Kris Kremers & Lisanne Froon Panama Case Lexicon

Locals refer to the site of a former farm as “Alejandro Pittí,” where today only an abandoned tin shack remains. The site is located on the second large pasture (paddock) on the Caribbean side of the continental divide in the cloud forest (Bocas del Toro Province), roughly four kilometers beyond the Mirador. You reach this spot after a several-hour walk from the Mirador, steadily downhill. Tour guide Feliciano González reached this point on April 3, 2014, during his search for Kris and Lisanne; finding no footprints there and facing an exhausting night hike, he turned back at this location. The cabin has also been referred to in some accounts as the “hut with the anthill,” after an anthill reportedly discovered nearby by Dutch forensic expert Frank van de Goot during a later expedition.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Almirante is a small coastal and port town in the province of Bocas del Toro on the Caribbean side of Panama. The town itself is of little significance as a tourist destination, but it serves as the region’s most important logistical transit hub. From the local ports, water taxis (known as lanchas) ferry passengers to the islands of the Bocas del Toro Archipelago (particularly the main island, Isla Colón).

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Almirante on Google Maps (approximate area)

“Alto al Crimen” (in English: Stop Crime) is a private, donation-funded emergency response and crime-fighting organization founded in 2010 in Boquete, modeled after a Belizean initiative, by and for expatriates (expats) and retirees to assist one another in times of crisis. In April 2014, the organization had 546 members. Leading figures and founding members at that time included blogger Lee Zeltzer (deceased 2015), then-director Caesar S., Dutch former police officer Erik Westra, and security and technology expert Mark H..

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Alto Boquete is a corregimiento (subdistrict) of the Boquete district in the province of Chiriquí. Geographically, it lies slightly above and south of the actual, bustling city center (Bajo Boquete). The area is characterized by more spacious, quiet residential neighborhoods (such as Las Brisas or Nuevo Boquete / San Francisco de Asís), small squares (such as Plaza San Francisco), and the connecting road that leads up into the mountains or to Palmira.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Alto Boquete area on Google Maps (approximate area)

Alto Romero is a small, extremely remote settlement of the Ngöbe-Buglé indigenous people. It is located in the province of Bocas del Toro (Corregimiento Valle Risco) in the midst of dense, steep cloud forest. The village has only about 61 adult residents as well as a handful of children and has a tiny school.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View approximate Alto Romero area on Google Maps

Student (secondary school), son of host mother Miriam G.

Amilcar M. was a 13-year-old student at the time of the disappearance of Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon. He is the son of Miriam G., the host mother with whom the two Dutch women lodged during their stay in Boquete.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

The environmental agency and its park rangers (Guarda Parques / Guarda Bosques) played a dual role in the case: First, the rangers at the park entrances served as primary sources of information and witnesses for the investigators, as they register hikers. Second, the public prosecutor’s office utilized ANAM as a scientific authority to officially assess the flora and fauna in the search area along the Pianista Trail and in Bocas del Toro.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Local resident / member of a local search party, Valle Risco / Alto Romero region

Angel P. is an indigenous resident of the Valle Risco / Alto Romero area in Bocas del Toro Province who participated in local search operations. On Monday, June 16, 2014, while walking upstream along the Río Culebra during a community search, he found a gray hiking boot wedged in a sandbank in the water. He reported the find and later guided units of the DIJ, SENAFRONT, and the Public Prosecutor’s Office to the exact location, where GPS coordinates were recorded. In his sworn statement on June 19, 2014, he said he could not read or write, requiring backpack-finder Luis A. to act as a witness and sign on his behalf, and confirmed he had never personally known the missing women.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

General Director, SINAPROC (National Civil Protection System)

Arturo Alvarado served in spring 2014 as the national general director of SINAPROC, Panama’s civil protection agency, placing him above local operations chief Elmer Quintero and making him the highest authority over the nationwide search and rescue effort for Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon. His public statements shaped much of the early media narrative that the search was thorough and well-executed; on April 8, 2014, he told the press that an area of roughly 600 miles by land, water and air had been combed without finding any trace of the women. He became the central figure in a public turf dispute with the prosecutor’s office after SINAPROC personnel entered the women’s bedroom at the host family’s house in the first days of the search: when prosecutor Rafael Guerrero criticized this as a potential contamination of the scene, Alvarado defended his staff in the press, arguing that no crime had yet been established at that point and that police tape and forensic specialists were therefore not required by protocol. Like his colleague Elmer Quintero, he publicly expressed the conviction that a disappearance without any trace was essentially impossible on that trail, since no one had ever been permanently lost there before.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Sub-lieutenant, Panamanian National Police (Policía Nacional), deployed as security escort and guide

Augusto R. served in 2014 as a sub-lieutenant for the Panamanian National Police. He was requested by his superiors to escort members of the public prosecutor’s office and the criminal police (DIJ) during an inspection in the Alto Romero area as a local guide and security detail.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Registered owner of a red pickup truck examined by investigators

Records show A. A. as the registered owner of a red pickup truck that drew police attention during the search for Kris and Lisanne. Under oath, she confirmed the vehicle belonged to her but said she had not been behind the wheel on the dates investigators were asking about; according to her statement, day-to-day use of the truck was handled by her husband, E. G.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Vendor, Boquete Artisan Village

Ana O. sold goods at the Boquete Artisan Village and counts among the last people known to have spoken with Kris and Lisanne, on the afternoon of March 31, 2014. According to her account, the two mentioned they were planning a hike but did not say which trail they had in mind.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Resident near the Pianista Trail entrance; son of Eneida H.

Living with his mother, Eneida H., close to the start of the Pianista Trail, Aristides M. told investigators he watched a dark-windowed red pickup truck head toward the trail on the afternoon of April 1, 2014. His account, given to both the police and a private investigator, helped narrow down the truck’s registered owners and the people who had rented it that day.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Bajo Boquete forms the actual town center of Boquete district, the lower, busier part where supermarkets, restaurants and the main market are concentrated, as distinct from the more residential Alto Boquete further uphill. Most of the businesses, schools and public squares referenced throughout this lexicon are situated here.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Bajo Boquete on Google Maps

Bajo Mono is a forested sector north of central Boquete, best known to tourists today as the area where the so-called Lost Waterfalls trail begins. During the search for Kris and Lisanne, this sector was combed for weeks on the assumption that the two might have taken a different route than the Pianista Trail.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Bajo Mono on Google Maps

Indigenous fisherman, Culebra River area

Fishing along the Culebra River near his home, Basilio A. came across bone fragments and tissue in early August 2014 after noticing a foul smell in the water. He reported what he had found, and the items were subsequently passed on to the investigating authorities for forensic examination.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Tourist / university graduate (Dutch)

Bas L. was a Dutch tourist who traveled through Panama with his friend Edwin C. from mid-February to late March 2014. He met Kris and Lisanne on March 16, 2014, while enrolling at a language school in Bocas del Toro, and was placed in the same beginner Spanish class as the two women for the following week. The four spent regular time together after class, and on the evening of March 28, 2014, shortly before the women left for Boquete, they shared a farewell dinner at El Ultimo Refugio followed by drinks at the bar Barco Hundido. Bas learned of the disappearance on the evening of April 3, 2014, via Facebook and a phone call from Lisanne’s family, and was formally interviewed by Dutch police on April 16, 2014, voluntarily offering a DNA sample if needed.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Senior State Prosecutor, Third Judicial District of Panama (Fiscal Primera Superior)

Betzaida Pittí led the official criminal investigation into the disappearance of Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon as the responsible Senior State Prosecutor. She ordered and coordinated forensic examinations, requested international legal assistance from the Netherlands, and was personally present at field operations including the inspections at the Río Culebra in June 2014. On September 24, 2014, she formally closed the investigation, concluding that the women had died in an accidental fall into a river.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Bistro Boquete (also spelled “Bristo” in some reports) was a restaurant in the center of Bajo Boquete, with a terrace or balcony on the second floor; it is now permanently closed. Kris and Lisanne had lunch there on Sunday, March 30, 2014, during a day of exploring the town together with their host family, a stop that also took them to the Feria de las Flores y del Café flower fair and the banks of the Río Caldera. A photo taken at the restaurant that day shows Lisanne studying a partly torn tourist map, one of the few images giving investigators a clear look at items the women were carrying. The restaurant’s waiter, Moisés C., later told investigators on April 8 that he recognized the two missing “holandesas” from having served them there the day before they vanished.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Bistro Boquete on Google Maps

Bocas del Toro is a province in northwestern Panama on the Caribbean coast. The archipelago consists of several islands, of which Isla Colón is the largest and most developed for tourism, known for its white sand beaches, dense mangrove forests, and vibrant nightlife with clubs and bars such as the Aqua Lounge or Casa Verde. Kris and Lisanne arrived on Isla Colón around March 16, 2014, after traveling overland from Costa Rica via Almirante and a ferry crossing. They stayed for about two weeks at a hostel belonging to the language school Spanish by the Sea, where they took a basic Spanish course. They departed Bocas del Toro on Saturday, March 29, 2014, at 8:00 a.m., taking a minibus chartered by their hostel for the roughly 105-mile journey to Boquete, accompanied by school employee Eileen W.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Bocas del Toro on Google Maps (approximate area)

Court secretary / acting special agent, First Senior Prosecutor’s Office

Bolívar E. served in the official investigation as court secretary and acting special agent for the First Senior Prosecutor’s Office. He was directly involved in most forensic field operations and in the formal securing of evidence and taking of witness statements.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

The Boquete Artisan Village is a central marketplace in Bajo Boquete. Such places typically offer local handicrafts, souvenirs, and regional products to tourists.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Boquete Artisan Village on Google Maps (approximate area)

The Caldera Hot Springs (Aguas Termales de Caldera) are located in the Caldera sector of the same name, a few kilometers southeast of Boquete. They are a popular destination for tourists and locals who want to bathe in the natural, warm pools surrounded by nature.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Caldera Hot Springs on Google Maps

Construction worker and volunteer searcher, Boquete

Carlos V. is a local construction worker who independently set out to search for clues after the disappearance became known. Familiar with the rugged mountain terrain, he set off on April 9, 2014, toward Cerro Horqueta and the “Las Bolsas” sector, roughly a six-hour walk from the Pianista Trail. On April 10, 2014, he found a white plastic bag containing empty food packaging (including Pringles and cheese wrappers) and a red shoe insole under a dry tree; he documented the find on video, which a friend later uploaded to YouTube, drawing police attention to him. He carried the items back in his own backpack and handed them over to SINAPROC staff in the early morning hours before returning to the area as a guide for further official searches.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Casa Esperanza is a Panamanian national non-governmental organization, founded in 1992, dedicated to combating child labor and offering children living in poverty the chance for a better future through healthcare and education. The organization operates a comprehensive care center (Centro de Atención Integral) in the Boquete district. In their original application to the agency Het Andere Reizen months earlier, Kris and Lisanne had explicitly listed this project as one of their preferred options for volunteer work. Casa Esperanza remains active today, both nationally and at its Boquete location.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

The Casa Pedro hostel is located in the Alto Lino sector of Boquete, right on Buenos Aires Avenue. It is situated right at the entrance to the Piedra de Lino hiking trail and about a mile (approx. 1.6 kilometers) before the official starting point of the Pianista Trail (the restaurant Il Pianista). In 2014, the simple hostel was run by Paraguayan-born expatriate Peter C. (often called Pedro C.) and his Panamanian wife Marilyn P.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Cascada el Pianista is a waterfall located directly on the Pianista Trail. Only a handful of locals and very few hikers know the way to this hidden spot off the main path.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View approximate waterfall area on Google Maps

Tourist and coffee exploration center used as a SINAPROC search headquarters.

CEFATI, the Centro de Exploración del Café, is a prominent building near the entrance to Alto Boquete that normally serves as a tourist information and viewpoint center. During the major search operations for Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon, SINAPROC used the building as a central operational base. It also appears in the file context because search helper Carlos V. handed over the plastic bag and shoe insole found in the forest there, where officials initially secured them in a cardboard box.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Rising near Boquete, the mountain Cerro Horqueta lends its name to the forested “Las Bolsas” sector that stretches between its foothills and the Pianista Trail. It was in this stretch of forest that search helper Carlos V. discovered a white plastic bag and a shoe sole while searching the area on his own initiative.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Cerro Horqueta on Google Maps

Shuttle driver, route between Bocas del Toro and Boquete

Driving for a local shuttle operator, Cesar L. is documented as having taken the wheel of the minibus that brought Kris and Lisanne from Bocas del Toro to Boquete on March 29, 2014. His deposition confirmed the route and timing of that trip, though he was unable to specifically place the two women among the passengers he had carried that day.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Director and president of the “Fundación Alto al Crimen” (AAC), Boquete expat anti-crime organization.

Cesar S. was the director and president of the Fundación Alto al Crimen (AAC), a private anti-crime organization founded by the community of expats and retirees in Boquete. On Thursday, April 3, 2014 — only two days after the women went missing — he called private investigator Martín F. to inform him that two young Dutch women, Lisanne Froon and Kris Kremers, were missing, presumably on the Pianista Trail, and formally engaged his services on behalf of the AAC. This early, parallel private investigation reflected deep distrust within parts of the expat community toward the Panamanian authorities and their eventual conclusion that the women had simply gotten lost and died from exposure.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

As a civilian aid organization, the Panamanian Red Cross contributed personnel to several phases of the search effort. Crews from the organization, among them Adáin Atencio, accompanied the prosecutor’s office on its hazardous June 2014 expedition into the remote Alto Romero area.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

The official Culebra Trail is a long hiking trail that runs through a completely different valley than the Pianista Trail. Its starting point is located in the Bajo Mono sector, about seven kilometers northwest of the starting point of the Pianista Trail, and it extends roughly 40 kilometers all the way to the coast of Bocas del Toro. The trail is often mistakenly equated with the route behind the Mirador viewpoint on the Pianista Trail; in fact, the Culebra Trail does not cross the Mirador at all and is an entirely separate path in a different valley. The name of the Río Culebra (Snake River), associated with the case’s later find locations, is unrelated to this hiking trail — the river takes its name simply from its winding, snake-like course.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View approximate Culebra Trail area on Google Maps

The Danka Pharmacy (also spelled Dhanka in some reports) was located in the center of Bajo Boquete, conveniently situated right on the edge of the main square, Domingo Médica Park. The pharmacy became significant in the investigation through a later admission by taxi driver Leonardo M.: while he initially told the Personería on April 11 that he had simply picked up Kris and Lisanne and driven them straight to the Pianista Trail entrance, on April 24 he confessed to criminal investigators that this was not the full truth. He stated that two men were already in his cab when the women got in, and that he dropped these two men off at the Danka Pharmacy before continuing on with Kris and Lisanne alone to the trail entrance, where he also noticed an unfamiliar foreign man in his sixties wearing distinctive medical-style glasses.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Danka Pharmacy on Google Maps

Local resident near the Pianista Trail entrance; husband of witness Oliva de Kant.

Darío K. is a resident whose house is situated along the route to the Pianista Trail. On the day of the disappearance he was at home, watching television in his living room from where he could observe passersby on the road. In a sworn statement on April 16, 2014, he said he saw the two women walking up toward the trail at around 4:00 p.m. that afternoon, by which time the weather outside was already darkening. He also reported seeing a dark red pickup truck pass up and down the same road around the same time, carrying tall plants and a green tarp under which two men stood; he noted its license plate, which investigators later traced to a Toyota Hilux rented for the Feria de las Flores y del Café.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Retired Dutch detective; advisor to the Kremers family

Dick Steffens is a retired Dutch detective who, after his career, co-founded the volunteer organization Simpar, which advises families of people missing abroad. He became closely involved with the Kremers family, reviewing parts of the Panamanian forensic reports on their behalf. In September 2014 he offered Dutch authorities the ability to precisely locate the women’s phones and trace bank activity; the offer was forwarded to Panama but declined there, reportedly without the parents being informed in advance. He repeatedly appeared in Dutch media commenting on the case and advocating for further investigation.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Criminal investigation branch of the National Police; the lead investigative agency for the case under the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The Dirección de Investigación Judicial (DIJ) is the criminal investigation branch of the Panamanian National Police (Policía Nacional). It served as the executive investigative arm of the Public Prosecutor’s Office (initially the Personería under Lisis C., later the Fiscalía under Betzaida Pittí), conducting witness interviews, verifying alibis, analyzing surveillance footage, carrying out house searches, and accompanying expeditions to evidence sites in the jungle. In the Kremers/Froon case, the DIJ operated from two levels: a local sub-division in Boquete headed by Lieutenant Bartolo B., and the provincial headquarters for Chiriquí in David under Mayor M. Among its documented work, the DIJ traced a conspicuous red pickup truck reported by witnesses on the day of the disappearance to its rental company and driver. Units under Mayor M. also accompanied the prosecutor by helicopter to Alto Romero to formally secure recovered evidence.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Coordinator, Biomolecular Analysis Laboratory, IMELCF

Heading the Biomolecular Analysis Laboratory at the IMELCF, Diomedes E. Trejos J. led the DNA extraction and genetic profiling work on evidence recovered during the investigation, and authored the reports linking the recovered remains to the two missing women. In November 2014, he was still publicly requesting that soil samples be taken from the site where tissue belonging to Lisanne had been found, in order to examine insect larvae present in the sample, and the following year pressed for a renewed inspection of the area to gather further material that had not yet been submitted to his laboratory.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Domingo Médica Park is the main square in the center of Bajo Boquete. It serves as a central orientation point for the town, with several businesses, including the Danka Pharmacy, situated directly on its edge.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Domingo Medical Park on Google Maps

Co-owner / wife of the operator of the Il Pianista restaurant at the trail entrance

Doris de S. is the wife of the owner of the Il Pianista restaurant located directly at the entrance road to the Pianista Trail. On the afternoon of April 1, 2014, between roughly 4:00 and 4:30 p.m., she was on the second floor of the restaurant when she noticed a red, raised pickup truck with heavily tinted windows drive up toward the trail; the windows were too dark for her to make out the driver or any passengers. She said the same vehicle left again by the same road after about 15 to 25 minutes. Her husband separately told investigators that he had seen the two Dutch women on foot entering the Pianista Trail that same afternoon shortly before 4:00 p.m.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Manager of a red pickup truck registered to his wife, A. A.

E. G. handled the day-to-day use of a red pickup truck registered in his wife’s name. According to his sworn statement, he had rented the vehicle out to a local fair organization for the period that coincided with the women’s disappearance, and he confirmed both the rental arrangement and the identity of the person who drove it.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Gardener for the local flower fair; driver of the red pickup truck on April 1

As a gardener employed by the Feria de las Flores y del Café, E. P. drove a rented red pickup truck on April 1, 2014. In his deposition, he explained that the trip took him near the Pianista Trail area, where he was collecting decorative plants needed for the fair.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Major, National Border Service (SENAFRONT)

As a Major with SENAFRONT, Edgar Pittí Valdés commanded official expedition teams sent into the jungle sectors beyond the Mirador. His responsibilities included coordinating troop movements and field operations, as well as overseeing the formal recovery of evidence from the remote areas his units reached.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Merchant / employee at the family restaurant El Sabrosón, Boquete

Edwin A. is a young merchant from Boquete whose family runs the local restaurant chain El Sabrosón. He gave a sworn statement to investigators on April 22, 2014, in connection with the case file.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Tourist / university graduate (Commercial Economics), Dutch

Edwin C. was a 23-year-old Dutch tourist who traveled through Panama with his long-time friend Bas L. from mid-February to late March 2014. He met Kris and Lisanne on March 16, 2014, while enrolling for a one-week Spanish course at the Spanish by the Sea school in Bocas del Toro, and the two pairs spent much of their free time together over the following two weeks, discussing studies and travel plans. On the evening of March 28, 2014, the group shared a farewell dinner at the restaurant El Ultimo Refugio and afterward had drinks at the bar Barco Hundido, before Kris and Lisanne continued on to Boquete the next day. Edwin and Bas left Panama on March 31, 2014, flying out of Panama City to Amsterdam — confirmed by passport stamps — and were formally interviewed as witnesses by Dutch police on April 15, 2014, at which point Edwin denied any romantic involvement with the women and voluntarily offered a DNA sample.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Staff member, Spanish by the River / Spanish by the Sea language schools, age 26 in 2014

Eileen W. was a German staff member at the language school through which Kris and Lisanne had organized their stay in Panama, and she served as their primary on-site contact. She traveled with Kris and Lisanne on the shuttle bus from Bocas del Toro to Boquete on March 29, 2014, having met them about three weeks earlier in Bocas del Toro. In Boquete she was closely involved in looking after the two women: together with a colleague she held the welcome meeting and, on March 31, 2014, told them their planned volunteer placement at the Aura/Casa Esperanza daycare center would have to be postponed because the director was unavailable. She also helped organize leisure activities and contacted local tour guide Feliciano G. to arrange an outing for April 2. After the women failed to return to their lodging on April 1 and did not appear for the planned meeting with Feliciano G. on April 2, Eileen W. set the first search efforts in motion: she contacted her supervisor Ingrid L. in Costa Rica that afternoon, alerted the local police, and called the women’s families in the Netherlands on the night of April 2–3 to inform them of the disappearance, reaching Lisanne’s mother, Dinie Froon, directly by phone.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

“El Sabrosón” is a local chain of simple restaurants owned by the family of Edwin A. In 2014, the family business comprised three locations in Boquete and another in the provincial capital, David.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Tour guide, brother of guide Plinio M., Boquete

Elmer M. is a tour guide from Boquete, brother of fellow guide Plinio M., with whom he offers tours on the Pianista Trail. He was summoned to the Personería after his brother’s presence on the trail on April 1 became known to investigators. In his statement on April 9, 2014, Elmer said he himself had been on business in Bocas del Toro that day, while his brother Plinio was on the Pianista Trail. When the investigator asked whether the brothers owned a red pickup truck, he answered yes, but explained that the vehicle was not used for guiding tourists since it lacked air conditioning.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

SINAPROC operations chief and official spokesperson, Chiriquí Province

Elmer Quintero served in April 2014 as the operations chief and official spokesperson (portavoz) of the civil protection agency SINAPROC in Chiriquí Province, making him largely responsible for coordinating and communicating the large-scale official search for Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon. He acted as the public voice of the Panamanian rescue effort during its most intensive phase, briefing the press on strategies such as helicopters dropping search teams into the indigenous communities of neighboring Bocas del Toro Province, from where ground and air teams worked back across the continental divide toward Chiriquí. After more than a week in which official teams had combed an area of nearly 1,000 square kilometers with dogs, helicopters and ground crews, Quintero appeared before the press on April 14, 2014, to announce the search’s inexplicable failure, stating he was deeply baffled because nothing like this had ever happened before in the area, since anyone previously lost in that forest had eventually been found.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Employee, travel agency Het Andere Reizen, Netherlands

At the Dutch travel agency that arranged the women’s trip, Elles S. handled the booking process along with their volunteer-work applications. Before Kris and Lisanne left for Panama, she was in contact with both of them regarding their itinerary and the placements they had requested.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Based in Panama City, the Dutch embassy coordinated diplomatic cooperation between the Panamanian and Netherlands authorities throughout the case and received recovered evidence items on behalf of the Dutch forensic institute (NFI) for further transfer and analysis.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Resident near the Pianista Trail entrance; mother of witness Aristides M.

Her home sits close to the start of the Pianista Trail, which is how Eneida H. came to be drawn into the case: questioned by both police and a private investigator about vehicle movements that day, she said she noticed a red pickup truck heading toward the trail on the afternoon of April 1, 2014, and pointed it out to her son Aristides M. at the time. Her account became part of the broader effort to reconstruct traffic patterns near the trailhead that day.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Panamanian attorney retained by the Kremers family to challenge the official closure of the investigation.

Enrique Arrocha is the Panamanian attorney engaged in August 2014 by the family of Kris Kremers (Hans Kremers and Roelie Grit) to represent their interests in the case. He received the NFI forensic report in September 2014 and identified a series of evidentiary questions he considered unresolved. He filed a formal complaint (“incidente de controversia”) against the lead investigating prosecutor, Betzaida Pittí, alleging inaction and insufficient investigation.

Arrocha requested further examinations, including a renewed forensic analysis of the mobile phones (for deleted data and GPS activity) and the camera, a precise geographic survey of the find locations along the Río Culebra with a route reconstruction, and a scientific explanation from the forensic authorities for why Kris Kremers’s bones reportedly showed signs of a chemical phosphatization process but no traces of river abrasion. He also petitioned that the recovered items and remains not be released to the families until all forensic examinations were complete; this request was denied by the court, as the Froon family — unlike the Kremers family — had explicitly asked for their daughter’s remains to be returned. Arrocha’s petitions to continue the investigation were ultimately rejected by Panama’s Supreme Court, which held that under Panamanian law the prosecutor’s office holds sole investigative authority and that a crime could not be formally established. He subsequently stated he would consider bringing the case before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Serving the provincial capital David, Enrique Malek Airport functioned as the central logistical hub for the search operation, from which SENAN helicopters launched into the jungle sectors of Chiriquí and Bocas del Toro.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Enrique Malek Airport on Google Maps

Dutch expat / former detective, Boquete

A Dutch former detective who emigrated to Panama and settled in Boquete. From the early days of the case, he became involved in private search and inquiry efforts.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Licensed regional tour guide and primary schoolteacher, Boquete, age 58 in 2014

Feliciano González is a longtime, locally based tour guide and one of the central documented search participants and witnesses, since he was the first to report the disappearance of Kris and Lisanne to the local authorities. According to his initial account, he saw the two Dutch women on the morning of April 1, 2014, at their language school, where a joint tour was arranged for the following day. He later said that he had been mistaken. When the women failed to show up at the school as agreed at 8:00 a.m. on April 2, he waited, then went together with school employee Eileen W. to the women’s lodging at Myrian G.’s house; finding no one home, the two entered the women’s room and discovered they had apparently not returned overnight. After the women remained unaccounted for through the rest of the afternoon, González and Eileen W. went to the local police station to file a missing-person report, which set the first search efforts in motion. In the following days and weeks he actively assisted as a guide and searcher along the trails and mountain areas, and in mid-June 2014 a Dutch contact for the families (referred to in the files as “Jerónimo”) asked him to support a private search in the difficult-to-reach Alto Romero area along the Río Culebra, where the women’s backpack had just been found.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

The Feria de las Flores y del Café (Flower and Coffee Fair) is a large, annual event in Bajo Boquete and is considered one of the most important cultural and tourist attractions in the entire region. The permanent fairgrounds are located on the banks of the Río Caldera. In 2014, the fair was managed by administrator Sidney Andrews Taylor Jiménez.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Feria de las Flores y del Café on Google Maps

Lisanne’s backpack was found on June 11, 2014, by local Ngöbe resident Irma M. It had caught in the riverbed of the Río Culebra near the remote village of Alto Romero, roughly 5 kilometers (about a 14-hour jungle hike) from the women’s last confirmed location. No precise GPS coordinates were recorded for this find in the official files.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

A weathered piece of blue fabric was found by the search team on June 20, 2014, shortly before the discovery of Kris’s denim shorts. It was lying on a rock on the right bank of the Río Culebra. The documented coordinates are N 08° 53′ 31.3″ W 082° 24′ 15.8″ (decimal: 8.8920, -82.4044).

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View approximate find site on Google Maps

On June 18, 2014, search volunteer Luciano V. found a flattened bone after roughly half an hour’s walk upstream along the right bank of the Río Culebra. It was wedged between two rock slabs in the water and was later identified as Kris’s pelvic bone. No exact GPS coordinates were recorded for this find, as the responsible investigator, Bolívar Espinosa, did not log them at the time.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

A rib fragment belonging to Kris was found by local helpers on August 2, 2014. The site lay well downstream from the second Monkey Bridge, in a stretch of the river locals call Finca de Quiróz, upstream from where the backpack had been recovered. No exact GPS coordinates were recorded for this find, as the responsible investigator, Bolívar Espinosa, did not log them at the time.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Kris’s light-blue denim shorts were found on June 20, 2014, by an official search commission. They had caught on a dry tree stump in the middle of the river current near a small waterfall, close to the second Monkey Bridge. The documented coordinates are N 08° 52′ 39.5″ W 82° 24′ 30.2″ (decimal: 8.877639, -82.408389).

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View find site on Google Maps

On August 29, 2014, Lisanne’s left thigh bone and shin bone, along with a larger rolled-up piece of skin, were found along the riverbanks. The exact location of this find was not recorded with GPS coordinates in the official files.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

On June 18, 2014, indigenous search helper Ángel P. noticed a strong smell of decomposition and found Lisanne’s hiking shoe (brand Wildebeast), with her foot still inside a sock. The shoe lay hidden behind a log in dense leaf litter, in a small lagoon-like pocket along the riverbank. Ángel P. led police to the exact spot on June 20, where the coordinates N 08° 53′ 46.7″ W 82° 24′ 17.0″ (decimal: 8.896306, -82.404722) were documented.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View find site on Google Maps

Finca Arco Iris is a farm with an on-site dairy located on the lower, treeless section of the Pianista Trail on the Boquete side. The hiking trail leads directly across the farm’s vast horse and cow pastures shortly after crossing a small iron bridge over the narrow Río Pianista. The property and most of the pastures along the Pianista Trail (a total of approximately 159 hectares of land) are owned by the company DONAGA, S.A., which belongs to former Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Finca Arco Iris area on Google Maps (approximate area)

“Finca Feliciano” is not a luxurious estate or a tourist ranch, as is often claimed, but a remote, simple property deep in the cloud forest on the Caribbean side of the continental divide. It is located in the Velorio sector, which geographically belongs to the Culebra region and is near the indigenous village of Alto Romero (Bocas del Toro province). Tour guide Feliciano G. has owned this piece of land for over 35 years, but visits it only rarely — about two to three times a year — because crossing the raging rivers and the dangerous wire-rope bridges (“Monkey Bridges”) to get there is too risky for him. In his absence, the property is guarded and maintained by a local indigenous resident. Feliciano’s actual residence and another small coffee farm are located in Boquete.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Finca Las Princesas is an agricultural farm where strawberries, among other crops, are grown. It is located in the Alto Quiel sector, above Boquete. In 2014, the farm was owned by a man referred to in the files as “Señor Fillo” (or Filo). This farm was the destination of the guided excursion that tour guide Feliciano G. had arranged with Eileen W. for the morning of April 2, 2014: at 8:00 a.m. that day, Feliciano arrived at the language school to pick up Eileen, Kris and Lisanne for the booked outing to Finca Las Princesas, but only Eileen was there on time. When Kris and Lisanne failed to appear after several minutes, Feliciano and Eileen set off for Miriam G.’s house to check on the two women, the moment that ultimately set the search for the missing women in motion.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Finca Las Princesas on Google Maps

Finca Laureano is a simple agricultural property (farm/hut) located deep in the impassable jungle of the province of Bocas del Toro. It lies roughly halfway along the arduous route between the Mirador viewpoint and the indigenous village of Alto Romero. From Buenos Aires Avenue in Boquete, the finca can only be reached via an extremely dangerous, approximately nine-hour hike through deep mud, extremely dense vegetation, and partially dilapidated rope bridges (“Monkey Bridges”).

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View approximate Finca Laureano area on Google Maps

Finca Serracín was located further northeast on the third large pasture (paddock) on the Caribbean side of the continental divide, originally belonging to Cesar Serracín. It was an abandoned wooden hut with a bright red roof, situated directly next to a small stream and named after its former owner. The estate is not visible from the open pastures of the paddocks and can only be reached via a hidden, heavily overgrown and extremely difficult path.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Deputy Provincial Director, SINAPROC (National Civil Protection System), Chiriquí

Francisco S. served in 2014 as deputy provincial director of SINAPROC in Chiriquí. He was personally part of search group 1 that searched the right-hand area of the Pianista Trail on April 3, 2014. On the night of April 11–12, 2014, he was present at the SINAPROC office in Alto Boquete when volunteer searcher Carlos V. arrived to hand over items found in the mountains, including a white plastic bag with food wrappers and a red shoe insole; on his supervisor’s instruction, he placed the items in a cardboard box labeled “MRR STAR,” sealed it with tape, and kept it in his office until criminal investigators arrived early the next morning.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Local resident, Alto Lino / Los Naranjos, near the Pianista Trail

Frank R. is a local resident who lives along the main road near the Pianista Trail in the Alto Lino / Los Naranjos area, where he runs a small roadside kiosk attached to his house. In a sworn statement on April 22, 2014, he said he had been home all day on Tuesday, April 1, 2014, since he had no masonry work that day, and spent his time tending the kiosk about ten meters from the main road. Asked whether he had noticed any tourists in the area that day, he said that between roughly 2:30 and 3:00 p.m. he saw a girl walking down the road from his kiosk, though no further details of this sighting are recorded in the available file extracts.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Dutch forensic pathologist and mountaineer

Frank van de Goot is a well-known Dutch forensic pathologist and experienced mountain climber. At the urgent request of the Kremers family, he traveled to Panama in January 2015 with his own independent forensic research team to examine the disappearance and search for further remains. His team used the remote farm of Laureano B. deep in the jungle as a base camp and spent days searching the rugged area behind the Mirador viewpoint with specialized forensic UV lamps, though without finding any additional bone fragments. Van de Goot concluded that the first stretch of the trail toward the continental divide was nearly impossible to get lost on, since it is bounded by dense forest with no real side paths, but that the terrain becomes treacherous past the Mirador, particularly near a ravine close to where one of Kris’s last known photographs was taken, where a single misstep on the narrow scree path could send a person into a water-carved gully. He also inspected the suspension bridges over the Río Changuinola further along the route and judged them to be extremely dangerous, though he believed the women likely never reached even the first one.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Italian immigrant, owner of the Il Pianista restaurant at the Pianista Trail entrance

Giovanni S. is an Italian immigrant and chef who lives and works directly near the entrance to the Pianista Trail. In a sworn statement on April 11, 2014, he said he had no personal acquaintance with the two women but reported seeing them three separate times on Tuesday, April 1, 2014: first near the “Mi Jardín es tu Jardín” location, then again near Casa Pedro, where they appeared to be seeking a ride up the mountain, and a third time between 2:00 and 2:30 p.m., when he watched them enter the Pianista Trail directly across from his residence. He stated that on each occasion the two women were alone, with no third party accompanying them.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

The Guardería Aura was the actual main purpose of Kris and Lisanne’s trip to Boquete. The two young women were scheduled to work here with the children as volunteers for four weeks starting March 31, 2014. The unexpected and abrupt rejection at this facility the day before their disappearance was the direct trigger for a fateful change of plans.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Guardería Aura on Google Maps

Parents of Kris Kremers and central family representatives in the aftermath of the disappearance.

Hans Kremers and Roelie Grit are the parents of Kris Kremers. After their daughter disappeared in Panama, they traveled to the country multiple times and became actively involved in efforts to understand what had happened. They supported and organized private search initiatives, including operations involving search dogs from the Dutch organization RHWW. In public statements and correspondence, they strongly criticized aspects of the Panamanian and Dutch handling of the investigation, arguing that important questions had not been sufficiently answered. The Kremers family also retained legal representation in Panama to challenge elements of the official case handling and request further examination of evidence.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Tourist guide, Boquete; son of Feliciano González

Henry G. is a local tourist guide from Boquete and the son of tour guide Feliciano González. He was part of the same Boquete youth circle as Osman V., who drowned in April 2014.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

The travel agency “Het Andere Reizen” is based in Winschoten, the Netherlands. It was founded in May 2005 by Judith S., who runs the business from her home together with permanent staff members. The agency specializes in organizing trips for people who wish to do volunteer work outside of Europe (particularly in Latin America).

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

The home of Panamanian Myrian G. is located in the Alto Boquete sector, in the quiet residential neighborhood of Las Brisas (Barriada Nuevo Boquete). It is a simple, pink building about 300 meters from the Spanish by the River language school. The guest room rented by Kris and Lisanne was to the left of the entrance and had two beds (one double, one small), a small wooden table, and a wall shelf. Miriam lived there in rather cramped quarters together with her husband Ricardo and several of her children, including her son Amilcar M.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Hostal Mamallena is a hostel in Boquete and part of a chain. It serves as an important logistical hub in the region, as the operators organize a private shuttle bus service for tourists that runs between Almirante (the port for the islands of Bocas del Toro) and Boquete. Kris and Lisanne used this shuttle service to travel from Bocas del Toro to Boquete on Saturday, March 29, 2014, departing at 8:00 a.m. and accompanied by school employee Eileen W. The hostel itself was not their lodging; rather, it merely served as the shuttle’s starting and ending point for passengers arriving from or departing to Almirante. Kris and Lisanne actually stayed in the hostel attached to their language school, Spanish by the Sea, during their time in Bocas del Toro.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Taxi driver, Boquete (Toyota Yaris)

Humberto G. worked as a taxi driver in the Boquete district in 2014, driving a Toyota Yaris. He was identified after tour guide Feliciano G. and others told police that a taxi driver named Humberto had transported the two women. In a sworn statement on April 8, 2014, he said he picked up two slender foreign women at the corner of the Súper Mercado Bruña at around 1:15 to 1:30 p.m. on Monday, March 31, 2014, and drove them to the entrance of the Pianista Trail for a fare of two dollars total. Since the women sat in the back seat, he said he had not gotten a clear look at their faces and could not say with certainty from the missing-persons photos that they were Kris and Lisanne; he did not see them again after they got out.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Il Pianista is an Italian restaurant (pizzeria) located on Buenos Aires Avenue in the northern part of Boquete. The building marks the official starting point of the Sendero El Pianista (Pianista Trail). In 2014, the restaurant was run by Italian immigrant Giovanni S.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Il Pianista on Google Maps

The IMELCF is the scientific backbone of the Panamanian investigation. Following the discovery of evidence in June and August 2014 (backpack, cell phones, clothing, and bone fragments), the institute was the first and most important entity to examine these items before parts of them were forwarded to the Netherlands. The expert opinions and reports by the IMELCF’s physicians, anthropologists, and forensic scientists formed the basis for much of the prosecutor’s office’s later conclusions about the case.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Owner and director of Spanish at Locations language schools (incl. Spanish by the River, Boquete)

Ingrid L. was the director of the language school through which Kris and Lisanne’s stay, Spanish course, and volunteer placement were organized. She was not in Boquete when the women disappeared but returned on April 4 and subsequently played a central role as interpreter in police interrogations, bridging communication between Panamanian authorities and Dutch-speaking witnesses.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Indigenous resident, Alto Romero settlement; wife of Luis A.

Irma M. is an indigenous resident of the remote Alto Romero settlement and the wife of Luis A. On Wednesday, June 11, 2014, in the late afternoon between roughly 5:30 and 6:00 p.m., she was at the bank of the Río Culebra to wash clothes when she noticed an object wedged among rocks and driftwood in the water. Initially mistaking it for trash, she opened it and realized it was a backpack containing, among other items, a camera and two mobile phones. She carried it to her husband, who was working nearby in the field, and on his instruction the couple brought it to their home near the local school without disturbing it further; Luis then contacted authorities to report the find. When investigators, including Special Prosecutor Betzaida Pittí, arrived by helicopter in Alto Romero on June 13, 2014, Irma and Luis formally handed over the backpack.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Uncle of Lisanne Froon; Dutch police officer

Jan F., Lisanne’s uncle and a serving Dutch police officer, traveled to Panama shortly after the disappearance became known, arriving in Boquete on April 6, 2014, together with Lisanne’s brother Martijn Froon. On site, he supported the early coordination between the family and local authorities, drawing on his professional background to help with logistics and the flow of information during the search.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Hillside residential sector near Boquete connected to searches and witness leads.

The Jaramillo sector is a broad, hilly residential area near Boquete, commonly divided into Jaramillo Arriba, Jaramillo Centro and Jaramillo Abajo. After anonymous tips claimed that the missing women had been seen near a specific property in the area, authorities searched parts of Jaramillo intensively, including house-to-house checks. The sector is also relevant as the residential area of tour guide Feliciano González’s family.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Dutch representative / interpreter for the families, volunteer searcher

Jeroen van Passel served as a Dutch representative and interpreter for the families of Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon in Panama. Due to his local knowledge he was asked to coordinate search efforts along the Río Culebra in June 2014. He organized and accompanied search groups of local guides and indigenous residents that ultimately found bone fragments and one of Lisanne’s shoes.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Local resident, Boquete; member of a local youth group present at Osman V.’s drowning

Jorge G. is a Boquete local and member of the youth group, part of the circle present at the Chiriquicito River on April 4, 2014, the day Osman V. drowned.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Brother of Feliciano González; key communication link in reporting the backpack discovery.

José G. is the brother of tour guide Feliciano González and lives in the Jaramillo Centro sector near Boquete. He served as the crucial communication link between the isolated jungle village of Alto Romero, which has little to no cell coverage, and the Panamanian authorities in Boquete. After Irma M. found the backpack on June 11, 2014, her husband Luis A. walked to reach José G. by phone, since he was the only contact they knew who had a mobile phone. On the morning of June 12, 2014, at around 8:35 a.m., José G. called the DIJ under Lieutenant Bartolo B. to report that his acquaintance’s wife had found a small bag in the mountains containing glasses, keys, phones, and 87 dollars in cash. The following morning, June 13, 2014, he called again to report that a card bearing the name “Lissane Froon” had been identified among the found items. He had previously also taken part in coordinating a private search effort organized by Dutch contact Jeroen van Passel, alongside his brother Feliciano and local resident Laureano B.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Founder and owner of the Dutch travel agency Het Andere Reizen

Judith S. is the founder of the Dutch travel agency Het Andere Reizen, which organized Kris and Lisanne’s trip to Panama. She was alerted by Eileen W.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Local resident and day laborer near Alto Lino / Finca Tejeira.

Keni G. voluntarily came forward to the Personería Municipal in Boquete on April 15, 2014, to report a possible sighting. He stated that on Wednesday, April 2, 2014 — the day after the disappearance — at around 6:30 p.m., he was walking home with his mother and brother, when he saw two tall women on a hillside in the upper part of the inhabited section of the Pianista Trail. His brother, who was present, confirmed seeing two people but said it was already getting dark and that he could not positively identify them from the missing-persons photos.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Forest area associated with the discovery of a plastic bag and red shoe insole.

La Pandura and Las Bolsas refer to a difficult forest area extending beyond the Piedra de Lino Trail toward Cerro Horqueta. The location became significant because private search helper Carlos V. reported finding a white plastic supermarket bag with snack packaging and a red shoe insole there on April 10, 2014. The items later became a point of controversy because they were reportedly discarded as unsuitable evidence, preventing further forensic attribution.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Las Brisas is a quiet, sleepy residential neighborhood in the Alto Boquete sector. It is extremely small and compact: the neighborhood spans only about 800 meters in length and 400 meters in width. With its unpaved paths and grazing goats, it stands in stark contrast to the very lively, tourist-filled center of Boquete, which lies about four kilometers (two and a half miles) further north.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Las Brisas neighborhood area on Google Maps (approximate area)

Indigenous resident, Alto Romero / Río Culebra region, Bocas del Toro

Laureano B. is an indigenous resident of the remote Alto Romero region in Bocas del Toro Province. He is among the local residents who participated in search activities along the Río Culebra after the disappearance.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

American expat, chairman of Alto al Crimen, Boquete

Lee Zeltzer was an American expat who had retired in Boquete, where he ran the local website boqueteguide.com, was an active member of the expat forum Boquete Ning, and served as chairman and co-founder of the private anti-crime organization Alto al Crimen (AAC). He was hugely influential in shaping public and media perception of the case: from the outset he was deeply skeptical of the Panamanian authorities’ investigation and organized his own private search and inquiry efforts. In early April 2014 he called on his platform for anyone with jungle experience to report to the office of Boquete Outdoor Adventures to help search for the two women, and he spoke early on with intern Eileen W. at the language school, who confirmed to him that the women had not told anyone the specifics of their hiking plans. He publicly raised donations for Alto al Crimen, funds that went on to finance further private investigative work. He died on July 18, 2015, just over a year after the women’s disappearance.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Taxi driver, Boquete

Leonardo M. was a taxi driver in the Boquete district in 2014. In a sworn statement on April 11, 2014, he said he picked up the two women near the town park between 1:10 and 1:20 p.m. on Tuesday, April 1, 2014, and that one of them told him in Spanish they wanted to go “to the Pianista.” He stated he drove them directly to the trail entrance, where they arrived between 1:35 and 1:40 p.m., and the fare was paid by the fair-haired woman from a wallet kept in a black backpack. At the drop-off point, he noticed a man of about 60 with glasses and a beard, wearing a white sweater, standing roughly five meters away; the women remained there alone as he drove off. On April 24, 2014, however, he admitted to criminal investigators that his original affidavit had not been the full truth: two men had already been in his cab when the women got in, and he had dropped these two men off at the Danka Pharmacy in central Boquete before continuing on with Kris and Lisanne alone to the trail. In this same follow-up interview, he confirmed recognizing the black backpack and wallet shown in photographs of recovered evidence as the ones the women had used to pay him.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Neighbor / local resident near Casa Pedro

A neighbor of the Casa Pedro hostel near the Piedra de Lino Trail entrance. He testified that he clearly recognized Kris and Lisanne in front of Casa Pedro and on the Piedra de Lino Trail on the afternoon of April 1 — consistent with other trail-side witnesses placing the girls in that area around mid-afternoon.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Personera Municipal (municipal prosecutor), Boquete

Lisis C. was the municipal prosecutor (Personera Municipal) of the Boquete district in 2014. She opened the criminal investigation on April 3, 2014, into an ‘alleged crime against the life and integrity’ of the missing Dutch women and oversaw the initial phase of the investigation before jurisdiction was transferred to the Senior Prosecutor’s office under Betzaida Pittí.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

The Lost Waterfalls (referred to as “Tres Cascadas Escondidas” in the official Panamanian investigation files) are located in the Bajo Mono sector, northwest of downtown Boquete. They are situated on the grounds of a private finca that was operated in 2014 by a woman named Wendy Burthon. Access to the grounds is via a pedestrian suspension bridge (Zarzo), behind which there is a small hut.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Hidden Waterfalls area on Google Maps (approximate area)

Indigenous resident, Alto Romero / Río Culebra region, Bocas del Toro

Luciano V. is an indigenous resident of the remote Alto Romero area in Bocas del Toro Province. In a sworn statement on June 20, 2014, he said he did not personally know the two women, but described joining other local residents on a Wednesday in a search along the right bank of the Río Culebra; after about half an hour of walking, the group found a bone he described as relatively flat and without any smell of decomposition. Uncertain whether it was human, the group collected the bone and alerted the authorities. He is also listed among the local residents, alongside Luis A. and others, who met arriving investigators at the Alto Romero schoolhouse on June 16, 2014, and reported finding scattered items along the river, including a black sneaker with a pink trim, a dark boot, and two bones, one resembling a pelvis.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Indigenous resident, Alto Romero settlement; husband of Irma M.

Luis A. is an indigenous resident of the remote Alto Romero settlement on the Río Culebra and the husband of Irma M. After his wife found the backpack on June 11, 2014, he walked to contact an acquaintance, José Domingo González, in Boquete by phone to alert the authorities, and on June 13, 2014, when investigators arrived by helicopter, he and Irma formally handed over the backpack. In the following weeks, Luis organized private search efforts along the Río Culebra with other local residents; on August 2, 2014, he made a seven-hour trek to meet Special Prosecutor Betzaida Pittí at the entrance to the Pianista Trail and handed over six bone fragments his search group had found along the riverbank. On August 29, 2014, he met investigators again, this time at Norteño, handing over three further bone fragments and a piece of skin tissue that another local resident had found the previous day downstream from the original backpack site.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Farmer, last inhabited house deep on the Pianista Trail (Boquete side)

Lázaro R. is an elderly farmer and a particularly significant witness because he lives in the last inhabited house deep on the Boquete side of the Pianista Trail, near the path leading toward the continental divide and the Culebra region. Tour guide Feliciano G. told investigators that Lázaro had confirmed to him during the search that he saw the two women climbing toward the mountain on April 1, but never saw them return; guide Plinio M. likewise said he spoke briefly with Lázaro at the hut on April 1 shortly before encountering the women himself. A police report dated April 5, 2014, recorded a sighting time of around 3:00 p.m. that day at roughly 100 meters’ distance, while a later prosecutorial summary cited 4:30 p.m. for the same sighting. When formally questioned under oath on April 7, 2014, however, Lázaro denied even knowing the missing women, and in a supplementary statement on April 15 said he had not seen them himself at all, but had only heard about a sighting from his neighbor Keni G., who reportedly described two women being followed at a distance by a tattooed man with a phone.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Local landowner, Pianista Trail area, Boquete; known only by nickname

M. appears in the investigation not as a direct eyewitness but as the owner of a plot of land on the Pianista Trail, approximately one mile above the trail entrance. Two boarded-up huts stand on this property.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

German backpacker; reported hearing distress calls on the Quetzales Trail on April 4, 2014.

Marcus M. is a German backpacker who arrived in Panama on April 4, 2014, and stayed at the Hostal Palacios in Boquete. While hiking alone on the Sendero Los Quetzales toward Cerro Punta — a separate trail from the Pianista Trail — he reported to police and ANAM ranger Rolando C. that at around 5:30 p.m. that day he heard what sounded like a woman’s cries for help, followed by a loud bang resembling a gunshot. From a hiding spot in the bushes 20 to 30 meters away, he said he saw two slim, dark-haired men, one in a blue and one in a red sweater, before fleeing the area in fear and alerting the ranger. Roughly half an hour later, around 6:00 p.m., SENAFRONT troops searched the described area until after sunset, and SINAPROC searched again the next morning; the only item recovered was a water bottle Marcus himself had dropped while fleeing. He never saw the person he believed was crying out, and no physical evidence of a crime was found at the site.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Mother of Osman V., a deceased member of a local youth group, Boquete area

Margarita S. is the mother of Osman V., a young man from the Boquete youth circle who drowned on April 4, 2014. She is not a direct eyewitness to the disappearance of Kris and Lisanne.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Director of the Guardería Aura daycare center, Boquete

Maria G. is the manager of the Guardería Aura daycare center in Pueblo Nuevo, Bajo Boquete, where Kris and Lisanne were supposed to begin a month-long volunteer placement. In her sworn statement she said the language school had contacted her in advance to arrange the placement, but she had already declined since she had no need for volunteers at the time. Despite this, the two women came in person to the daycare at around 1:00 p.m. on Monday, March 31, 2014, to offer their help; she turned them away again and recommended they try the Casa Esperanza center instead, recalling that communication was difficult since the women spoke little Spanish.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Administrator / acting manager, Spanish by the River language school, Boquete

Marjolein J. was the acting administrator of the Spanish by the River school and the direct contact person for Kris and Lisanne on their arrival in Boquete. She conducted the welcome meeting, organized the host family, and was responsible for arranging the volunteer placement. On the morning of March 31, 2014, she told the women their volunteer placement at the Guardería Aura daycare could not begin as planned because the director was unavailable. At around 11:00 a.m. that same day, Marjolein saw Kris and Lisanne from a bus getting into a taxi headed toward the town center; when she returned to the school at 6:30 p.m., she found a note the women had left asking her to call them back, and reached them by phone that evening, asking them to come to the school at 9:00 a.m. on April 1. At 7:00 a.m. on April 1, 2014, before the women could arrive at the school as arranged, Marjolein departed Boquete by bus for Turrialba, Costa Rica, to take up an administrative post at a partner school there.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

American expat, photographer, and founding member of the “Alto al Crimen” (AAC) anti-crime organization.

Mark H. is an American expat from California, a professional photographer and IT specialist living in Boquete, and one of the founding members of the private anti-crime organization Alto al Crimen (AAC) alongside Lee Zeltzer, Bob Gregory, and Erik Westra. He later became known as a self-described Boquete security expert. Mark H. appears in the documented chain through which photographs of Kris and Lisanne’s diary pages later became public. According to later reporting, EXIF metadata linked high-resolution photographs of the diary pages to images taken on April 8, 2014; when confronted by authors Marja West and Jürgen Snoeren, he reportedly confirmed having taken the photographs for archival purposes. The later online publication of those diary images occurred through other parties.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Brother of Lisanne Froon and early family representative in Panama.

Martijn Froon is the brother of Lisanne Froon. Shortly after the disappearance became known, he traveled to Panama on April 6, 2014, to support the search efforts and represent the family on the ground. His arrival placed him among the first close family members directly involved in the local response in Boquete. On April 7, 2014, Martijn Froon gave an official sworn statement at the police station in Boquete, taken with the assistance of Ingrid L., the director of the language school, who acted as translator. His testimony forms part of the official case documentation and helped establish family-side information during the early investigation phase.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Resident near the Pianista Trail entrance (Alto Lino).

Martina H. lived in April 2014 in an unpainted house close to the entrance of the Pianista Trail, about 200 meters past the start of the path. Police and the tour guide Feliciano G. first spoke with her informally on the morning of April 5, 2014, during an on-site search, and she gave a formal sworn statement before the local prosecutor’s office on April 7, 2014, confirming that she had seen Kris and Lisanne walk past her house toward the trail. She separately told a private investigator that she had seen a red pickup truck with tinted windows driving toward the trail area on the same day.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Private investigator, hired by Alto al Crimen, Boquete

Martín F. is a Panamanian private investigator hired by the expat organization Alto al Crimen to conduct an independent inquiry. He was among the first to systematically question trail-side witnesses in the days after the disappearance and identified the red pickup truck as a lead.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Major (Mayor), head of criminal investigation department (SDIJ / DIJ), Boquete

Major M. was in 2014 the head of the Sub-Dirección de Investigación Judicial (SDIJ / DIJ) responsible for the Boquete district. In this role he directed the criminal investigation on behalf of the Personería and subsequently the Senior Prosecutor’s office, overseeing witness interviews, evidence collection, and field operations.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Local resident, Boquete; close friend and colleague of Osman V.

Milagros P. was about 23 years old in 2014 and part of the same Boquete youth group and close circle of friends and coworkers as Osman V., becoming closely entangled in the events surrounding his death. On Friday, April 4, 2014 — three days after the Dutch women’s disappearance — a swimming trip to the Chiriquicito River began at around 2:00 p.m. from her house, with Osman, Murdog, Jorge, Sandra, Alba and others taking part. When Osman went behind a rock and failed to return, part of the group went for help while Milagros stayed at the riverbank with Murdog, Jorge and Sandra, lighting a fire.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Panama’s national Public Prosecutor’s Office, the lead authority overseeing the criminal investigation.

The Ministerio Público (Public Prosecutor’s Office) is Panama’s national prosecutorial authority and held overall legal responsibility for the criminal investigation into the disappearance. In the early weeks, the case was handled at the municipal level through the Personería under Lisis C.; it was later escalated to a Special Prosecutor’s unit led by Betzaida Pittí (Fiscalía). The Public Prosecutor’s Office directed the National Police and DIJ in their investigative work, formally requested international legal assistance from the Netherlands in June 2014, oversaw the seizure and forensic handling of evidence recovered from the jungle, and ultimately issued the office’s official position on the case: that the women died from a fall and exposure rather than as the result of a crime. This conclusion has remained the subject of public and family dispute, most notably from attorney Enrique Arrocha on behalf of the Kremers family.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

At roughly 2,000 meters, the Mirador marks the summit of the Pianista Trail and is the point where the maintained, official hiking route effectively ends, even though no sign marks this on site. Beyond it, the trail continues downhill into the protected La Amistad nature reserve toward Alto Romero and the Bocas del Toro side of the mountain. A cross stands at the clearing, which is smaller than many visitors expect, framed by crooked trees and drifting cloud-forest mist. The Mirador holds particular weight in the case because it is the last place where Kris and Lisanne are confirmed beyond doubt to have been, through photographs taken at the spot on April 1, 2014, around early afternoon.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View the Mirador on Google Maps

Waiter, Bistro Boquete

Waiting tables at Bistro Boquete, Moisés C. gave a statement on April 8, 2014, confirming he had served Kris and Lisanne the day before they vanished and that he therefore recognized them as the missing “holandesas.” He added that he saw the pair again the following morning, walking through the park toward the Romero supermarket around noon, with one of them holding a cell phone.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Host mother of Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon, Alto Boquete

Miriam G. took Kris and Lisanne into her home in the Las Brisas neighborhood of Alto Boquete on March 29, 2014, through the language school. She was one of the last people to spend time with both women, on the evening of March 31.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

“Monkey Bridges” (Spanish: Zarzos) is the term used to describe the adventurous, makeshift suspension bridges that span rivers and deep gorges within the cloud forest on the Atlantic side of the continental divide (Bocas del Toro Province). In 2014, these bridges typically consisted of just three tensioned ropes (steel or nylon): a lower rope about one centimeter thick for the feet and two upper ropes at chest height to hold onto. The bridges can be up to 60 meters (200 feet) long. Monkey Bridge I is the first of two such crossings along the route toward the Río Culebra area, encountered closer to the Mirador.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Monkey Bridge I on Google Maps

Monkey Bridge II is the second of the two wire-rope suspension bridges (Zarzos) along the route toward the Río Culebra area, located further along the trail than Monkey Bridge I. It lies close to the spot where Kris’s denim shorts were later recovered from the river.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Monkey Bridge II on Google Maps

Bank branch checked by investigators for possible surveillance footage.

Multibank Panama, referred to in some files as “Multi Banco,” was a bank branch in central Bajo Boquete. On April 10, 2014, criminal investigators visited the branch to request surveillance-camera footage that might help reconstruct the movements of Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon. The branch manager did not directly hand over the material, stating that written authorization from the bank’s headquarters in Panama City was required.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Multibank Boquete on Google Maps

Local resident, Boquete; known by nickname “Murdog”

José Manuel Murgas, known as “Murdog,” was a local resident and part of the same Boquete youth circle as Osman V. He was present at the swimming trip to the Chiriquicito River on April 4, 2014, the day Osman drowned. Murdog died in March 2015 after being struck by a vehicle in Boquete.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Panama’s national police force, reporting to the Ministry of Public Security; its specialized criminal-investigation branch is the DIJ.

The National Police (Policía Nacional, PN) is Panama’s national police force, reporting to the Ministry of Public Security (Ministerio de Seguridad Pública). It is the general law-enforcement body that operates local stations such as the one in Boquete, distinct from its specialized criminal-investigation branch, the Dirección de Investigación Judicial (DIJ), which handled the detailed case work. On the evening of April 2, 2014, guide Feliciano G. and intern Eileen W. went to the local police station in Boquete to officially report the girls missing, where the officer on duty initially reacted with hesitation, citing insufficient staff, before referring them to the civil protection agency SINAPROC the following morning. This early delay at the general police level has been cited as one of several factors that cost valuable time during the most critical phase of the search.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Former restaurant in Bajo Boquete, as it existed at the time of the disappearance in 2014.

Restaurante Nelvis (also noted as Neybis in some police reports) was a restaurant in the center of Bajo Boquete, located on a street behind the Lirio del Valle Temple. In 2014, it was run by Nelvis P., together with Edwin S. and his son, also named Edwin S. One of the two told investigators he had served breakfast to two foreign women who mentioned plans to go hiking in the mountains, though he said he could not identify them with absolute certainty from photographs shown to him afterward. The name “Nelvis (2014)” reflects the restaurant’s status at the time relevant to the case, as the business and its ownership may have changed since then.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Nelvis (2014) on Google Maps

The Nederlands Forensisch Instituut (Dutch Forensic Institute) is the central forensic and criminal investigation laboratory of the Netherlands. Its headquarters are located in The Hague. As one of the world’s most modern forensic laboratories, it supports national and international law enforcement agencies in evidence collection, DNA kinship analysis, dactyloscopy (fingerprinting), and digital forensics of data storage media.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Norteño is a community in Bocas del Toro Province, roughly 7.5 miles beyond Alto Romero toward the Caribbean coast. Indigenous resident Ricardo M. has property here and was traveling to it on April 1, 2014, the day Kris and Lisanne disappeared. The settlement also became relevant later in the case: when weather conditions made the usual route impractical, finder Luis A. had to divert to Norteño’s Punta Rovaló sector to hand bone fragments over to investigating officials who had flown in to meet him there.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Norteño on Google Maps

Seamstress, local resident near the Pianista Trail; wife of Darío K.

Oliva K. is a local seamstress living close to the Pianista Trail and wife of witness Darío K. In a sworn statement on April 16, 2014, she said that while sewing by her open living-room window she saw Kris and Lisanne walk directly past the house toward the trail at around 4:00 p.m. or shortly after, prompting her to ask her husband what the two women were doing heading up the mountain alone so late in the day. She also reported seeing a dark red pickup truck pass up and down the same road from around 3:00 p.m., first with two men barely visible behind a sunshade net on the truck bed, and on its second pass loaded with plants.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Local young Panamanian; connected to multiple case-adjacent persons

Osman V. is connected in time and personnel to several people referenced elsewhere in this lexicon. Just three days after Kris and Lisanne disappeared, on April 4, 2014, Osman V. drowned while swimming with a group of friends in the Chiriquicito River east of Caldera, after going behind a rock and never returning; the group searched until darkness fell before calling the police.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Remote mountain and forest sector near Alto Lino mentioned in a search-related police report.

The Pata de Macho sector is a remote mountain and forest area near Alto Lino. It entered the investigation context on April 4, 2014, when a private search helper reported encountering three unknown men in the forest while asking about the missing Dutch women, and formally reported the encounter to police.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

As the national agency running Panama’s emergency call system, the Patronato del Sistema 911 was asked to check its records for any emergency calls connected to the case. It officially confirmed that no calls placed from the women’s phones were registered in its system, a discrepancy investigators attributed to the lack of network connectivity in the area.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Hostel owner, Casa Pedro, near the Pianista Trail / Piedra de Lino Trail entrance

Pedro C. is the owner of the Casa Pedro hostel, located near the entrance to both the Piedra de Lino and Pianista Trails in Alto Lino. He stated that on Tuesday, April 1, 2014, at around 1:30 p.m., two young foreign women approached him outside his hostel and asked, in English, whether this was the way to the Pianista Trail; he told them it was about a twenty-minute walk further and recommended the closer Piedra de Lino Trail instead. According to his account, the women followed his advice, returned tired about half an hour later saying they had not reached the summit, asked about bus times, and then sat down outside to wait for the bus, after which he did not see them again. His wife, Marilyn Pittí, separately confirmed seeing two women sitting outside the hostel.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Parents of Lisanne Froon and central family representatives in the case aftermath.

Peter and Diny Froon are the parents of Lisanne Froon. After their daughter disappeared in Panama, they addressed the public through emotional appeals and appeared in media coverage connected to the search and investigation. Like the Kremers family, they were directly affected by the uncertainty surrounding the timeline, search efforts and forensic findings. In later official correspondence, the Froon family’s position differed from that of the Kremers family: Peter and Diny Froon accepted the accident scenario presented by the authorities and, in formal communication with the prosecutor’s office, distanced themselves from certain public statements made by Hans Kremers. Their stated aim was to obtain the death certificate and bring Lisanne’s remains home as soon as possible.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Local municipal prosecutorial office in Boquete, headed by Lisis C., that handled the case in its early weeks.

The Personería is a municipal ombudsman and prosecutorial office that, at the municipal level, initially represented the Public Prosecutor’s Office in the Kremers/Froon case before the matter was escalated to the Fiscalía under Special Prosecutor Betzaida Pittí. In Boquete, the office was headed by Lisis C., who directed the first formal inspection of the girls’ room on April 4, 2014, and received an anonymous tip on April 21, 2014, alleging the women had been murdered and buried near the Arco Iris farm. The Personería’s early handling of physical evidence has been a focus of criticism: officials there are documented as having broken evidence seals and disposed of certain perishable items recovered from the field, on the stated grounds that those items were unsuitable for forensic analysis.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Language-school student staying at the Spanish by the River hostel in Boquete.

Petra N. was a woman from Liechtenstein who was staying at the small hostel connected to the Spanish by the River language school in Boquete at the time Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon arrived. She was reportedly the only language student staying there, while Kris and Lisanne were placed with a host family instead of being accommodated at the school hostel. In the wider case context, Petra N. is relevant because she later confirmed that she had met Kris and Lisanne at the language school on the morning of April 1, 2014, supporting the timeline placing the two women at the school before their later departure for the hike.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

The Pianista Trail is a roughly four-kilometer-long (approx. 2.5-mile), steadily ascending hiking trail in the province of Chiriquí that begins in the Arco Iris sector north of Boquete, near the Italian restaurant Il Pianista. It initially leads through pastureland and farmland before transitioning into a humid, dense cloud forest and, in parts, through deep earthen tunnels (“gullies”) carved into the mountain. The trail’s summit point, known as El Mirador del Pianista, marks the last confirmed location of Kris and Lisanne before the continental divide into Bocas del Toro Province.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View El Mirador del Pianista on Google Maps

The Piedra de Lino is a short, steep hiking trail in the Alto Lino sector of Boquete. The official entrance to this trail is located directly on Buenos Aires Avenue, right next to the Casa Pedro Hostel, about a mile (approx. 1.6 kilometers) before the starting point of the Pianista Trail.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Mirador Piedra de Lino on Google Maps

Plaza San Francisco is a shopping center (Centro Comercial) in the Alto Boquete sector. It is located near the turnoff to the town of Palmira and is thus in the immediate vicinity of the Spanish by the River language school. The premises house various shops and service providers, including the Canasta Básica supermarket, a branch of Scotiabank (often written as “Scotian Bank” in the files), a pool bar (Bar y Billar), and various office spaces.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Plaza San Francisco on Google Maps

Local tour guide, Boquete; brother of Elmer M.

Plinio M. is a local guide and one of the case’s most discussed witnesses, since he claims to have encountered Kris and Lisanne on the Pianista Trail on the morning of April 1, 2014. He says that around 11:30 a.m., on his way back down with a tour group, he greeted two European women he took to be in their mid-twenties. Available summaries of his account differ in some details over time: when first speaking to SINAPROC he described the two as wearing white and a black top, but a week later in his statement to the Personería he gave markedly different and more detailed clothing descriptions, while also saying he could not be certain it was them since “all Europeans look alike.” That same day, he stated he had guided a family of four he identified as the “Schorr family” — a man and woman in their late forties with sons aged 15 and 13 — up to the Mirador and back, arriving at the trailhead around 11:30 a.m.; he also said he had separately seen a young couple resting against a tree about 50 meters off the trail.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Tasked by the Dutch public prosecutor’s office with producing an expert report on the case, the cold case team of the Police Unit Central Netherlands carried out the executive police work on the Dutch side: interviewing witnesses in the Netherlands, including staff at the travel agency and tourists who had been in Bocas del Toro, and forwarding seized items to the NFI for forensic analysis.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Quebrada 1 (Spanish for stream/gorge) is the first watercourse you must cross when continuing along the Pianista Trail past the summit (Mirador) to the Atlantic side of the continental divide (into the province of Bocas del Toro). Locals also call this stream “Pittí.” It is located about a 40- to 45-minute walk downhill from the Mirador. The path leading there runs through dense vegetation, is narrow, and in places resembles a deep, eroded channel of earth and debris carved into the mountain.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Quebrada 1 on Google Maps

Quebrada 2 is the second notable watercourse on the trail behind the Mirador (on the Caribbean side in the province of Bocas del Toro) that you must cross after Quebrada 1. Locals also refer to this stream as “Guarapo” (named after a sweet drink, since the next stream on the trail is several kilometers away). The stream is about a 30-minute walk (or a few hundred meters) past Quebrada 1.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Quebrada 2 on Google Maps

Head of the Complex Case Unit, Public Prosecutor’s Office (Ministerio Público)

Rafael Guerrero headed the Complex Case Unit of Panama’s Public Prosecutor’s Office (Ministerio Público) at the time of the investigation. He appears in the case primarily as a prominent official critic of the early search efforts, and his public statements pointed to alleged coordination problems between institutions, particularly between the prosecutor’s office and the civil protection agency SINAPROC, in the days immediately following the disappearance. In a statement to the Panamanian newspaper La Prensa, Guerrero sharply criticized SINAPROC’s conduct, accusing the agency of acting too independently and failing to adequately involve the prosecutor’s office in its measures. His criticism centered on the fact that volunteers and SINAPROC personnel had entered and moved freely through Kris and Lisanne’s bedroom at the host family’s house without forensic police specialists present to secure potential evidence.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Indigenous resident, Pianista Trail

An indigenous resident living on the Pianista Trail on the Boquete side. On April 1 he traveled to his family’s property near Norteño, some 7.5 miles beyond Alto Romero. Hiking back on April 2 between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., he saw and heard nothing unusual that would indicate tourists had recently been on that stretch of trail, neither fresh footprints nor any cries for help. After being questioned by private investigator Martín F. on April 5, 2014, he shared this assessment that no strangers had passed through recently, a judgment the authorities, together with similar statements from guide Feliciano G., used to conclude that Kris and Lisanne had not hiked beyond the Mirador toward Alto Romero on that side of the mountain.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

President of Panama at the time of the disappearance.

Ricardo Martinelli was the President of Panama when Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon disappeared. During a press conference on April 7, 2014, he publicly assured that the country would do everything possible to solve the case. He later drew criticism after stating that Panama could not afford for the case to negatively affect tourism in the Boquete area.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Park ranger, ANAM (National Environmental Authority)

Rolando C. served in April 2014 as a park ranger for ANAM, Panama’s national environmental authority. His significance in the case lies not in seeing anything himself on the trails, but in his role as the first official point of contact for witnesses coming out of the forest. He was the ranger alerted directly by German tourist Marcus M. after his unsettling encounter on the Quetzales Trail on April 4, 2014, and he was also the official to whom tour guides Plinio M. and Elmer M. reported their own alleged sighting of the women during the early search days.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Supermercado Romero is a large, well-established grocery store in the center of Bajo Boquete. It is located in the immediate vicinity of the central square (the park) and the roundabout there. The market is one of the main destinations for locals and tourists to stock up on food, beverages, and daily necessities.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Romero Supermarket on Google Maps

The Río Chiriquí (also referred to as Río Chiriquicito in the investigation files and by locals) is a river that runs east of Caldera on the border with the Gualaca district. At the location relevant to this case, the river is spanned by a bridge, beneath which lies a pool of water approximately 15 feet (about 4.5 meters) deep. This is the site where Osman V. drowned on Friday, April 4, 2014, while swimming there with a group of friends from the Boquete area.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

The Río Culebra (often called “Cabecera de Culebra” by the local indigenous people) is a tributary and headwaters of the great Río Changuinola. It is located on the northeastern, Atlantic side of the continental divide deep within the dense primary forest of Bocas del Toro Province. The river winds like a snake through an extremely rugged valley full of deep gorges (hence the name Culebra, Spanish for snake).

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View approximate Río Culebra area on Google Maps

The Río Mamey is a tributary deep in the jungle of Bocas del Toro province that flows into the main river, the Río Culebra. The area where the Río Culebra and the Río Mamey meet (referred to as the “Belt Area” in the English documentary) is characterized by an extremely rugged, unforgiving topography. The terrain there is significantly rougher, steeper, and more impassable than anywhere else in the region and is characterized by deep gorges, steep waterfalls, and treacherous rock faces.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Local resident, Boquete area

Sam D. is a local resident who was questioned by investigators in the context of the case. He appears in the investigation files in relation to observations or information relevant to the events around the disappearance.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Local resident, Boquete; youngest member of the youth group present at Osman V.’s drowning

Sandra C. was 16 years old in 2014, the youngest member of the Boquete youth group, and was present at the swimming trip to the Río Chiriquicito on Friday, April 4, 2014, when Osman V. drowned. In a 2023 interview, by then in her mid-twenties and a mother of two, she recalled an initially carefree afternoon at the river and confirmed the established sequence of events: Osman went behind a rock to relieve himself and never returned, the group searched until darkness fell, and they then called the police. Asked whether Kris or Lisanne could have been at the river that day, she responded with complete disbelief, stating that none of them had ever met or even seen the two women.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

The Servicio Nacional de Fronteras (SENAFRONT) is Panama’s national border guard. Since Panama no longer has a traditional military following the abolition of the army in 1990, SENAFRONT functions as a highly specialized, militarily trained, and heavily armed police force. Its primary mission is to secure the country’s borders (particularly in the rugged jungle region of Darién on the border with Colombia and along the border with Costa Rica) against drug smuggling, guerrilla fighters, and illegal migration.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

The Servicio Nacional Aeronaval (SENAN) is Panama’s national naval and aviation service (comparable to a combination of the Coast Guard and Army Aviation). In addition to border security and combating drug trafficking at sea, SENAN is primarily responsible for search and rescue (SAR) missions as well as transporting government officials to hard-to-reach areas. The national headquarters is located in Panama City.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Administrator, Feria de las Flores y del Café

Sidney Andrews T. J. administered Boquete’s flower and coffee fair in 2014. Case records identify him as the official who authorized renting a red pickup truck for the fair’s operations, and he later supplied receipts documenting the rental to investigators.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

The Sendero Los Quetzales (Quetzal Trail) is a well-known ecological hiking trail that connects the mountain town of Boquete with the municipality of Cerro Punta. It runs through Volcán Barú National Park and is heavily frequented due to its flora and fauna (especially for birdwatching, particularly the quetzal). On the Boquete side, near the entrance, is the Alto Chiquero ranger station of the environmental agency ANAM.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Sendero Los Quetzales area on Google Maps (approximate area)

Dutch massage therapist in Boquete and contact witness from the evening before the disappearance.

Sigrid V. was a Dutch massage therapist running a salon in Boquete near the German bakery. Between roughly 8:00 and 9:00 p.m. on March 31, 2014, Kris and Lisanne visited her salon for a massage to ease their frustration over the failed volunteer placement at Guardería Aura, a visit Lisanne also recorded in her diary that evening. Sigrid was never formally interviewed by police or other authorities, despite being among the last people to speak with the women at length in their native Dutch; in a June 2014 television interview, she said the women had mentioned coming to Boquete to hike the Pianista Trail among other activities, but did not say they planned to hike it the next morning.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

After Kris and Lisanne were officially reported missing on the evening of April 2, 2014, SINAPROC took charge of the physical search operations in the jungle during the first critical weeks. Together with the police, the Border Guard (SENAFRONT), the Air Rescue Service (SENAN), and countless indigenous helpers and tour guides, they coordinated large-scale search operations in the region around Boquete and Bocas del Toro starting on April 4–5.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

The language school served as the organizational hub for Kris and Lisanne in Boquete. The agency had not only arranged their previous Spanish course in Bocas del Toro but also organized their accommodation with host mother Miriam G. (who lived only about 300 meters away) as well as their planned volunteer work.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Spanish by the River on Google Maps

Spanish by the Sea was a combination of a language school and a hostel. It was located on Isla Colón, the main island of the Bocas del Toro archipelago on Panama’s Caribbean coast. Like the partner school in Boquete (Spanish by the River), it was part of the agency Spanish at Locations, which was run by Dutchwoman Ingrid L.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Spanish by the Sea on Google Maps

Boyfriend of Kris Kremers and recipient of one of the last known communications before the hike.

Stephan M. was Kris Kremers’s boyfriend in the Netherlands at the time of her disappearance. According to the investigation material, he had one of the last known personal contacts with Kris on April 1, 2014, reportedly at approximately 14:00 Dutch time (around 08:00 in Panama), in which Kris indicated that she and Lisanne were about to leave for a hike. This information became relevant to reconstructing the morning timeline, as it was later compared with the recovered phone data, school context, and the subsequent digital photo timeline from the Pianista Trail. He is also mentioned in the investigation files as part of the emergency alert chain that the Froon and Kremers families set in motion on the night of April 2–3, 2014, when Kris failed to return.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

The Stichting Reddingshonden RHWW is a respected, volunteer rescue organization based in the Dutch town of Duiven. The organization works with highly specialized tracking dogs (mantrailers and cadaver dogs) that are trained to detect skin and hair particles from living or deceased individuals, even in extremely rugged terrain.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

“Paddocks” refers to the vast, open pastures located on the Caribbean side of the continental divide (Bocas del Toro province), deep within the cloud forest. They can be reached after a steady descent of about one to one and a half hours past the Mirador (just past the Quebrada 2 stream). Here, the dense forest suddenly opens up to a sprawling, hilly landscape.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View The Paddocks on Google Maps

Higher court in David involved in the legal closure of the Panamanian case proceedings.

The Tribunal Superior del Tercer Distrito Judicial in David is the higher court responsible for the Chiriquí judicial district. In the Kremers/Froon case, it became the highest relevant Panamanian judicial instance reviewed in the case material. In December 2014, the court rejected the complaints and evidence requests filed by victim attorney Enrique Arrocha and upheld the formal closure of the investigation, finding insufficient evidence of third-party involvement.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

UFEC is Panama’s counter-terrorism special forces unit. Its officers were deployed in late May 2014 alongside firefighters and police to provide security for the Dutch rescue dog team (RHWW) during its search of tourist sites around Boquete.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

As Panama’s tactical counter-narcotics police unit, UTOA contributed officers to several phases of the search. Three of its units escorted search teams to the Río Culebra in mid-June 2014, and the unit was again represented on the commission that traveled to Alto Romero on June 18 after locals reported finding bones.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Valle Risco is the corregimiento, or administrative district, in Bocas del Toro Province to which the settlement of Alto Romero and the various find locations along the Río Culebra officially belong. The district is reachable only via mountainous, winding roads from Almirante.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Valle Risco on Google Maps

Volcán Barú is Panama’s highest mountain and an option the language school presented to Kris and Lisanne as one of several possible tour excursions, alongside the Lost Waterfalls and the Caldera Hot Springs; school manager Marjolein J. later postponed a planned outing there with the two women from April 2 to April 5. The mountain was also among the areas extensively searched during the early phase of the official search effort.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

📍 View Volcán Barú on Google Maps

Neighbor of host family Miriam G.

Verónica S. is a neighbor of the host family’s house in Las Brisas, Alto Boquete, who lives along the route Kris and Lisanne would have walked between Miriam G.’s house and the language school. On the evening of March 30 — the day before the disappearance — she observed Kris and Lisanne leaving the house, presumably heading to the local supermarket. She is also one of the few people who say they saw the two women on the morning of April 1, 2014, the day they disappeared: she states she saw them leave Miriam’s house at around 9:00 a.m. that day, and was confident the clothing she saw them in did not match the clothing seen in the later trail photographs. Separately, in a sworn statement on April 9, 2014, she said that on April 3 at around 9:00 a.m., a red pickup truck with tinted windows sped past her property at unusually high speed, heading in the direction of Miriam’s house; the incident alarmed her since she did not recognize the vehicle as belonging to anyone in the neighborhood.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Panama

During the investigation, Wiebe de Boer represented the Netherlands in Panama as ambassador, functioning as the main diplomatic point of contact linking Panamanian officials, the two families, and Dutch investigators. He formally took receipt of belongings and evidence handed over by the Panamanian prosecutor’s office for their transfer back to the Netherlands and subsequent forensic analysis.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Local resident, Boquete; member of the youth group present at Osman V.’s drowning

Xinia P. is a Boquete local and part of the same circle of friends as Osman V. She was present at the swimming trip to the Chiriquicito River on April 4, 2014, the day Osman drowned, and her children were also brought along to the river that day. She is the person who took the well-known “swimming photo” of the group with her own tablet, a device that was later collected by the DIJ as part of the investigation into Osman’s death.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Employee at Giovanni S.’s pizzeria near the Pianista Trail entrance

Xiomara P. worked at the pizzeria run by Giovanni S. near the entrance to the Pianista Trail. On Tuesday, April 1, 2014, as she was finishing her shift, she encountered Kris and Lisanne as the two women came back down the path appearing exhausted; they greeted her with a friendly smile as they passed. This encounter fits into the timeline of sightings placing the women in the pre-trail area in the early-to-mid afternoon, alongside observations made by Giovanni S. himself, who reported seeing the two women near his restaurant three separate times that day.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.

Eldest daughter of host mother Miriam G.; key witness to the morning of the disappearance.

Yaileth M. is the eldest daughter of host mother Miriam G., living with her own two young children and younger siblings in her mother’s house in Barriada Nuevo Boquete. She met Kris and Lisanne on Saturday, March 29, 2014, when they arrived at the house, and spoke with them on several occasions over the following days. In a sworn statement on April 22, 2014, she narrowed down the critical timeline of the morning of the disappearance: she left the house at exactly 7:45 a.m. on Tuesday, April 1, to go to work, and although she did not see the women, she clearly heard sounds from their room, after which she locked the front door, knowing the women had their own key. She did not return home until 11:00 p.m. that night, when her mother told her the women had not come back and their prepared dinner remained untouched in the kitchen.

For the detailed investigation, source evaluation and full context, see Still Lost in Panama.