tour planned with day after their disappearance found one of their shoes with a foot inside under a tree trunk in the jungle, "almost invisible" by his own words.
The official conclusion is that they got lost and died of exposure. Here are reasons why I believe they was foul play involved.
I think it's foul play for a few reasons.
The basics
It's a poor country with lots of gang activity and a high murder rate, more tourists have gone missing in that area.
2 young attractive white girls would have attracted tons of attention from the locals, especially lust.
People who have visited the trail including their parents say that it would be extremely unlikely to get lost there, the trail is clearly visible.
On the first day they only made one attempt each to call an emergency number, and then turned their phones off. This was 2 hours before it got dark. I can imagine that with the prospect of spending a night alone in the jungle they would have been in full panic mode.
Only a few emergency calls made throughout the week, at similar times each day as if it was done on a set schedule.
They loved documenting everything and taking lots of pictures, no effort to document anything in the week like a text message on their phones, a video, or even a single picture of themselves. 8 days after their disappearance 90 photos were taken in the middle of the night between 1am and 4am. These are random pictures taken in the jungle and only one of them shows one of the women, the back of her head:
https://i.imgur.com/f9mecFF.jpg
Tour guide Feliciano knew of their intention to hike the trail, and the morning after he went to the guesthouse and searched their room as if he knew they were missing when it had only been 12 hours. He notified the police 10 hours later. If I imagine that I'm a tour guide and two tourists don't show up for a tour I would just assume they changed their plans or overslept, I wouldn't demand to enter their room and immediately assume they were missing. This tour guide also amazingly found a shoe with a foot inside under a tree trunk in the middle of the jungle months later, "almost invisible" by his own words. Too much of a coincidence.
Feliciano has 2 sons with connections to gangs. He also has a coffee farm in the middle of the jungle, an ideal location to hold captives if he is connected to the disappearance. He allegedly has more properties deeper in the mountains.
There's a photo which appears to be them swimming with 2 guys, both of whom are dead. One died 3 days after their disappearance drowned in a shallow pool of water. Those who believe the lost theory don't think this is them.
https://i.imgur.com/vY7t2s2.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/MD7LKdE.jpg
The backpack was found 10 weeks later with their items inside and wasn't even wet, like it was placed there. 2 months later the bones were found scattered far apart. A naturally decomposing skeleton would still be intact after all that time. If they died of exposure why would they both die at the river? If they were at the river why didn't they simply follow it until they reached a bridge?
Their bones were found near each other, but if they were lost they would have died at different times and thus different locations. I doubt the remaining living one would stay near the body of her dead friend and wait for death.
If they died at the river, then how did a foot get transported to the middle of the jungle under a tree trunk, away from the water?
The bones were found 4.5 months later, some of them with skin still attached as if they died more recently.
Again a big factor is that they were 2 attractive western girls which would draw lots of attention that place. They weren't dumb either, they were university graduates.
The Panama authorities concluded they got lost, but no real investigation was done to treat this is a potential abduction. Some argue that the Panama authorities wanted to protect their tourism industry, so they had an incentive to to investigate the case as a crime.
On April 1 2014 these two Dutch women, aged 21 and 22, went for a hike in a jungle in Panama and were never seen again.
Photo: https://mysteriesrunsolved.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/IMG_20200524_061854_compress62.jpg
Extensive searches were done of the entire area and no trace was found. This case drew a lot of international attention due to the mystery of what could have happened.
More extensive overview of the case here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OPhUt_XJ6Q
Theories of what happened to them fall into two categories; some believe they went off the trail and got lost, others believe they were abducted and murdered.
Two months after their disappearance a backpack was found by a woman next to a river near the small town of Alto Romero. It contained their two cell phones and two bras, among other items. A pair of shorts were also found by the river.
A few months later bones were found scattered about over a large area next to the river. The tour guide who they had a tour planned with day after their disappearance found one of their shoes with a foot inside under a tree trunk in the jungle, "almost invisible" by his own words.
The official conclusion is that they got lost and died of exposure. Here are reasons why I believe they was foul play involved.
I think it's foul play for a few reasons.
The basics
It's a poor country with lots of gang activity and a high murder rate, more tourists have gone missing in that area.
2 young attractive white girls would have attracted tons of attention from the locals, especially lust.
People who have visited the trail including their parents say that it would be extremely unlikely to get lost there, the trail is clearly visible.
On the first day they only made one attempt each to call an emergency number, and then turned their phones off. This was 2 hours before it got dark. I can imagine that with the prospect of spending a night alone in the jungle they would have been in full panic mode.
Only a few emergency calls made throughout the week, at similar times each day as if it was done on a set schedule.
They loved documenting everything and taking lots of pictures, no effort to document anything in the week like a text message on their phones, a video, or even a single picture of themselves. 8 days after their disappearance 90 photos were taken in the middle of the night between 1am and 4am. These are random pictures taken in the jungle and only one of them shows one of the women, the back of her head:
https://i.imgur.com/f9mecFF.jpg
Tour guide Feliciano knew of their intention to hike the trail, and the morning after he went to the guesthouse and searched their room as if he knew they were missing when it had only been 12 hours. He notified the police 10 hours later. If I imagine that I'm a tour guide and two tourists don't show up for a tour I would just assume they changed their plans or overslept, I wouldn't demand to enter their room and immediately assume they were missing. This tour guide also amazingly found a shoe with a foot inside under a tree trunk in the middle of the jungle months later, "almost invisible" by his own words. Too much of a coincidence.
Feliciano has 2 sons with connections to gangs. He also has a coffee farm in the middle of the jungle, an ideal location to hold captives if he is connected to the disappearance. He allegedly has more properties deeper in the mountains.
There's a photo which appears to be them swimming with 2 guys, both of whom are dead. One died 3 days after their disappearance drowned in a shallow pool of water. Those who believe the lost theory don't think this is them.
https://i.imgur.com/vY7t2s2.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/MD7LKdE.jpg
The backpack was found 10 weeks later with their items inside and wasn't even wet, like it was placed there. 2 months later the bones were found scattered far apart. A naturally decomposing skeleton would still be intact after all that time. If they died of exposure why would they both die at the river? If they were at the river why didn't they simply follow it until they reached a bridge?
Their bones were found near each other, but if they were lost they would have died at different times and thus different locations. I doubt the remaining living one would stay near the body of her dead friend and wait for death.
If they died at the river, then how did a foot get transported to the middle of the jungle under a tree trunk, away from the water?
The bones were found 4.5 months later, some of them with skin still attached as if they died more recently.
Again a big factor is that they were 2 attractive western girls which would draw lots of attention that place. They weren't dumb either, they were university graduates.
The Panama authorities concluded they got lost, but no real investigation was done to treat this is a potential abduction. Some argue that they simply wanted to protect their tourism industry, so they had an incentive to to investigate the case as a crime.