So.. there also are many problems with the Crime scenario.. as well as with the Lost scenario!Following the Foul Play theory, it would mean that kidnappers, rapists, murderers, had to set up an intricate scheme for at least 10 days. Assuming they then planted the backpack with the belongings and some non-incriminating bones on purpose, allowing police to close the case and rule it an accident. But they would have also had to stay in the tropical forest themselves for a long time, or otherwise go back into the forest day in and day out, to make the systematic emergency calls at a spot where no cell phone reach was. Or make them in a basement or cellar perhaps... Or simply changed the time and date settings, then make fake calls and then restore the correct time and date; that way the manipulated calls are logged. Someone may also have removed the small phone cards that are needed to actually make a connection. Anyway: they would have had to go into the jungle in the black of night on day 8 to shoot nearly a hundred nighttime shots over the space of almost three full hours. Then plant the backpack elsewhere. It sounds far-fetched and quite a hassle (but far from impossible) to create such an extensive fake trail. Because the chance that murderers allow their victims to keep using their phones is quite small. Unless the aggressors knew 100% certain that there is no reception in the area, so no risk in allowing them to keep their phone and helping the perpetrators unknowingly to set out a seeming Lost Tourist trail for the police. But then there is also the risk of the girls secretly writing draft messages, or storing hidden notes somewhere in their phone. But at the end of the day, we have zero certainty that after the April 1st photos, any of the calls were made by the girls themselves. Never was a location pinned down of their call attempts. And never did they leave anything that identified them, such as voice messages or draft messages in Dutch, or photos. We don't even know with certainty if the call logs are reliable and not tampered with. Seven days of no more digital camera use, no videos or photos of where they were or what they looked like. Then the eerie nighttime photos which, again, do not prove any of the girls took them. The only proof we have is that Kris was pictured (either a selfie or by someone else) with relatively clean and dry looking hair and what some assume may be a head wound which we cannot clearly see. And we also know for a fact that photo #509 was removed, most likely (according to technology crime specialists) manually with the help of a computer, but not even that is certain..
PITTÍ THINKS THE BACKPACK DISPROVES CRIMEDefenders of the Lost/Accident scenario - such as Betzaida Pittí, the state prosecutor at the time - believe the the fact that the girls' backpack was found with cash, phones and a camera still inside, is absolute “proof” of a twice-fatal accident, because if it was a crime, why wouldn’t the suspect have stolen their electronics and other gear? Or destroyed "the evidence"? But U.S.-based forensic consultant Carl Weil says that such behavior is “not at all unusual.” I repeat the most important things he has said on this matter here, after already referring to them earlier in this blog post:
“If the motive is not robbery, but assault or rape, it’s fairly common for the criminal to discard personal items and even valuables,” Weil says.
Some killers have been known to “take a memento” of the victim, as a symbol or trophy, but even in such cases other belongings are often left behind. In fact, victims’ valuables have also been found abandoned in the aftermath of other disappearances in the Boquete area. Weil, a court-certified forensics expert who has given his analysis in more than 300 court cases, is also suspicious of how and where Kremers’ and Froon’s personal belongings were found. The accident hypothesis contends that the victims’ inexpensive nylon backpack spent six weeks awash in the nearby Serpent River—floating around in the same stretch of water that supposedly reduced the victims to tiny fragments, and with the phones and camera inside it all that time. After reviewing a photo of Lisanne Froon’s recovered pack, Weil said that a lightly built, civilian pack of that kind would likely have become “saturated within minutes” of falling in the river, and the “electronics inside it fried.” Could the (clean looking) rucksack have reached the site near the settlement of Alto Romero some other way, instead of taking a month and a half to wind through the Serpent’s rapids? The Holandesas’ backpack was discovered by an Ngobe family on June 11, 2014—around the same time that the search for Kris and Lisanne was heating up, with the Costa Rican Red Cross and Dutch dog teams joining in the hunt. I repeat an important quote in this regard:
“If the suspect was clever and crafty”, says Weil, “he might not have wanted related items found in his house during a search.” “They probably weren't out here alone.”
For the “accident theory” to be true, at least one of the victims must have still been alive as late as the afternoon of April 11—the day after the police reached the spot seen in the final images found on the camera, and 10 days since the hikers left Boquete. That date marks the final time Kris’s iPhone was powered on, according to its call log. As quoted before; mountain lead guide David Miranda says that quite a few people use the rugged mountain path from Boquete to the Ngobe village of Alto Romero—and thus pass over the Serpent River bridgehead seen on the camera—he says, “Fifteen or 20 people a week. Sometimes more.” (Especially during the mostly sunny and dry weather of the first days of April 2014). If the Holandesas were out on the trail “for more than a few days, then they probably weren’t out here alone,” echoes guide Miranda, who specializes in cloud forest safaris on the Pianista trail. The Panamanian examiner agrees that any third party involved likely had extensive knowledge of the local terrain. “If there is a criminal on the loose up around Boquete,” says the source within the national lab, “it must be someone who knows those mountains very well.” It is also in theory possible that the girls ran into foul play early on, got captured, managed to escape and hid in the jungle. Thén made the nighttime photos themselves, trying to get the attention of search teams they may have hoped were around. I have not managed to find any evidence of this however. Or maybe they were trying to see what was stalking them in the dead of night...
IGNORANCE OR DESIGN? CRITICISM
In this article, published on October 20th, 2014, Panamanian journalist Adelita Coriat spoke with coroners and specialists on the case. One of them was criminologist Calderón, who said to her that the forensic tests on the remains from Kris and Lisanne, should have been handled with extreme care. But Calderón heavily criticized the actions from the prosecutor (Betzaida Pittí). "This has been the habit of Pittí, from the moment the remains appear on the banks of the Culubre river. She has not even called criminalistics or followed the basic principles of the chain of custody", he says. "This is a valid reason to disqualify the prosecutor", concluded the criminologist. Calderón wondered how this person was in charge of investigations in the Public Ministry. "All the evidence that could give information about the cause of death was ignored, in clear violation of the investigative protocol. "We do not know if it was out of ignorance or design, but every opportunity to get to the truth was spoiled," said Calderón. And he added, "If it is out of ignorance, the question is the same: how can a person with zero knowledge in investigations be the authority that an MP represents?". The criminologist continued: "And if it is by design, what are the reasons for not doing a professional investigation?". Eventually prosecutor Pittí shared that the forensic reports had not been able to determine the causes of death of Kris and Lisanne, and that the bone remains did not show evidence of sharp weapons used on them, or mutilations.
"We do not know if it was out of ignorance or design, but every opportunity to get to the truth was spoiled"
JOURNALIST ADELITA CORIAT IS CRITICAL
She also highlights in her article that both (family lawyer) Enrique Arrocha, as well as criminologist Octavio Calderón maintain that Kris and Lisanne were murdered. Coriat, journalist with La Estrella, one of Panama’s largest newspapers, said herself to Jeremy Kryt that one of the hardest details to swallow for her is how the backpack was allegedly found washed up on the riverbank - and with bone fragments found both upstream and down from that spot - yet the electronics inside the pack were relatively undamaged. “The intact conditions of the clothes and wallet seem to contradict the hypothesis of the prosecution,” she said, citing a criminologist she interviewed in the course of her original investigation. She also told Kryt that she thought that the national prosecutor’s office did a “terrible job of handling the case.” “No chain of custody was established for the remains and belongings. No fingerprints recorded. And no care was taken not to contaminate the forensic evidence,” Coriat said. “It’s a sad fact, but serious investigation was never done [by the Public Ministry].” “Everything had to be hushed up to protect tourism.” Revenue from foreign visitors forms a major pillar of Panama’s GDP, she reminded Kryt. “I want tourists to come to Panama, too—but the government must still do its job.” Coriat’s eyes welled with tears as she talked about the case. “The victims deserve justice,” she said. “And the families deserve to know what really happened.” Coriat said she’d never been able to swallow the Ministry’s accident scenario, but that for a long time she’d felt like a Central American Cassandra—warning of a covered-up crime in the Kremers-Froon case, following up on other victims going missing in the same slice of Panama—but always hampered by the lack of official recognition and government support. - Although not all law enforcement officers in the country were so soft on the case, Kryt remarks, as a copy of the Chiriquí state judicial report, leaked to The Daily Beast and based on an 18-month investigation by police detectives and prosecutors, clearly concludes the Kremers-Froon case to be “homicide” and a “crime against personal integrity.” This local article from June 23rd 2014 declares the same: "THE CASE of the two Dutch tourists who went missing on April 1st is now being treated as "crime against personal integrity" and no longer as a disappearance, says Prosecutor Betzaida Pittí. Pittí said that the decision was made after the remains found in Bocas del Toro were confirmed as Lisanne Froon." Later, District Attorney for Chiriquí state, Idalgis Olmos, told Kryt during a meeting that the case could be “re-opened at any time,” particularly if evidence were presented to implicate a suspect. “I always said the facts didn’t add up,” said Coriat. “I always said there was more to this story than the Public Ministry wanted to admit.”
She also highlights in her article that both (family lawyer) Enrique Arrocha, as well as criminologist Octavio Calderón maintain that Kris and Lisanne were murdered. Coriat, journalist with La Estrella, one of Panama’s largest newspapers, said herself to Jeremy Kryt that one of the hardest details to swallow for her is how the backpack was allegedly found washed up on the riverbank - and with bone fragments found both upstream and down from that spot - yet the electronics inside the pack were relatively undamaged. “The intact conditions of the clothes and wallet seem to contradict the hypothesis of the prosecution,” she said, citing a criminologist she interviewed in the course of her original investigation. She also told Kryt that she thought that the national prosecutor’s office did a “terrible job of handling the case.” “No chain of custody was established for the remains and belongings. No fingerprints recorded. And no care was taken not to contaminate the forensic evidence,” Coriat said. “It’s a sad fact, but serious investigation was never done [by the Public Ministry].” “Everything had to be hushed up to protect tourism.” Revenue from foreign visitors forms a major pillar of Panama’s GDP, she reminded Kryt. “I want tourists to come to Panama, too—but the government must still do its job.” Coriat’s eyes welled with tears as she talked about the case. “The victims deserve justice,” she said. “And the families deserve to know what really happened.” Coriat said she’d never been able to swallow the Ministry’s accident scenario, but that for a long time she’d felt like a Central American Cassandra—warning of a covered-up crime in the Kremers-Froon case, following up on other victims going missing in the same slice of Panama—but always hampered by the lack of official recognition and government support. - Although not all law enforcement officers in the country were so soft on the case, Kryt remarks, as a copy of the Chiriquí state judicial report, leaked to The Daily Beast and based on an 18-month investigation by police detectives and prosecutors, clearly concludes the Kremers-Froon case to be “homicide” and a “crime against personal integrity.” This local article from June 23rd 2014 declares the same: "THE CASE of the two Dutch tourists who went missing on April 1st is now being treated as "crime against personal integrity" and no longer as a disappearance, says Prosecutor Betzaida Pittí. Pittí said that the decision was made after the remains found in Bocas del Toro were confirmed as Lisanne Froon." Later, District Attorney for Chiriquí state, Idalgis Olmos, told Kryt during a meeting that the case could be “re-opened at any time,” particularly if evidence were presented to implicate a suspect. “I always said the facts didn’t add up,” said Coriat. “I always said there was more to this story than the Public Ministry wanted to admit.”
LAWYER ARROCHA
Pittí's errors were also highlighted in this article from October 30th, 2014, detailing how family lawyer Enrique Arrocha filed several appeals of controversy against Betzaida Pittí. He claimed that she had denied him various important legal proceedings. Among the requests that were denied by the Prosecutor's Office was a 'request for new expert testing of phones and clothes of the girls, which was negative in DNA, blood and biological fluids', Arrocha said. [Later turned out to be positive for DNA and fingerprints]. He also put a request to Pittí that a tour should be made on the path to check the length of time that the girls would need in order to reach the location where their belongings appeared: backpack, camera, cell, etc. All denied. Arrocha then hiked from the Mirador of El Pianista himself, a location that appears on the camera of the girls, to the mountains, towards the river Culebre, and assured that in the time between the call for help and the time that girls took pictures on top of the trail, "they could never have reached the river, because the distance in the dry season is almost 12 hours on foot." Arrocha told Jeremy Kryt: “The problem is that the government’s hypothesis is completely illogical.” Arrocha hinted to Kryt that his life has been threatened over the Kremers-Froon case, and showed up for his interview with a bouncer-sized bodyguard. “No forensics examination was ever done at the crime scene! [..] None of the dog teams ever got near the scene either—including the Dutch dog teams! Then the indigenas just showed up with all these bones in a bag, and the prosecution accepted them. But nothing was ever verified!” “If my client and Miss Froon had died of natural causes, grease from decomposition would impregnate the clothes and backpack.”
Pittí's errors were also highlighted in this article from October 30th, 2014, detailing how family lawyer Enrique Arrocha filed several appeals of controversy against Betzaida Pittí. He claimed that she had denied him various important legal proceedings. Among the requests that were denied by the Prosecutor's Office was a 'request for new expert testing of phones and clothes of the girls, which was negative in DNA, blood and biological fluids', Arrocha said. [Later turned out to be positive for DNA and fingerprints]. He also put a request to Pittí that a tour should be made on the path to check the length of time that the girls would need in order to reach the location where their belongings appeared: backpack, camera, cell, etc. All denied. Arrocha then hiked from the Mirador of El Pianista himself, a location that appears on the camera of the girls, to the mountains, towards the river Culebre, and assured that in the time between the call for help and the time that girls took pictures on top of the trail, "they could never have reached the river, because the distance in the dry season is almost 12 hours on foot." Arrocha told Jeremy Kryt: “The problem is that the government’s hypothesis is completely illogical.” Arrocha hinted to Kryt that his life has been threatened over the Kremers-Froon case, and showed up for his interview with a bouncer-sized bodyguard. “No forensics examination was ever done at the crime scene! [..] None of the dog teams ever got near the scene either—including the Dutch dog teams! Then the indigenas just showed up with all these bones in a bag, and the prosecution accepted them. But nothing was ever verified!” “If my client and Miss Froon had died of natural causes, grease from decomposition would impregnate the clothes and backpack.”
CRIMINOLOGIST CALDERÓNCriminologist Octavio Calderón also stated in this article, another interview with Adelita Coriat, that he is convinced that Kris and Lisanne did not die due to an accident, but were murdered. Calderón says that the phosphorus found on the remains could point towards the use of fertilizers or chemicals on the remains. Desperation may have led the attacker to use such a substance to make the evidence ‘disappear’, he said. He didn't dare to draw a profile of the murderer. ‘The way in which the ankle and the bones have been found, could indicate that he is a young person who is inexperienced in these types of situations. An amateur improvising once presented with obstacles’. This could explain the presence of a pelvis and a wallet in the same place, he said. "Nothing indicates that they were near water; besides: two bones from different parts of the body of two different people never just end up washed on the same sandbank, together. This shows that someone placed them there. There is no other possible reason." The chances of Kris's pelvis and Lisanne's left foot "showing up" together in the same place are zero. "Two bones of dismembered people end up on the same sandbank, but the backpack arrives intact, in what mind does that fit?" Calderón reflected. You can read the entire articles in part 2 of this blog series. And the father of Kris Kremers appeared in Dutch late night show 'RTL Late Night' on October 1st 2014, saying that DNA of an unknown person had been found on the backpack of Kris and Lisanne and highlighting that he and his wife did not believe that their daughter and her friend Lisanne got lost in the tropical forest of Panama. According to them, two forms from the Panamanian authorities state that Kris and Lisanne were kidnapped. Newspaper La Estrella wrote meanwhile that one of the fingerprints on the smartphones of the women had been found in the Panamanian database. But no further details were provided on this by the authorities.
THE CORONERAlso interesting to read is just how scathing and strong the coroner speaks out against prosecutor Betzaida Pittí. She ruined the case according to some key people and professionals. Took no fingerprints from those involved with the search and findings of these belongings and body parts of Kris and Lisanne; the crime scene was ruined, investigators were not wearing protective clothing and could have contaminated evidence easily; the bedroom of the girls was not sealed off and entered by all sorts of people before - finally - a forensic team arrived a week later. There were shoddy or no full checks of DNA that was found on the belongings, soil from the places where these bones were found was reportedly never analysed, and the list goes on. Pittí is suspected by some to have been either incompetent or corrupt and installed on that position to bring this case and the search operations to a swift closure. She herself believes however that she was unjustly vilified and that it was done partially out of "professional jealousy".. Not long after Pittí was put on the case, and 10 weeks into intense searches (and within two weeks of the reward money being increased from $2500 to $30.000), the backpack turned up in a nearly clean condition. Which may just be coincidental of course.. And not long after, these very few and dubious looking bone and skin remnants were found. A clean dry shoe, that was later photographed looking suddenly wet and less clean. The forensic coroner said: it is unbelievable that someone as incapable as her was placed on this case and then messed the investigation up on so many levels. - Back to the interviewed coroner. When asked by crew from The Travel Channel if he was the one who actually, physically, worked with the bone fragments from Kris and Lisanne, he answered: "That's correct. I'm an expert in the study of human remains. I figured out that the bones were fragments from the right rib, a left pelvis, the tibia, femur and a right foot" [Scarlet: photos of the found boot show a left foot and a left boot, which was mentioned correctly in the actual autopsy report of this coroner]. Kinga asks if the fragments found are consistent with the story of bodies being broken up by a river. The anonymous forensic pathologist answers: "No. The state of the remains do not indicate that the victims fell in the river. When a human falls in a turbulent body of water, several breaks [fractures] immediately occur. Especially in the pelvis, the cranium [part of the skull] and the long bones." Kinga: "And you didn't observe that in the remains?" The answer: "No." About the official's statements that these girls fell from a bridge ("nothing more than a hypothesis") being unfound and never having been actually proved whatsoever, he says: "That's correct. In my opinion there is a murderer still out there. This information is based on my experience living in Mexico. When I worked in Mexico, part of my job involved closing down several labs associated with organ trafficking. I recently believe these girls were drained [all vital organs were removed], then later their bodies were dismembered and disposed of." He also states that it is correct that it is in the interest of Panamanian officials to keep this crime quiet, in order to protect tourism.
“There’s no evidence that animals scavenged the Holandesas. No claw marks. No bite marks from the fangs of animals. No marks that would indicate they had been broken up on river rocks, either"
NO MARKINGS ON THE BONES
Going by the general attorney's theory, the question is then why there were no markings on the few bones that were found. And also (aside from where most of their bodies have gone, including their skulls, which have never been found) how their bodies got so badly broken up. During the investigation, inside information and official pathology reports were leaked to private investigators on the case that revealed that the bone remnants found showed no signs of cutting, blunt trauma or bullet marks. No physical trauma at all was actually found. “We have less than 10 percent of one individual, and less than five percent of the other,” said also a Panamanian forensic anthropologist with close knowledge of the case, a member of Panama’s Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Science (IMELCF), who agreed to talk with The Daily Beast only under the condition of anonymity. Under the circumstances, “this kind of extreme fragmentation is very strange”
NO SIGNS OF TRAUMAThis local news article states the same conclusions: "The forensic report prepared by the doctors and anthropologists of the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences (IMELF) of Chiriqui indicates that on the bones of the Dutch Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon there are no signs of trauma caused by sharp objects, sharp, puncturing, projectiles or firearms. The forensic report also reveals that no evidence of dismemberment was found." Nevertheless, the official position is that the women were “dragged to death” in a river called the Culebre, the Serpent, after an unexplained hiking accident. The coroner, one of the country’s top medical examiners, stated that even under magnification “there are no discernible scratches of any kind on the bones, neither of natural nor cultural origin—there aren't any marks on the bones at all.” The coroner who worked on the bones said that they could not clarify the situation. So with no marks found on the few bones, no animal claws and teeth could have torn Lisanne's foot off. Also no human action was found, so no markings corresponding to sawing, cutting or hacking it off. But also no signs of the river and rocks breaking up the bodies. Something you would certainly expect to see if the bodies had bounced over rocks and swept through wild rivers. The same goes for the backpack and its delicate content. This is part of the mystery, and at that time in April 2014 the rivers were said to be relatively small streams and not strong enough to tear these decomposing bodies apart. “The Holandesas bodies should not have broken up like that—not in just seven or eight weeks,” the coroner says, echoing other forensic sources. “And we should have found more of their bones”. But only a small number of bones have been found, so no definite conclusion can be made of the cause of death. If there was a killer involved who had used a knife or gun for instance, the killer(s) could have purposely hidden the bones which showed these markings, or made them disappear on purpose. They found only 30-something fragments of bones of the two girls; small ones mainly and many coming from the same foot. A human body contains 206 bones so between the two women there would've been no less than 412 bones. Only finding 30-something, of which the longest one was a femur, means there is still about 85% of the bones missing. How can anyone conclude on the basis of only 15% of the bones found, that it wasn't a murder? - The IMELCF forensic anthropologist has a detailed topographical computer map in his possession, with the precise locations of the remains sites marked onscreen by color-coded circles. “Then there is the question of the bleaching. Total fragmentation of two human bodies is unlikely within such a short time frame. Especially in the cool, high-elevation environment where the bone fragments were found", he says. But the extreme desiccation observed in the autopsy is “bien raro”—even stranger and more rare. According to multiple forensic experts, these environmental factors could indicate the small-sized, scant, and scattered bone fragments found here are not the result of natural causes—but instead point to a crime.
ENVIRONMENTALIST MIRANDA
And local environmentalist Ezequiel Miranda said in July of 2014 that the situation is "very difficult to understand" since the river was not flooding at that time, which means they wouldn't have been swept away by strong currents. "The possibility of that river really dragged them is very strange," Miranda pointed out. And in a June 18th article, Adelita Coriat quoted Ezequiel Miranda: “It is not so credible that it [the backpack] was found in that sector. It seems that it could be a way to put the rescuers on the wrong track.” - Dave Mullen commented to me about this: "It is interesting this local environment expert is doubtful over the sudden appearance of the backpack. In the midst all of the fog that cloaked those initial months after April 1st, we do get comments from other local experts like this - "If they were there we would have found them" for example. But they were strangely suppressed at the time, ignored. (By contrast, guide F's narrative of an accident at the 2nd bridge overpowered everything. It was immediately fully embraced by all - the police, the media, the Froon family). But Ezequiel Miranda noted that the river was not flooding at that time, which is a point worth remembering... Miranda here seems to join with the coroner in having doubts about the official narrative."
And local environmentalist Ezequiel Miranda said in July of 2014 that the situation is "very difficult to understand" since the river was not flooding at that time, which means they wouldn't have been swept away by strong currents. "The possibility of that river really dragged them is very strange," Miranda pointed out. And in a June 18th article, Adelita Coriat quoted Ezequiel Miranda: “It is not so credible that it [the backpack] was found in that sector. It seems that it could be a way to put the rescuers on the wrong track.” - Dave Mullen commented to me about this: "It is interesting this local environment expert is doubtful over the sudden appearance of the backpack. In the midst all of the fog that cloaked those initial months after April 1st, we do get comments from other local experts like this - "If they were there we would have found them" for example. But they were strangely suppressed at the time, ignored. (By contrast, guide F's narrative of an accident at the 2nd bridge overpowered everything. It was immediately fully embraced by all - the police, the media, the Froon family). But Ezequiel Miranda noted that the river was not flooding at that time, which is a point worth remembering... Miranda here seems to join with the coroner in having doubts about the official narrative."
FORENSIC EXPERTAnother forensic expert is more precise: “There shouldn’t be bleaching on these bones,” Dr. Georgina Pacheco, who heads up the Legal Medicine Department in neighboring Costa Rica, stated this to journalist Jeremy Kryt. She agreed to review a copy of Kris Kremers’ autopsy, which was leaked to The Daily Beast. Dr. Pacheco is an expert in how the specific micro-climates and ecosystems in this region can impact taphonomic patterns—the effects of burial, decay, preservation—meaning she’s uniquely qualified to help analyze the Kremers-Froon findings. As an analogy, Pacheco cites a similar high-profile investigation she worked on recently in Costa Rica. That incident involved an American hiker named Cody Dial, who was lost in the same cordillera as Kremers and Froon, just across the border from Boquete in the Corcovado National Park. “In the Dial case the skeleton was more than ninety percent intact after about two years in the forest,” Pacheco says, “and there was no bone bleaching present.” According to Pacheco, Kris's bones appear to have been bleached evenly and completely. Sun radiation (not a constant in a cloud forest) seems therefore unlikely as the cause. The accompanying telltale fine fracture damage to the bones was also not seen here. Based on the new evidence regarding location and duration of exposure, world-famous forensic anthropologist and best-selling author Dr. Kathy Reichs agrees with Pacheco about the anomalous bleaching—and the smooth, unmarked nature of the bones.
“I always found it odd that there was no evidence of animal scavenging observed”
LAMENTING LACK OF TRANSPARENCY BY AUTHORITIES
Both Reichs and Pacheco lament the lack of transparency on the part of Panamanian authorities, and their ongoing refusal to release the full set of autopsies in the Holandesas case. With Lisanne's autopsy files being entirely absent from the case files, full stop (!). For example, some press reports claim that Lisanne Froon’s foot bones had been broken in such a way that could “only” result from a fall. But as you could read in an earlier blog post here, the IMELCF did not detect any metatarsal or other foot fractures whatsoever in Lisanne's foot.. And without access for independent review, Dr. Reichs also says she can’t be sure: “I would have to know more or see the bones. Or the boot [found with Lisanne’s foot in it]. So many causes of fracture are possible,” she says, including a “crush fracture” as opposed to a fall. “I always found it odd that there was no evidence of animal scavenging observed,” said Dr. Reichs in an email to Kryt. From the description of the environment and the probable timing of death, and “given water transport and exposure in a forest-riverine micro-climate, I would expect to see scoring, abrasion, or scavenging”. But on the other hand Dr Reichs has also said in an email to Jeremy Kryt: “In my opinion accidental death is the most probable considering all the factors and findings.” Exposed regions on sandbars or along the banks also receive more sunlight, which could account for the observed bone bleaching after the soft tissue is sloughed off. Dr. Reichs said however also that some forensic mysteries surrounding the case do still warrant further investigation—such as the fact that Panama’s national coroner reported that he failed to detect any abrasions or trauma during a microscopic examination of the remains. “I would expect to see damage due to animal scavenging,” repeated Reichs, But she then fell back on one of the more often heard principal questions; why would any criminal or criminals “leave cash, a passport, and electronics in the back pack?”
Both Reichs and Pacheco lament the lack of transparency on the part of Panamanian authorities, and their ongoing refusal to release the full set of autopsies in the Holandesas case. With Lisanne's autopsy files being entirely absent from the case files, full stop (!). For example, some press reports claim that Lisanne Froon’s foot bones had been broken in such a way that could “only” result from a fall. But as you could read in an earlier blog post here, the IMELCF did not detect any metatarsal or other foot fractures whatsoever in Lisanne's foot.. And without access for independent review, Dr. Reichs also says she can’t be sure: “I would have to know more or see the bones. Or the boot [found with Lisanne’s foot in it]. So many causes of fracture are possible,” she says, including a “crush fracture” as opposed to a fall. “I always found it odd that there was no evidence of animal scavenging observed,” said Dr. Reichs in an email to Kryt. From the description of the environment and the probable timing of death, and “given water transport and exposure in a forest-riverine micro-climate, I would expect to see scoring, abrasion, or scavenging”. But on the other hand Dr Reichs has also said in an email to Jeremy Kryt: “In my opinion accidental death is the most probable considering all the factors and findings.” Exposed regions on sandbars or along the banks also receive more sunlight, which could account for the observed bone bleaching after the soft tissue is sloughed off. Dr. Reichs said however also that some forensic mysteries surrounding the case do still warrant further investigation—such as the fact that Panama’s national coroner reported that he failed to detect any abrasions or trauma during a microscopic examination of the remains. “I would expect to see damage due to animal scavenging,” repeated Reichs, But she then fell back on one of the more often heard principal questions; why would any criminal or criminals “leave cash, a passport, and electronics in the back pack?”
YOUTUBER WEIGHS IN ON THE FRACTURESRegarding these later discovered (according to the NFI) broken foot bones in Lisanne's foot, in this youtube video Peaked Interest discusses the specific fracture of Lisanne's foot: around three small bones were found to be broken (metatarsal bones, so the ones leading to your toes. But no fractures were detected in Lisanne's heel bone for instance). Peaked Interest beliefs the following [full quote]: "The official report states that the broken metatarsal is evidence and consistent with death by falling into the river. Except, broken metatarsals don't happen when you fall. You can sometimes get a slight abrasion of the fifth metatarsal, which is your little toe, because there is a strong tendon attached to the base of that toe and the ankle and when you roll your ankle, that little corner gets pulled off because the tendon is too strong. This is referred to as a base of fifth metatarsal fracture. But that's not what we saw in the reports. The reports state that it was an oblique fracture of a middle metatarsal. That doesn't happen with a fall. Metatarsal fractures in the center of the foot happen when you get crushing damage to the top. That's how metatarsal fractures happen. Just like when you fall over on your hands [while stretching out your arms to break a fall], you don't break the hand itself. You break where the force stops. So the force hits your hand, travels up to your wrist, where it meets resistance and your wrist breaks. Or, you sometimes get a broken forearm. But more often than not it's the wrist. The same thing happens with a leg. If you get impact damage to the bottom of your foot, then that force travels up to the foot and to where you usually get a fracture of the ankle. Or more than likely you'll get a fracture at the bottom of your tibia and fibula bones. (The bone kind of buckles into what's called the torus fracture). That's what would happen if you had a fall onto your feet. - Now if you rolled your foot, which would be consistent with a fall in my opinion. Then you would expect to see a malleolus fracture. Which is just to a little bit of the side of your ankles, where the balls of your ankles come out. Those tend to break when you roll your ankle. But the report doesn't state that. It states 'broken metatarsals', which to me is just absolutely inconsistent with an accidental fall hypothesis."
Peaked Interests view is mirroring what someone calling himself 'Unwelcomed' wrote me: "The Panamanian authorities state that the broken metatarsal bones in Lisanne's foot "prove" a fall, but this type of foot injury isn't a falling injury at all: you only get this type of injury from blunt force impact to the top of the foot. So when it got hit by a weapon for instance, or a rock fell on the top of her foot... Falling injuries are nearly exclusively resulting in damage to the tibia or heel of your foot. And if they had fallen into the water from great height, they would have also broken half the bones in their bodies from the impact. But there were no injuries to the rib bone or the leg bones."
Heterodynist wrote recently: "I studied physical anthropology and archaeology, and I began preparations for medical anthropology training, which would have included forensics. I can identify any bone in the human body and tell you information about what each indicates about the overall person that they belonged to. There are a surprising variety of things you can tell from even the smallest of bones. If there was NOT any signs of a “ball” of human skin, and we have a foot in a shoe, then I would seriously want to know EXACTLY what process removed that foot from the rest of the body. The manner of that injury to the body (even if post mortem) would help us understand a LOT about this case. Even if the foot was in water for weeks, there would be enough intact tissue to determine if blood had been pumping to the foot when it was severed. I know that if someone analyzed that evidence -and had enough skill to DNA test the tissue- then you better believe they probably could at least indicate whether or not the foot was severed while the young lady was alive. Other key details can be discovered here, also…like, for example, the forces on the foot that caused it to be severed. Were the bones crushed by the bite of a large animal? Was the skin ripped from the body, leaving striations of the tissue as it tore? Was there evidence that the foot was waterlogged before it was separated from the body? Nothing I’m saying takes extremely great skill in this area… All it takes is someone who has the training they would need to determine these details. Anyone with a few years experience in the field could at least explain the manner in which the foot was removed from the body. If we DID have some basic “broad strokes” information on the evidence, then the details would come together a lot better. As it is, I am frustrated that SOMEONE knows what is relevant, but they aren’t sharing." "Something detached the foot from the body. From my experience sinews don’t just separate in a month or so. Something severs them. Not to be graphic, but I’ve done human dissection and I’ve cut these same sinews. When they are wet, and in formaldehyde, it’s easier to cut them than in life, but even then it’s not that easy…When they are exposed to the sun then they dry and get strong enough to use as guitar strings (and animal sinews were the original guitar strings, so I mean that specifically). So, I would just expect animals had to have separated them, or something did… I mean, something stronger than a heavy rain. Maybe an insanely strong flash flood, but I don’t thing so. It’s not unusual for bodies to fall to pieces after death, but when they do so, there are agents that cause that separation… That’s all I mean. When bodies of people are found in the woods, they use microscopic analysis to look for bug parts and fecal matter, microscopic wear analysis of the ends of bones and other harder structures…because it’s always SOMETHING that causes it, and that something leaves clues behind. It’s not that anything is unusual about this kind of decomposition, but it’s the fact that it is essential to know what route the decomposition took, so you can analyze what happened to get it to that point. Whether they were in the water or they were on the shore or wherever their bodies managed to wind up, the details of how they decomposed can speak volumes about what happened to them. Sorry to be graphic. I’m just illustrating the point. If an animal bites someone’s foot off while they are alive, then the blood coagulates on the opened wounds and you can show that even weeks later. If the person dies and their blood stops pumping, and then their foot is removed by some process, it leaves black hematoma type markings all over the skin*. That is very important to show that they died, THEN their body was broken up. Nothing would be conclusive about these details unless there was somehow a “butchery mark” on the bones, showing they were cut intentionally with human tools. THEN we would have a lot of reason to suspect foul play. It doesn’t seem that was the case. I just know that if I were an investigator then I would focus on talking to the people who had gone hiking with them before. I would figure out their skill level. I would then want to see the route myself. Finally I would examine the physical evidence and recorded photographs by the forensic team. I would want to see what we have to go on, and I would follow the standard “cold case files” process of looking for something new in the existing evidence that is there. You can’t know what is out of place until you find something truly out of place. However, if the bodies were to have separated by natural processes, then I would still look for evidence of previous injuries. The reason bodies are so essential is that they give so many details of the potential evidence of a case. There is just so much you can learn from them. Even 20 years later, clues can be found. Something as small as looking for evidence in their blood of injections, might yield seriously important clues. If they were injured for several days, they would have microbes in their blood that could show infection. There would be more white blood cells than usual. It’s just such a variety of things, that I can’t say what it would be, but I know it’s possible to find these things in any good crime lab. I wish I just knew the results in this case..." 
Lime or corrosive substances The director of the Institute of Legal medicine (IMELCF) who ran the forensics of this case, Humberto Mas, stated that he came up with a theory that can explain the manner in which the (few) remains were found. He stated that there is a possibility that the bodies were found cut up and dismembered, due to the use of Lime treatment. "Much depends on the quantity and quality of the lime used, but the action can be a matter of days". Lime is typically a mixture of calcium hydroxide and sodium or potassium hydroxide. All corrosive materials. If the bodies had been covered in Lime, its corrosive actions would cause the limbs and extremities to separate from the rest of the body, and fall off. Lime can dissolve human remains quickly, leaving no traces. This could perhaps help explain the separated foot that was found, which showed no sign of having been physically cut off with a knife, or been torn by an animal. The process of decomposing a body in lime would only take several days, this doctor stated. But there would be a fine time balance, because lime can dissolve bones in no time into unrecognizable small fragments. The bones that were found were not affected like that. They were intact and upon microscopic inspection did not seem to be dissected or shot or knifed, nor gnarled on by animals. An autopsy report from September 19th, 2014 states about the bones: "In turn, all of them had a white coloration that tells us about two facts: that they were exposed to the sun for a long time or that the burial site corresponded to the terrain of very basic chemical elements, affecting the phosphates and calcium carbonates of each one of the bony elements, causing whitish coloration." Forensic investigators hint both directly and indirectly at the process of "bleaching", and link it to the discovery of traces of phosphorus found all over Kris' bones and to the (intentional) use of chemicals.
Nevertheless, the cause of the chemical treatment of the bones from Kris has never been officially explained. Necessary follow up tests were never ordered by Betzaida Pittí and she never justified why this was. And so people debate what may have caused this 'bleached' bone look. There was not enough sun to bleach them at the time (rain season and they were in the cloud forest) and sun-bleached bones do look a bit different normally than the pelvis of Kris. Lime is sometimes attributed to fertilizing of coffee plantations, but these are not located in the more wild area where Kris and Lisanne disappeared or where these bones were found. There was also no natural potassium found in the soil where they were discovered. So, the autopsy specialist in this case (a Panamanian) stated at the time that purposely used Lime or another corrosive means was an acceptable explanation, as it quickly dissolves ligaments and such, and this is in fact a method where one can find severed foots or limbs without signs of damage on the bone. Of course, that isn't definitive proof either. But bacteria and mosquitoes and such don't sever a whole foot from a corpse.. And like I wrote already earlier, there is also a small chance that the feet and hands and heads came off due to disarticulation of soft tissue. But the very short time frame of their deaths may make this scenario less likely.. The IMELCF forensic anthropologist said that there’s a good reason why the Public Ministry is being so secretive about the autopsies: “The low number of bones, the lack of marks on them, and the presence of bleaching—all of those could suggest the use of lime, or a similar chemical, to speed up decomposition.” And he’s seen this done before, in cases involving Mexican cartels. “Their sicarios [hitmen] will use lime to break down corpses in a hurry,” he explains. The Holandesas' remains “present similar characteristics” he says, to those of cartel victims he’s examined. Although farmers in the region have access to corrosive substances such as lime or comparable substances (who use it for instance when burying dead animals or to balance soil acidity levels, allowing plant roots to absorb phosphorus more efficiently). “Findings like these are often due to human processing [of the corpses],” said also Carl Weil. “Lime or even lye,” could have been used in the Kremers-Froon case, based on the “limited remains and their condition”. Search teams hunting for Kris and Lisanne also hoovered up other human remains found in the area, likely from a “washed-out indigenous cemetery,” according to the IMELCF source. However, not even these older bones showed signs of bleaching, says the medical examiner, who personally studied all the related bone fragments in the case. “I just can’t tell you it was an accident,” he says of the Holandesas, “because the science does not support that conclusion.” Adela Coriat, a good and truth-seeking reporter from one of Panama’s largest newspapers, has investigated the possible use of quicklime in the Holandesas case in detail. “If I could get that far on my own, surely the authorities could have taken things to the next level. They could’ve subpoenaed sales records, and cross referenced [lime] buyers with known suspects. But they didn’t seem to care.” She has interviewed investigators who stated that the few bone remains of the girls that were brought back contained inorganic fertilizer or calcium compounds. 
I received some interesting emails from someone who did more intense reading up on Lime (calcium oxide), named Shark. And he linked me to relatively recent scientific research, which shows that when pig cadavers were buried with lime, they actually decomposed slower than normal. The researchers used both hydrated lime and quicklime, both with the same slowing effects on the decay of the carcasses. This made us both scratch our heads; how can specialists in this Kris and Lisanne case then state that lime would have helped speed up the decomposition of a human body? When all it does effectively that could be useful in this case, is mask the smell of decomposition? It seems that when you use lime improperly, it can actually preserve bones and tissue (by dehydrating soft tissue and reducing the decay process, mummifying the remains). I also found conflicting information btw, here it is stated for instance that: "Corpses were cut into pieces and then cleaned and curated using the quicklime, which was procured by heating limestone. The quicklime, when exposed to air, covered the bones in calcium carbonate, or lime plaster. By boiling body parts in pots of quicklime, the flesh and fat became easier to remove from the bones." But this may be merely relevant information when you want to boil bones... and it contradicts this information. And what's worse, it washes phosphates away. - Shark suggested to look into lye. And yes, lye (or sodium hydroxide) does seem to speed up decomposition. Assassins apparently "typically use sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide, strong bases commonly known as lye. Heated to 300 degrees, a lye solution can turn a body into tan liquid with the consistency of mineral oil in just three hours. If your kettle isn’t pressurized, you won’t be able to heat the solution much above the boiling point of water, 212 degrees, and it might take an additional hour or two to complete the process. Narco-hit men did not pioneer this technique. Adolph Luetgert, known in his day as the “Sausage King of Chicago,” dumped his wife into a boiling vat of lye in 1897, then burned what was left. Police eventually found bone fragments in the factory’s furnace." And here is a Mexican cartel case where lye was used to get rid of 300 bodies. So lye transforms bodies in some sort of liquid and turns the bones into calcium phosphate. Problem is that lye can turn even bones into liquid if you use it hot and long enough, something which clearly didn't take place with the few bones found of Kris and Lisanne.. I also never heard anyone about the autopsy report mentioning 'softened bones' in this case. But the phosphates found on the bleached bones from Kris could theoretically point towards a method used to speed up the decomposition of said bones. Lye was not found in the soil samples, taken during the investigation of this case. Aside from one of the girls possibly having been alive quite a bit longer than the other, it is also possible that a 3rd party was in the process of dissolving the girls' bodies with chemicals, but that they were interrupted in the process and had to move the remains. Searches were relentless at the time. Hence the different states of decomposition in both girls' bones.
IMPERFECTPLAN ALSO WROTE ABOUT KRIS' BONE ImperfectPlan dedicated an entire post to the analysis of the state of Kris' (bleached) pelvic bone. He concluded that there should have been microscopic scratches found if the bones had been dragged by the river and that bleaching by the sun did not really occur on the scale it should have, if the bones had been exposed for a long period of time, as claimed. "Sunshine doesn’t bleach bones evenly. Sunshine radiation typically torches the upward facing part of the bone." Sun bleaching would have made the bone more brittle also, something that was not seen by the coroner. About the presence of lime (where the phosphorus may have come from) on Kris' bones, Kris concluded: "This also tells us something unexpected: If the perpetrator was educated enough to use farming fertilizer to dispose of the bones, they didn’t do it “properly”. So, why didn’t they do it properly? This opens a lot of doors for speculation. Perhaps they were trying to do it conspicuously while search teams were in the area? Maybe they had curious neighbors or family members that they were trying to hide it from? Perhaps they did utilize a caustic soda solution on Kris’s remains but then realized they wouldn’t have enough time to perform the same process on Lisanne’s remains. Many questions come from this." On the bones being found in/near the river he commented: "The fact that there were no scratches is perplexing. If Kris’s bones had endured enough time in the water to be free of all tissue, then the bones equally should have shown visible signs of abrasions and scratching." About the effect of sunshine on the bones, he wrote: "If Kris’s bones were exposed to sunlight, the evidence shows that they certainly were not exposed for enough time to cause bleaching. In fact, it looks more like it has an earthy olive green tint. And of course, all of this ignores the fact that chemical traces were also found on the bones. [..] Observing the photo of Kris Kremers pelvis bone, there is no visible surface cracking or flaking present. Any “grease” or oil from fat has been removed by chemicals." Other conclusions from Chris: "There are no other known natural sources of phosphorus or lime that could contribute to the rapid decomposition of Kris’s remains. Therefore, unless another unknown source of chemicals is available naturally, we can confidently assume that chemicals, likely from fertilizer, were utilized by humans." "The person that attempted to utilize chemicals to chemically destroy Kris’s bones was likely a novice or amateur to the process. The soft tissue experienced rapid decomposition, the bones experienced mild chemical alteration, then later the bone decomposition process was abruptly halted." "Decomposition studies suggest that if they had died naturally their remains would have a clear presence of abrasions and scratches in the river. It’s impossible for bones to travel many kilometres downstream without displaying visible micro-abrasions." Chris also concluded about the pelvic bone of Kris Kremers: "Five considerably strong joints and ligaments that somehow managed to completely disconnect from Kris Kremers pelvis. [..] The two most likely scenarios remain: Either Kris Kremers suffered a catastrophic fall that decimated her pelvis, or someone intentionally attempted to destroy her bones. All other theories are too far fetched." And about Lisanne's bones he concluded: " Given that Lisanne’s skin was in an early stage of decomposition, yet her remains were clearly dis-articulated, we can confidently conclude that her remains went through an unnatural process."
Regarding dangerous animals and fast flowing riversThe black panther and the puma are very rare sightings in Panama and usually stay away from humans. Although I ran into this review of guide F's tourist tours, and in 2009 a guy named Alex went out with F. and saw... a puma. But he also added that in all his years of hiking in the area, F. had never before seen a puma. So this was a very lucky sighting. As for puma's attacking humans, that's even more rare. And at that time the rivers were rather shallow and not wildly fast flowing yet; the girls could swim well, and even if they fell in a deadly manner or drowned, even then the river at the time may not have been strong enough to carry dead bodies and tear them apart. And these monkey bridges are feeble, you don't cross them together at the same time; only one person can go at a time, so the chance that both girls fell into the river there is also very small, logically speaking. Besides, then their backpack would have gotten soaked normally, as water also comes in through the zipper of the bag. We can assume that if they fell into the river and died, or ended up in the river dead, then one cannot keep up that this river was strong enough to tear their bodies apart, yet allowed the cheap lycra backpack to remain mostly unharmed and its content intact.. Which is just what investigators claimed most likely happened. This local criminal investigator also underlines this [quote]: "Betzaida Pittí, prosecutor in this case, charged with its investigation, supports the drowning theory, despite the fact that at the start of April the Culubre river was not strong enough to carry a body." Adding to this mystery is that the bone remnants were found only about 2 kilometres away (when following the river directly) from the dry river rocks and cable bridge where some investigators think the nighttime photos were taken. It is highly unlikely that two adult human bodies are going to be broken up this bad after only such a short stretch of distance in a river... We need to also remember that bodies can decompose very rapidly in the humid and not very cold conditions in this region. It is important to realize that aside from there not being any factual signs of river dragging on the bones and belongings; bodies decompose and when they do, they get bloated. And aside from not looking like gorgeous floating Ophelia by then, bad swelling of bodies may also make them even more prone to getting stuck in narrow river bends and in between those countless river rocks over there... Also, if the girls were still alive when passing these rivers: along the river near the monkey bridges are houses situated, and are people living; why wouldn't they go to them for help, instead of passing a monkey bridge and river, moving even further away from the Boquete region where they had to go? And if the river dragged the girls to their death, ánd also tore their bodies to pieces, how come the few clothes found and the backpack showed no signs of blood under the microscope, no bodily tissues at all? The IMELF Institute for Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences declared this; no blood was found on the recovered clothes and backpack. Were they not wearing clothes at all then when they both -supposedly - fell in the river? And a wild animal like a panther, a puma or a big snake such as the Bushmaster would have left marks on the clothes as well. Although they can drag their food into trees to eat it there, which may "perhaps" (small chance I think) explain the lack of bones and skeletal remains found. But none of those animals can crack big bones or eat and digest a skull for instance. And the last registered puma or panther attack in that region dates back 20 years, and involved the attack of a cow (they kept data on this for the past twenty years straight). To repeat the words of this criminologist - Octavio Calderón; "if the beasts had attacked them, where are the skulls?" These animals do not swallow a skull. Cougars are solitary animals, who avoid interaction with humans and if a snake had been the cause, it would attack one person, not two at the same time. And to repeat the words of the lawyer of the Kremers family, Enrique Arrocha: "If the girls were attacked by wild animals, why are their clothes found intact?" If this aggression had occurred, the blood and tear marks would be clearly visible on the clothes, and this is not the case, the lawyer said.
No blood traces.. Family lawyer Arrocha hit out hard at the official statement, which wasn't well received The families' lawyer blasted the official reading and the lack of explanation for the chemical treatment and the visible bleaching of Kris' bones. In fact, the bleaching was completely ignored in the official report, despite the coroner finding phosphates on them. There was also no mentioning of the lack of bodily (fat) tissues on the clothes, backpack or any other things found by the search party. Normally if a body decomposes, fat dissolves and soaks the clothes, in such a manner that is impossible to wash off by a stream or river. But the official case report did state in black and white that no blood was found on the few clothes that were retrieved (which you would assume rules then out an attack by a wild animal). But nothing about bodily fats. The lawyer also commented on Kris' bones being found completely bare: "After 2 months the bone should not be bare, but still covered with significant amounts of flesh unless of course there was human intervention." Kris' parents and Enrique Arrocha made it clear that in their view, a third party had to be involved and that foul play was to blame.
Tourists are warned about robberies on the Pianista trail in the Lonely Planet guide and drug cartels also operate in these regions, although Lonely Planet also describes the Pianista trail walk as "a pleasant day hike". In 2014 the full Lonely Planet description was: "This pleasant day hike winds through dairy land and into humid cloud forest. You need to wade across a small river after 200m, but then it’s a steady, leisurely incline for 2km before you start to climb a steeper, narrow path. The path winds deep into the forest, though you can turn back at any time. To access the trailhead, take the first right fork out of Boquete (heading north) and cross over two bridges. Immediately before the third bridge, about 4km out of town, a track leads off to the left between a couple of buildings. Don't go alone and exercise caution as robberies have been reported here." - So, the reader was warned that the path winds deep into the forest but that you can 'turn back' at any time. No word about the trail being a loop. And a warning to be cautious and not go there alone due to robberies in the past.. In 2020 the text was adjusted a bit in the Lonely Planet and it now reads: "This day-hike wends its way through dairy land and into humid cloud forest. You need to wade across a small river after 200m, but then it’s a steady, leisurely incline for 2km before you start to climb a steeper, narrow path. Using a guide is highly recommended. The path leads deep into the forest, but you can turn back at any time. To access the trailhead from Boquete, head north on the right bank of the river and cross over two bridges. Immediately before the third bridge, about 4km out of town, a track leads off to the left between a couple of buildings. The trail is not especially difficult, but it isn't always well maintained. In April 2014 two Dutch nationals died while hiking here, though the cause of their deaths remains a mystery. Don't go alone and always let the people at your hostel or hotel know your plans."
A local called El Hedonista wrote on this local information board on April 6th, 2014: "I have read reports of at least two different robberies on that Pianista trail. The last I read was that two known criminals were arrested and identified by the victims but were not kept after the victims did not show up for the trial (they were tourists and had returned to their home country). I'm quite certain I read that on this forum but it has been a while." With Lee Zeltzer replying: "Your information is correct and the authorities do have that information including names of the Perps. In this local video reporting, an assault is also considered an option. Locals living on the Pianista trail tell the reporter that attacks happen there at times and that only two months previous, a married couple were attacked (they say in the video by indigenous robbers) when they made the exact same hike.
Jungle expert Rick Morales (38), who is from that region and has been a jungle survival specialist for many years, trekking through the entire Panamanian jungle from north to south in 2011, also stated that he considers the chance that they got lost very slim. The Pianista path is clear to follow, and even íf they actually had gotten lost, they would have been found in due time, he agrees. Many other tourists endured the same thing near Boquete and they were found by rescue teams. In this area, you do run into other people within a day or two, if not sooner. He also thinks it is unlikely that they had an accident. If one of them had fallen or hurt herself, the other would have been able to get help relatively quickly. Even if they had gotten lost, you normally survive multiple days in this jungle. Rick has never seen one of the big cats in the jungle of Panama, which he has walked regularly since the age of 13, and he also says they aren't to be found in the region near Boquete. Rick Morales thinks that Kris and Lisanne were the victims of a criminal act. Otherwise, the girls would have been long found, he stated, either dead or alive. By the way, check out Rock Morales' awesome videos on the (in)famous Darièn Gap. And here is another good video of a hike through the Darièn Gap. It is an often deadly jungle trek: IOM’s Missing Migrants Project recorded 27 deaths in 2016 in South America, compared to only 2 deaths recorded in 2015. Of these deaths, 89 per cent occurred in Colombia, most of which occurred on the Colombia– Panama border in the Darièn Gap and the Urabá Gulf. But the true number of deaths is likely to be much higher. The Darièn Gap is notoriously inaccessible, and illegal armed groups are present in the area. Migrants who have travelled through the gap have reported the presence of heavily decomposed bodies. Jan Philip Braunish (a Swede) also died in this part of the Panamanian jungle. A local Panamanian man says about the jungle trek in the video: "I helped a lot of people, particularly women with children. A lot of people think we [smugglers] are bad. Because many have passed through here and not made it. They have fallen. They have fallen and died. The same with the river. Because they don't know what the river is like. They'll enter it and then bam, bam, bam bam. Goodbye. And that's why a person like that needs someone to guide them. And guide them well. Because alone, it's difficult."
Why is Panama's Darien Gap so dangerous?
“Deep in the jungle [of the Darién Gap], robbery, rape and human trafficking are as dangerous as wild animals, insects and a lack of clean water,” says Jean Gough, UNICEF director for Latin America and the Caribbean. “The Darién Gap is a roadless, lawless stretch of mountainous rainforest straddling Colombia and Panama.”
And Jp Borges wrote last year under this youtube video (translated from Portuguese): "I have "worked" on this case with the staff of 'The Daily Beast'. I think it is opportune to talk about it and to inform them better. A hypothesis released by the Panamanian authorities says "accident", however, such a hypothesis has NEVER been confirmed. After Kris Kremers' study, we concluded that there are no wild animals in the area, that Kris Kremers bone had an anomalous whitening, something that is not in accordance with the period of decomposition (we consulted Florentine researchers), and the place where they were had a great unity, something that would make the decomposition even more difficult. Researching more, we found that a specific acid, used a lot by drug cartels to decompose a body quickly, ends up giving this excessive bleaching of the bone. A photo was erased from the camera and HD, something that would be impossible to do without a computer. Unfortunately I can not talk about the main suspicion of the case, however, it is being analyzed carefully.""One thing that he wanted to point out, Panamanian police in his investigation concluded that it was "homicide", but the government of the country did not release such information for fear of affecting local tourism, is one of the things that strengthen Panama's economy and tourism, mainly of Europeans. Incidentally, this case will have no answers any time soon, but there is an analysis of 3 homicides that occurred the same way in the region in 2016."
A blogger and mystery writer, living in Panama (near Boquete actually in the mountains), wrote: "While most believed the girls had simply stepped off a trail and became lost, as others certainly have before them, Panama has also seen its share of crimes, including human trafficking, serial murders and lots more to fuel the imagination. On top of this, our particular locale suffers from a persistent, urban legend that casts healthy young adults and children as victims of a Central American organ harvesting scheme. I’ve always maintained that by moving to Panama, I’ve happened upon a treasure-trove of potential plot lines. This is one time I didn’t want to think about all the different possibilities. Unfortunately, as news of the girls’ disappearance spread throughout our community, there were several awful “what if” scenarios that lent special energy to the developing hunt. It didn’t take long for that hunt to come together, and, when it did, it was huge: Coordinating it was Panama’s Policia Nacional, along with the Directorate of Judicial Investigation and the National Civil Protection System, a mouthful collectively known as SINAPROC." And below Spanish youtube videos, many people leave stories and anecdotes about crime cases in their areas. For instance one person wrote in Spanish that in Manaus (Brazil) a tourist who went on an Amazon rainforest tour was raped, killed and had her arms and legs cut off. And this British young woman, Emma Kelty, who made a canoe travel through the Amazon also made a distress call.... never to be seen again alive. Turns out she was most likely robbed and killed by local criminals, or 'river pirates'. Just one of many such cases. The world is becoming smaller due to all our affordable travelling and the internet, but that doesn't mean you should not prepare yourself for culture shocks and possible danger. (And this definitely also applies to close to home situations). The US Overseas Security Advisory Security Council (OSAC), which is an arm of the US State Department, also considered some parts of Panama, including Bocas, 'extremely dangerous': "The area around Bocas and Colon are specifically, extremely dangerous…the province of Chiriqui, in which Boquete is located, has seen an increase in violent street-gangs, predominantly around the coastal city of David." "Panamá remains relatively safe when compared to other Central American countries, yet crime rates are high, including shootings, rapes, armed robberies, muggings, and thefts. The provinces with the largest cities also had the highest overall crime rates: Panamá, Colón, Herrera, and Chiriquí. [..] It is important to note that crime reporting is typically lower in some rural provinces." - Drug-wise, there is no hard evidence that the Pianista trail is a widely used drug route. However, there has nevertheless been talk that the Pianista trail is part of a (part-time, potential) drug route to Bocas. We know that this is the fast, hidden route to Bocas. And for drugs to make it from Colombia to Mexico for instance, one simply hás to cross Panama, one way or another. The girls may not have stumbled so much on illegal activities, but this trail could still be used by unsavoury types, and not be as safe as the tourist guides like to make it sound. However: nothing in this case points towards professional cartel involvement. Cartels are mostly brutal, effective and fearless. They would have gotten rid of Kris and Lisanne soon and effectively and not bothered with planting a backpack months later, or bone remnants, in order to set out a fake trail. That all points in my view towards a local, with a lot to lose and willing to manipulate the narrative in order to stay undetected. Or to a local crime in any case. Just like local-style robberies have been reported at the time, committed on the Pianista trail, instead of clinical professional cartel killings.
For all theories about what could have happened are inconsistencies and strange aspects to be named
And with so much uncertainty and lack of firm conclusions, with so few bone remnants also found, it is no wonder that message boards and comment sections have since exploded with discussions and alternative theories. After all; two beautiful young foreign girls left on a desolate walking trail; what could possibly go wrong? Some support the accident theory while others think that there are simply too many strange details in this case to come to one definite conclusion. Some blame the deaths of Kris and Lisanne on kidnapping and rape, crime or a suspicious acting tour guide. Others are convinced that Kris and Lisanne simply made the wrong decisions, got lost in a hostile jungle while scarcely dressed, and died from thirst, hunger or a deadly accident in the river or a ravine. It also depends what sites you read. I noticed that Spanish videos and discussion boards seem to lean more towards crime and not many commentators attack others there for saying this out loud. But on American, European or Russian sites, people seem to lean more towards the accident theory. And discussions can get heated, as those defending a crime scenario are sometimes attacked or ridiculed. But at the end of the day, all we do is play wannabe detective, juggling with the facts and information that we have, to come up with our own version of events. Yet it means nothing ultimately, as we simply don't have all the facts, and not sufficient info to come to a solid conclusion of what happened. This case has become like a mirror of sorts for many people, on which they project their own experiences, ideas and convictions. I lean towards a crime because to me, there are too many inconsistencies and irrational strange things to believe that they got lost and fell to their deaths. I can make up a crime scenario where mostly everything we do know fits in, but that does mean that we are dealing with an atypical murderer. And I understand why some people are not willing to accept such a thing, and prefer to stick with a lost or accident scenario, because that is what seems most logical to them and because there is not enough evidence to assume a crime took place. Just like there is not enough evidence either that it was an accident, for instance because the remains and the specific use of the phones seem atypical for an accident. So, there is something to say for many theories and none of them are a perfect fit when we go by common logic. It won't change the outcome of this case most likely though, as it is locked and even the girls' parents seem to have accepted the status quo, although the Kremers family believe that their daughter and her friend were kidnapped, and the Froon family believes that they had an accident. The case is relatively old, and without any new facts emerging, it won't be reopened I think. But it is interesting for many people (me included) to ponder about all the aspects of this mystery story and come up with our own theories.
**Please note that this map is a snapshot of the operations at some point during the searches. This is not an end shot of all the terrain which Sinaproc has searched. They eventually searched through the whole area behind the Mirador, and also all the terrain off the beaten paths. Sinaprocs spokesperson concluded at the end that the girls were not there. By August of 2014 they were still searching the area. This map is not conclusive therefore and only added here as an illustration of their operation. And a better image, found by Juan, "With icons, where the dogs searched, where helicopters flew, and where there are cows in the meadows.."
The monkey bridge and river crossing narrative
When Jeremy Kryt first wrote about the disappearance of Kris and Lisanne, he was informed by a local tour guide from Boquete that the night photos had been taken near the infamous monkey bridges up there. No evidence was provided for this, but the confidence and tone of authority with which this narrative was sold to Kryt, meant he initially wrote confidently about this. Was it guide F. who told him this? Either him or Plinio. But guide F. in any case perpetuated the narrative by repeating it over and over in media interviews in mid to late June. That the two Dutch women got lost and had an accident that presumably led to the location seen in the night photos: the monkey bridges. This narrative from guide F. has been so powerful that until this day, the most comments I get below my youtube videos are from people claiming that Kris and Lisanne must have gotten injured and camped out near those monkey bridges, before succumbing to hunger or injuries. Guide F. truly planted those monkey bridges into the public consciousness. I think he even was the tour guide who told Kryt about this, leading to his initial Losters style articles in The Daily Beast. But people forget that not only has nobody till date identified the location of the night photos (no photo or video evidence of the spot, not even near those monkey bridges), but that Sinaproc also had a small army of professional searchers up by Friday April 4th. And they brought canines too and went past all those monkey bridges. As did many others, given that the monkey bridges follow the main trail there, which is used by many on a daily and weekly basis. There was never a clue found of Kris and Lisanne or their camp there. Not even by helicopters. People never seem to stop and imagine all these searchers swarming the place so soon. Kris and Lisanne would have been found if they truly had set camp near those monkey bridges. There would have been water available there and they would not have starved within 11 days. And yet.... their few remains and possessions WERE eventually found along the river, far north of the monkey bridges. Planted or not (and I believe they were): this further cements the assumption with many that the night location must have been along one of the river channels. Never mind those rivers are rocky, bendy and with not enough water at the time to carry a backpack all the way to Alto Romero. I can't help thinking that someone involved in their disappearance created the monkey bridge and river narrative and consciously sold it to the public. Then had his staff members find the backpack after 10 weeks, had his brother handle the bag and then had police present the bag as the ultimate Lost evidence. Case closed.
When Jeremy Kryt first wrote about the disappearance of Kris and Lisanne, he was informed by a local tour guide from Boquete that the night photos had been taken near the infamous monkey bridges up there. No evidence was provided for this, but the confidence and tone of authority with which this narrative was sold to Kryt, meant he initially wrote confidently about this. Was it guide F. who told him this? Either him or Plinio. But guide F. in any case perpetuated the narrative by repeating it over and over in media interviews in mid to late June. That the two Dutch women got lost and had an accident that presumably led to the location seen in the night photos: the monkey bridges. This narrative from guide F. has been so powerful that until this day, the most comments I get below my youtube videos are from people claiming that Kris and Lisanne must have gotten injured and camped out near those monkey bridges, before succumbing to hunger or injuries. Guide F. truly planted those monkey bridges into the public consciousness. I think he even was the tour guide who told Kryt about this, leading to his initial Losters style articles in The Daily Beast. But people forget that not only has nobody till date identified the location of the night photos (no photo or video evidence of the spot, not even near those monkey bridges), but that Sinaproc also had a small army of professional searchers up by Friday April 4th. And they brought canines too and went past all those monkey bridges. As did many others, given that the monkey bridges follow the main trail there, which is used by many on a daily and weekly basis. There was never a clue found of Kris and Lisanne or their camp there. Not even by helicopters. People never seem to stop and imagine all these searchers swarming the place so soon. Kris and Lisanne would have been found if they truly had set camp near those monkey bridges. There would have been water available there and they would not have starved within 11 days. And yet.... their few remains and possessions WERE eventually found along the river, far north of the monkey bridges. Planted or not (and I believe they were): this further cements the assumption with many that the night location must have been along one of the river channels. Never mind those rivers are rocky, bendy and with not enough water at the time to carry a backpack all the way to Alto Romero. I can't help thinking that someone involved in their disappearance created the monkey bridge and river narrative and consciously sold it to the public. Then had his staff members find the backpack after 10 weeks, had his brother handle the bag and then had police present the bag as the ultimate Lost evidence. Case closed.
JEREMY KRYT wrote more about the tour guide and about other crime cases in the regionJeremy Kryt from The Daily Beast wrote more than a handful of articles about the disappearance of Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon. You can read them here,here, here, here, here, here, here andhere. When I wrote this blog, the articles were still free to view and in the public domain. In his first batch of articles, Kryt made a very compelling case for the Lost scenario. But then suddenly, in 2017, he came with three more articles: after being given insight in the police reports and autopsy data through an anonymous source, he found out that there is more than meets the eye here. He made a 180 turn if you will, changing his mind entirely about this case, now believing Kris and Lisanne met foul play based on the new information he was given. In a more recent podcast series that aired in the fall of 2022, Jeremy Kryt states: "So I found out that I was lied to by a couple of key sources. They'd convinced me it was a hiking accident. But I found out later they were telling other people they knew it was a murder. I had this sickening feeling that I'd accidentally provided cover for a killer who could still be out there.[..] I went back to Panama in 2017 and did a deeper dive into the possibility that it was a murder."
In the articles "Did a Serial Killer Stalk the Lost Girls of Panama" and "Murderous Vacations: Serial Killers Stalking the Panama Highlands" Kryt writes for instance about tour guide F.: "According to a police report leaked to The Daily Beast, this (specific) tour guide told authorities he had met with Dutch tourists Kris and Lisanne the same day they disappeared from Boquete, on April 1, 2014. He claimed to have scheduled a hike with them for the following day, and that he went looking when they never showed up." The uncovered police record gives some fresh insights, such as the assertion that the cause of death was considered a “crime,” as opposed to an accident." The same report refers to the disappearance of Kris and Lisanne as a “homicidio.” The case was first officially declared “a homicide” and “a crime against personal integrity” by Panama’s attorney general in the Chiriquí Judicial State report. And as late as October of 2014, two forms from the Panamanian State officials described the disappearance as a case of abduction. It was also declared a criminal investigation in June of 2014. The Bocas region is also where U.S. citizen Catherine Johannet and others have turned up dead or gone missing.—including at least six victims in the last two years, according to reports.
Guide F. is officially mentioned as one of the last people to see the women alive, as well as the one who led the search party that found their fragmented bones. There’s another mentioning of this guide in the leaked police archive, which makes clear that the criminal investigation was initiated because of “information” he provided “about the disappearance [of Kremers and Froon] in the mountains of the Pianista.” Jeremy Kryt writes that this guide has also been accused by Panamanian prosecutors of unlawful entering the room where the women stayed ahead of authorities, and possibly tampering with evidence. Based on the original maps made by the searchers, and interviews with team members, "we now know the victims’ fragmented remains were discovered just a few miles from this same guide’s ranch house". Multiple media outlets have linked this guide to the case, although the exact role he played remains unclear. "The guiding community itself seems split on his reputation. In the past I’ve heard from some guides that he was AWOL when the other outfitters went up into the high country above Boquete to hunt for Kremers and Froon—yet another local trailmaster I speak to describes him as “a hero” who has “inspired many of us.” Conflicting reports in the Dutch and Panamanian press offer wildly different perspectives on these events. The tour guide did tell Kryt over the phone this: “Those girls could’ve been saved, if the SINAPROC people knew how to do their jobs.” Later he also told Kryt: “I met the holandesas in town but never saw them after that. I spent many days helping SINAPROC search for those poor ones. I even met with their families when they came to Boquete. I did everything I could!” Which could very well be true and simply as far as this entire 'guide theory' reaches.
Based on the original maps made by the searchers, and interviews with team members, we now know the victims’ fragmented remains were discovered just a few miles from this same guide’s ranch house.
More info from Jeremy Kryt: “The rumor mill in Boquete keeps churning out scenarios that suggest he orchestrated the Dutch women’s abduction—allegedly to commit a sex crime deep in the forest. There’s no proof, and he firmly denies such insinuations. Witnesses say this same guide met with Kris and Lisanne less than 24 hours before they disappeared, on the campus of an all-inclusive language school called Spanish by the River, where the women were staying in Boquete. During that meeting, he offered them a full-package tour, including a guided hike up to the nearby Continental Divide, and an overnight stop at his ranch, deep in the jungle on the far side of the mountains. For unknown reasons, the women declined.”
Since The Daily Beast profiled this tour guide in Part Two of their first series, other former clients have come forward to say they felt threatened by him. Which does not make him automatically guilty to the disappearance of the Dutch girls, may I add. Jeremy Kryt brings up witness Nina von Rönne, a photographer is in her mid-twenties who lives in Paris and recently rented a vacation property from this tour guide contacted Jeremy Kryt, sent him a picture of herself with her former landlord and told Kryt: “We always saw him with women.” “He works only with female tourists … from Europe and a little bit from Canada. He has a preference for German, Dutch, and all people coming from northern and eastern Europe,” but he “doesn’t like Americans.” Ms. von Rönne described the man as about 65, although she “never dared ask him” how old he was. “He is physically very strong for his age,” she says. “I saw him carry super heavy bags of coffee beans and fruit from his garden, as if it were absolutely nothing. He is a true force of nature. He is able to walk quickly and for long distances in the mountains and without getting tired.” After renting a small cottage on his isolated farm for several weeks, she began to feel trapped, as if “he was spying on me.” When Nina von Rönne spurned his romantic advances, she claims, he became “like a panther. He literally jumped on my neck . . . He even tried to lift me up as if to see how much I weighed. It really bothered me because although we had been living there for two months, [yet] I still had so many difficulties with his physical relationship being too close.” Since July of 2021, Nina von Rönne has a book out about her stay in Boquete and Panama and her suspicions that guide F. is responsible for the deaths of Kris and Lisanne. I reviewed the book here.
Asking around Boquete turns up other, similar accounts for Kryt. “[This guide] is not allowed on our property,” says a receptionist at one of the largest hostels in town. “The owner doesn’t let us book tours with him anymore,” the receptionist says, because of his “impertinent” habits with female clients. Kryt cements the story by stating that he has spoken with another traveler who was with this Sorbonne grad in Panama, and who confirmed her story. And Corinna Epp, a German citizen who lives half the year in Panama and who works as a tour organizer, says the aforementioned guide is “hated” for “sexually harassing” clients. “I’ve never seen our owner react to any of the other guides like that,” Epp adds. “He has a double face”.. Epp finally left Boquete out of fear for her own safety. “There is one aspect of his personality that can be very nice, but another that’s a real demon.”
“There is one aspect of his personality that can be very nice, but another that’s a real demon.” “If a crime was involved” Adelita Coriat, a reporter who covered the Kremers-Froon investigation for Panama City’s La Estrella newspaper, told The Daily Beast, he “would have to be the top suspect.” “He has a son who lives up near there [Alto Romero], too,” Coriat says. “As I understand it they were both seen in the area when the holandesas disappeared—but I don’t think the police ever looked too closely into any of that.” “I always said the facts didn’t add up,” Coriat added.. “I always said there was more to this story than the Public Ministry wanted to admit.”
“Whoever did this is very smart. He didn’t leave much evidence. And he won’t be easy to catch.”
Kryt also talked to forensic experts
Kryt asked the forensics expert in the morgue in Boquete what he thinks the Public Ministry might have done differently during the investigation. To which the forensics expert stomps his foot hard on the concrete floor: “The show they put on at Alto Romero was just a distraction. Look at the map,” he swings back to the computer screen and enlarges the interactive display around the Ngobe settlement near the winding trail calle La Pianista where Kris and Lisanne disappeared. “They need to investigate near the Pianista. Talk to the guides. And question them with a psychological anthropologist present, which they never did before. The crime scene was never handled the right way,” he says. “Whoever did this is very smart. He didn’t leave much evidence. And he won’t be easy to catch,” the IMELCF scientist adds. In his view, Panamanian prosecutors have given up on the case—despite their own investigators’ suspicions of foul play—in order to save face. “It’s much easier for them to ignore it all,” he says.
Kryt mentions other potential suspects also
After all, the FBI was also investigating the possibility of a serial killer responsible for not just the deaths of Kris and Lisanne, but also of the American Catherine Johannet. At some point the FBI is even said to have uncovered evidence that these cases are in fact related. (Confirmation of this FBI suspicion in this news article, in which journalists also complain about the excessive secrecy from Panamanian officials about these deaths in their country). But later not only Catherine's body was found, but a Panamanian teen was also convicted of her murder. A high-ranking forensic anthropologist examiner with Panama’s Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Science (IMELCF) told The Daily Beast under the condition of anonymity: “That [Bocas] area is swarming with sicarios” - cartel smuggling routes that link Panama’s porous eastern coastline with Colombia and Venezuela to the south, and Mexico to the north. “There ought to be a national red alert for foreigners, and especially women,” he says. “But of course that would be bad for tourism.” [..] “The lesson, unfortunately, is that women still can’t walk safely alone in the campo in Latin America”. This IMELCF worker has received death threats in the past for discussing sensitive investigations. “Panama is a commercial port for the Sinaloa cartel and others,” he says, and goes on to mention both forced prostitution and organ trafficking as other threats posed by organized crime operating on the isthmus. Other suspects, according to the Daily Beast:
-An escaped convict who broke out of a Panamanian prison in March of 2013 with a past in the vicinity. -A former sicario, or assassin, with the Mexican cartels, who was convicted of the “Satanic” murder of a woman in 1996, who showed signs of torture. He has been known to frequent the northern Chiriqui area around Boquete, and remains at large.
-Then there is the so-called “Hannibal Lecter of Bugaba,” who was arrested back in March of 2017 for hacking up a 27-year-old woman he’d met on Facebook, then bon-firing her body in his own backyard, not 20 minutes from Boquete. When police caught up with him, he was carrying unidentified raw meat around in a suitcase. Press reports indicate he’s still under investigation for possible links to other missing persons in the area.
-The devilish murderer of Aira Guerra Back in the fall of 2012, a young woman was found dead and partly burned near a highway just north of Boquete, near the Costa Rican border. At first it was thought to be a case of domestic violence, and her boyfriend was promptly arrested. He said that he had picked Aira up with his car from university in David, but that they had a fight and that he had left her at the parking lot of a supermarket. In the meantime the parents received a strange text message about Aira going to Costa Rica and everything being fine. Then some of her clothes and an identity card are found in the village of San Carlos. But a day later, her semi-naked and partially burned body was found along the side of the road in the community of Ojo de Agua. She had been stabbed on the right side of her body too. Prosecutor Luis Martínez was responsible for the forensic investigation of the body. Soon widely circulated reports claimed that 18-year-old college student Aira Guerra was missing all of her vital organs. These were said to have been removed in a surgical manner via a Y-shaped incision from her shoulders to the pubic bone. Because two other victims supposedly were found in a similar condition in the Chiriquí region, organ trafficking has also been hypothesized as a motive in the Kremers-Froon case. At least four people were arrested for Aira’s murder. Links to a proven organ-trafficking ring operating just across the border in Costa Rica were touted in local news accounts. Panamanian prosecutors “suspiciously” allowed some of those arrested for Aira’s death to walk before thorough questioning could take place. (The trial is apparently still pending, as court cases keep being postponed.) And the evidence in the Aira Guerra case does seem to have gone missing under shady circumstances, including 7 mobile phone chips with evidence, which got 'lost' under the guidance of prosecutor Luis Martínez. So we've got another Panamanian case here of messing with the evidence here under the guidance and control of the Panamanian Public Prosecutor. Corruption investigations were set up against him and he was replaced by.... the already known to us Betzaida Pitti. The parents and relatives of Aira Guerra were refused to see and identify their dead daughter, and as a result they blocked the mortuary in protest and prevented staff from exiting.
No organ traffickingHowever given the remote location where Kris and Lisanne went missing and unfavourable jungle conditions, many don't believe this disappearance case can be related to organ trafficking: "Organ theft is one of the oldest urban legends in the books,” says Dr. Kathy Reichs. “I would be very skeptical of this. How could their organs have been properly removed, preserved, or transported? Sold how? Implanted where?” And US-based forensics consultant Carl Weil, concurs with Reichs. “If it was a crime it was more likely one of opportunity,” as opposed to a black-market operation conducted “out there in the wilderness,” says the former Marine and police officer who’s served as an adviser in over 300 U.S. court cases. The report on Kris and Lisanne makes it clear that case officers found suspicious elements, including the bleached bone remnants and the lack of bones, but they didn’t have enough physical evidence to make an arrest at the time—although prosecutors say the case could be reopened in the event of a breakthrough. And lets not forget that unlike what the flashy tourist guides want to tell you about quaint Boquete, it is also a place that was given 'code red' by English government sites, and is known for its (drug related) crime. It lies on the route from Colombia to Costa Rica and Mexico, and has for years been dealing with drugs traffic, crime and murders. And around that time that Kris and Lisanne were in Boquete, about 15 local gangs were active in the region. And police dealt with 1 to 2 drug related - and often gruesome - murders a week on average.
Power-Pixie wrote me about serial killers: "From the Penn State University research archives: “Researchers found that male serial killers tend to “hunt” their victims, who are often strangers to them. Researchers found male serial killers were almost six times as likely to kill a stranger, while female serial killers were nearly twice as likely to kill a person they already knew. Additionally, 65.4 percent of male serial killers stalked their victims, compared to 3.6 percent of female serial killers.” This means that in theory, it could have been anyone in that area of Boquete who followed Kris and Lisanne, or who they may have tried to flee from. Or who may have mislead them, for instance by convincing them to go to 'something interesting'. Or who may even have offered to help Kris and Lisanne after enduring an injury during the hike. UNFORTUNATELY, there was barely any investigation in the Kris and Lisanne case into other missing persons reported in the area, and in possible links. This would be something for the province of Chiriquí to invest in. But like with the Alex Humphrey case ánd the Catherine Johannet case, local politicians and law enforcement (I do not talk about Sinaproc here, which seems to have delivered excellent work and expertise) appear to have had little to no interest into such digging. They rather did their own flawed research, without prying eyes from the international community looking over their shoulder.
In one of his last articles about this disappearance, Jeremy Kryt wrote: "Multiple forensic sources have expressed suspicion about the condition of the remains, especially documented signs of bone bleaching. An original police report leaked to The Daily Beast during this investigation also explicitly refers to the crime as homicide. The report makes clear that case officers didn’t have enough physical evidence to make an arrest at the time—although prosecutors say "the case could be reopened in the event of a breakthrough." The forensic anthropologist says the search for “paradise” can work as a touristic bait-and-switch—designed to keep foreign dollars rolling in at all costs, no matter the risks. “Panama is a commercial port for the Sinaloa cartel and others,” he says, and goes on to mention both forced prostitution and organ trafficking as other threats posed by organized crime operating on the isthmus. Part of the problem is that publicizing such dangers could weaken the crucial influx of tourist money, which makes up almost 20 percent of Panama’s GDP. But the problem goes beyond a lack of will, the forensic scientist says. It’s also a lack of skill. “Without competent [law enforcement] officials,” he asks rhetorically, “how can you hope to control crime?”
Break Free, the full program and I added English subtitlesIn order to be able to upload the series (in parts) with English subtitles on here, the video had to be small enough in size, as blogger does not support video uploads that are bigger than 100 MB. Hence, one 40-ish minute TV program has been cut into 8 separate parts on here. Unfortunately I had to cut down on the video quality there too due to limited (free) size options. Click on the white 'play' triangle twice for the video to start. I also uploaded the entire program on my vimeo account, in two parts.
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