Jeff Dunsavage's Blog (589)

The investigation into Amy Gerard’s death in Tenerife has taken a new turn as it emerges a secrecy order has been placed over the court probe. Police initially appeared to rule out the existence of a crime three days after a woman’s body Amy’s family later confirmed as hers was recovered from the sea off the northern coast city of Puerto de la Cruz. Afterward, it  was revealed that the judicial investigation is the subject of a secrecy order - an exceptional measure adopted to safeguard the…

The recent murders of Tom Cook and Carla Stefaniak in Costa Rica, combined with other murders, disappearances, and a general atmosphere of rising crime may be putting a crimp in the country's reputation as a safe destination.

An arrest has been made in the Stefaniak case (see picture), though her family has said they believe more people were involved in…

A 26-year-old man has appeared in court in New Zealand charged with the murder of British backpacker Grace Millane.

Miss Millane, 22, disappeared in Auckland on 1 December - police ended their search on Sunday after finding a body in the outskirts of the city. The man, who cannot be named, is due back in court next month

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A dead British tourist's body was returned to her family with no eyes, heart or brain after she died in a Mexican hospital.

Organ traffickers are feared to be the reason that 41-year-old Amanda Gill's corpse came home with every vital parts missing other than her lower bowel.…

British photographer Barbara Findley, 58, spent five years in Jamaica after moving from Kennington, south-east London, and was reported missing on 29 November. She was found nine days later on the side of a road in Santa Cruz, St. Elizabeth. The incident followed the disappearance and death of Karen Cleary-Brown, a 44-year-old woman who had visited Jamaica.…

A sixty-nine year old U.S. citizen, originally from California, was identified yesterday as the victim of an abduction and murder in Roatan, Honduras, according to a Honduran newspaper El Heraldo.

The newspaper reports that the body of Philip Foster Brown was found in a ravine near a road leading from West End to West Bay in Roatan on Tuesday. …

New Zealand police said they believe missing British backpacker Grace Millane is dead, and a man seen with her in Auckland the night she disappeared will be charged with her murder.

Authorities are searching land and sea for missing Briton Amy Gerard in Tenerife. Police say the search is focused on the area between the towns of Garachico and La Matanza de Acentego in the north of the island.

Amy was last seen just after midnight on Nov. 30 outside Irish pub Molly Malone in Puerto de la Cruz.…

The family of Carla Stefaniak, a U.S. citizen reported missing while on vacation in Costa Rica, has confirmed that a body found there this week belongs to her.

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A North Carolina teacher who vanished while traveling in Mexico in October was killed by a drug cartel member, his family and the local Mexican governor announced Thursday.

Patrick Braxton-Andrew, 34, who taught Spanish, was last seen in Urique on Oct. 28. His family announced Thursday on Facebook that Mexican officials had informed them that he was killed.…

Thirty-four-year-old Patrick Braxton-Andrew,a Charlotte, N.C., Spanish teacher has gone missing in Mexico.

He was  supposed to meet his brother, Kerry, in Mexico City on Tuesday, according to a message from their father that the college posted on its alumni Facebook page.…

The Royal Turks and Caicos Islands police are investigating the murder of an American tourist after her body was discovered near a popular vacation destination. Marie Kuhnla, a 61-year-old attorney from Wantagh, New York, had been traveling with two colleagues who also worked at Suffolk County Legal Aid in Long Island.…

A Tamworth man, NH, man who was reported missing during a trip to Guatemala may have been murdered and will probably not be found, his family reported via their Go Fund Me account. The family says their search is over.

Justin Booska, 27, has been missing from Laguna de Ayarza, Guatemala since Jan. 6. He had been in the central American country with friends and family for a vacation. Until going there earlier this month, the family had  believed he might have drown when he tried to…

A Vermonter living in Costa Rica was found dead last week after being reported missing back in August, now his family is frustrated by what they say has been a slow investigation by authorities, WCAX in South Burlington reports.…

Sometimes closure is all we can hope for. In these cases, success is necessarily bittersweet.

Last week, the earthly remains of Thomas Cook – a Vermont retiree living in Jaco, Costa Rica, and missing for more than six weeks – were positively identified. I won’t provide any details here, other to say foul play was clearly involved.

Having launched MAP following…

Carlsbad surfer Adam Francis D'Esposito, 39, who went missing three weeks ago, has been found dead in Northern Baja, Mexico, according to the D’Esposito’s family. A local news channel has reported drowning as the cause of death.…

The US Embassy in Jamaica issued a travel advisory on Sept. 24 warning citizens about travel to the island. The warning comes as the Jamaican Government declared a state of emergency in central downtown Kingston.

The state of emergency is intended to counter criminal activity. Jamaican security forces will be able to detain and deport suspicious people, enter premises, and seize property without a warrant.…

The family of a surfer from Carlsbad who went missing in Mexico is holding out hope that he will be found safe.

It has been over two full weeks since anyone has heard from 39-year-old Carlsbad native, Adam Francis D’Esposito.

According to his sister, Briana D’Espositio, the well-liked nomadic surfer, who had friends spanning the globe, was last spotted south of the border in the town of Baja Malibu. It’s a spot Adam had been frequenting since he was a teenager.…

Thomas J. Cook, a retiree from Burlington, VT, has been missing since August 23. He moved to Costa Rica in July 2018, and his last known address is Malaga, Herradura. 

Anyone with any information regarding the Cook's location should contact his sister, …

Reported by a MAP member living in Belize:

"A body has been found in an advance state of decomposition.

"The morning of Friday 22 June, 2018, at about 6:24 a.m., police discovered the body of a female who was found dead on the beach in Hopkins Village. The Belize Police Department is seeking the assistance of the public in identifying the body of a female. She is of a clear complexion, with long blond hair, wearing at the time a khaki blouse with a waist band and a short green…