This is the tragic and mysterious story of the disappearance of two tourists from the Netherlands who went to Latin America. Lisanne Frone and Chris Kremers decided to visit Panama to get to know more about the culture of this country and the traditions of the local people, but disappeared into the jungle without a trace. After a long search, the girls were still found, but, unfortunately, it was already too late.
Two students from the small Dutch town of Amersfoort, Chris Kremers and Lisanne Frone, have long wanted to visit Latin America. Their choice ultimately fell on Panama. They planned a six-week trip: for the first two weeks they were to live in the resort province of Bocas del Toro, and then for the remaining four weeks to go inland, to the small town of Boquette, where there was a Spanish language school aimed at tourists from Europe.
Teaching Spanish had to take place in a practice mode, in other words, the girls had to do various social work with local schoolchildren. On February 15, 2014, the girlfriends will arrive at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Parents who saw off the girls, goodbye, before a long separation, will photograph their children. Leesanne and Chris will go through customs and hide behind the doors of the waiting room. Parents won't see them again.
Little is known about the girls themselves. Chris Kremers was to become an art critic upon graduation. She was an open, sociable person. She paid for the trip to Panama from her own savings, saved up for it at least six months, moonlighting as a waitress in a local restaurant, where she met Lisanne. Was a fan of Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Lisanne studied to be a psychologist. She dreamed of working abroad, in southern countries, which in turn required knowledge of other languages, especially Spanish. The trip to Panama was partly a gift from my parents, a kind of advance payment for a future diploma. With a height of 184 cm, Lisanne successfully played for the student volleyball team. Favorite Music - Coldplay
The first two weeks of the trip, Chris and Lisanne will spend as planned in Bocas del Toro.
Promotional video:
Lisanne took pictures with a parrot and wrote enthusiastic responses about Panama on social networks.
Chris posted on her Facebook page photographs from Bocas, with a standard resort theme: beach, sea, starfish.
On March 29th, as planned, Chris and Leesanne move to Bocchete.
The town of Boquette. Photo from the top of the mountain.
Despite the fact that Bocchete is located far from the sea, it is still a major tourist center in Panama. The main attraction is the more than three-kilometer volcanic mountain, Baru. Weather permitting, Panama's highest peak is visible from both the Atlantic and the Pacific. Although Baru is a rather gentle mountain, climbing a three-kilometer height is naturally associated with certain difficulties, therefore, most of the hiking trails in the vicinity of Boquette are not laid on Baru, but on nearby hills and hills. There are also several observation platforms (in Spanish they are called, with the sonorous word "Mirador") with views of the city and the volcano, which last erupted in 1550.
And of course, not a single tourist who finds himself in Central America will be able to pass by the opportunity to have at least one eye look at the jungle. Formally, they begin immediately after leaving Boquete, in fact, the town itself lies in the middle of the jungle, however, on the slopes from the city side, the jungle is quite civilized, one might even say “fake”, with paved hiking trails, or even just small roadside cafes. for the convenience of tired tourists. This is how the jungle looks like three kilometers from Boquette.
But in order to appreciate the real beauty of the rainforest, you need to go to the slopes of the mountains outside the city. 6-7 six kilometers from the city, the jungle looks like this:
The first surprise awaits the girls in Boquette: the Spanish course was postponed until April 8th. This gave Lisanne and Chris a whole week of unplanned free time. It was decided to devote this time to exploring local attractions and surroundings. Fortunately, the choice of one-day tourist routes around Boquette is really impressive.
Starting the story directly about the most criminal component of this story, it should of course be said that the attempts of the media and researchers to clearly reconstruct the events of March 31 and April 1, ended in complete failure, due to the complete inconsistency of the testimony of some facts about which will become known a little later. But there is nowhere to go, so the events of these days will be presented in exactly the same sequence as it sounded in the reports of the Panamanian police and press.
March 29, 2014, Saturday.
Lisanne and Chris arrive at Boquette. By prior arrangement, they rent a room in the annex of the house, from a woman named Miriam. She rents a room under a contract with a Spanish language school. The room seems to have a separate entrance. The girls receive two pairs of keys.
Sunday 30 March 2014
After a joint breakfast, the girls leave to explore the city and return in the evening. Something unusual or the presence of third persons with girls, Miriam did not notice.
Monday 31 March 2014
The girls leave early in the morning for the language school, where they receive the news that the practice will begin one week later than the planned date. According to some reports, the girls, especially Lisanne, were upset. At school, they talk to the school manager and then to the local guide, Feliziano Gonzalez. They order an escort from him for two hiking routes. On Wednesday to the so-called "strawberry farm" located at the foot of the Baru volcano, and on Saturday directly to the volcano itself.
On the same day, the girls contact their parents for the last time via Whatsapp. We are fine. Let's talk later “- this was the last message from Lisanne.
Tuesday 1 April 2014
9.00-11.00
Girls are seen in a cafe near the school, in the company of two young people
13.00
According to the testimony of the guide, Feliziano Gonzalez, at this time the girls leave the Spanish language school. Subsequently, Feliziano repeated more than once that he was obviously the last one to see the girls in Boquette.
13.30-13.40
Taxi driver Leonardo Mastina sees girls voting on the road, not far from the Spanish language school. He drives them for five dollars to the start of the El Pianisto hiking trail.
Before 15.00
Giovani, the owner of the cafe at the start of El Pianisto, sees the girls. They ask him a few questions about the route.
15.00-15.30
One of the workers (obviously a cafe) sees the girls leaving along the route and gives them his dog "Blue" as their guide. According to the wife of the owner of the cafe, Doris, Blue will be back in an hour. One.
17.00?
Someone Pedro Capon, possibly the owner of one of the cafes or shops at El Pianista, sees two girls returning from the route. They ask him how they can get back to the city. He shows them where they can get a taxi or take a bus. But in which direction the girls went, Pedro did not see.
17.00?
An American who lives near the start of El Pianisto sees two girls returning from the route. They talk to the owner of one of the cafes, apparently asking how to get to the city.
As many people who have visited Panama say, using dogs as guides is a common practice. If the tourists lose their orientation and the right direction, the four-legged guide can be given the command "Home!" and he will lead the lost back to the city without any problems. This is possibly the main witness in this case, a husky named Blue:
Guide Feliziano Gonzalez. He repeatedly criticized the local police for the lack of activity of search activities, and also after the disappearance of the girls, he gathered a small volunteer squad of local Indians and went into the jungle himself. In addition, in an interview, he told the Dutch press that in the jungle, on the other side of the mountains, there are many abandoned huts and dugouts that are not marked anywhere on the maps. Whether someone lives there or not is unknown even to him.
The taxi driver Leonardo Arturo Gonzalez Martinez, who gave the girls a lift, allegedly on April 1 before the start of El Pianisto, will die a year after we describe the events. Not suspicious, but a very ridiculous death. A young thirty-four-year-old man, will feel bad, fall into a pond and drown.
On April 2nd, Chris and Lisanne had an appointment with Feliziano Gonzalez. His services have already been paid for. The girls did not show up for the appointment. During the day, the guide will make inquiries at the Spanish language school and at the place of residence of the family where the girls are staying. And by the evening of the same day, he will report his suspicions to the police. On the morning of April 3rd, Panama's police will begin search activities. Searches will be carried out in the Spanish language school and in the apartment where the girls lived. Two laptops belonging to Chris and Lisanne will be found in the room. After examining the data, the police will determine that in the early morning of April 1, the girls made numerous searches on Internet search engines about hiking trails in the Boquette area. They were especially interested in the El Pianisto route.
A search and rescue operation begins on the same day.
By 5 April, police and rescuers have completed their search on El Pianisto and nearby tourist routes. And go beyond them, on the trails located on the outer slopes of the mountains around Boquette. The first helicopter rises into the air, while the truth is not so much for the search, but for the coordination of rescue teams. The focus on girls goes to neighboring Costa Rica.
On April 7, one of the largest international tour operators offering holidays in Panama, Lonely Planet, strongly recommends that tourists refrain from solo trips outside the observation decks, paying attention to the increasing incidence of robberies.
On April 8, the search begins with the help of helicopters. Panama police said the search operation for Chris and Lisanne was the largest in the country's history. Chris's parents arrive in Panama on April 10. The active part of the operation will be completed by April 14th. All search activities were left without results. Neither the girls themselves, nor their remains, nor traces of blood were found. Usually left lost, various markers on trees or scrawled arrows on stones were also not found. Map from the search headquarters of the Panama Police, showing what work has been done during these days of searching:
On April 30th, a reward of $ 30,000 was established for the whereabouts of Chris and Lisanne. Later, one of the Panamanian television channels will add another ten thousand to this amount.
At the end of May, a detachment of the Dutch police departs to help the Panamanian colleagues, consisting of eighteen employees and twelve dogs of various profiles. For the first three days in Panama, the Dutch police team will focus on the inspection of residential premises in Boquette and around El Pianisto. It is clear that the police did not have any legal rights to such actions, however, according to the police: "the majority of local residents with whom they dealt, agreed to inspect their premises."
Naturally, one of the main versions of the disappearance of the girls was the assumption that Chris and Leesanne could get lost corny. The El Pianisto trail started on the northern outskirts of Boquette, at an altitude of 1270 meters above sea level. For the first one and a half kilometers, the route runs along coffee plantations, small groves, along a fairly calm landscape. The ascent on this section of the route is only about 200 meters. Further, the trail narrows, the route becomes a little more “wild”, rising to an altitude of about 500 meters and after four and a half kilometers of length, ends with a small observation deck, in Spanish “mirador”, at an altitude of 1890 meters above sea level. At this stage, so to speak, ends the official route indicated in Google earth and some “conservative” guidebooks. The trail continues further, going down the mountainside to the so-called "Caribbean side" of Panama. This unofficial part of the route, in various sources, is called slightly differently, but roughly translated into Russian it can be designated as "Caribbean descent". It leads to a sparsely populated area under an autonomous Indian government, with the complicated name Ngobe-Bugle. The area is inhabited by two Indian tribes, one of them is called Ngobe, and the second, as you might have guessed, Bugle. The topography of the area into which the Caribbean descent leads, initially somewhat rugged, and then mostly flat, divided by the Rio Caldera River and its tributary called the Culebra.it is called slightly differently, but roughly translated into Russian it can be designated as "Caribbean descent". It leads to a sparsely populated area under an autonomous Indian government, with the complicated name Ngobe-Bugle. The area is inhabited by two Indian tribes, one of them is called Ngobe, and the second, as you might have guessed, Bugle. The relief of the area into which the Caribbean descent leads, initially somewhat rugged, and then mostly flat, divided by the Rio Caldera River and its tributary called the Culebra.it is called slightly differently, but roughly translated into Russian it can be designated as "Caribbean descent". It leads to a sparsely populated area under an autonomous Indian government, with the complicated name Ngobe-Bugle. The area is inhabited by two Indian tribes, one of them is called Ngobe, and the second, as you might have guessed, Bugle. The relief of the area into which the Caribbean descent leads, initially somewhat rugged, and then mostly flat, divided by the Rio Caldera River and its tributary called the Culebra. The relief of the area into which the Caribbean descent leads, initially somewhat rugged, and then mostly flat, divided by the Rio Caldera River and its tributary called the Culebra. The topography of the area into which the Caribbean descent leads, initially somewhat rugged, and then mostly flat, divided by the Rio Caldera River and its tributary called the Culebra.
On the map, it looks something like this:
For a long time it seemed that the details of the story of the disappearance of the girls would remain forever unclear. However, two and a half months later, on June 14, 2014, an unexpected turn took place in this story. On this day, a local Indian living on the "Caribbean Side", while working in a small rice field, found a blue backpack in a shallow bed near a flowing river. The contents of the backpack were as follows:
- Foreign passport in the name of Lisanne Fron
- Insurance medical card in the name of Chris Kremers (according to some information, cards of both girls)
- $ 83
- Two pairs of cheap sunglasses
- Two mobile phones
- Two bras
- Water bottle
- "Canon" camera.
Judging by the initial press reports, the position and condition of the backpack was such that it was not possible to unambiguously determine whether the backpack was left in this place, or whether it was brought by the current.
By the way, photographs of girls' things showed how different an approach to covering a crime story in the media can be. The fact that these photos appeared in the Panamanian press without any agreement with the girls' parents provoked violent protests from the Dutch justice system. The Panamanian side did not understand the objections of its European colleagues, saying that such cooperation between the investigation and the media is absolutely normal practice. True, later, in many Panamanian and Dutch newspapers there was information that this photo was not taken by the police at all, but by the Indian himself, at home, immediately after he discovered this find.
As a result of various examinations of the found items, it will be established:
- On the backpack itself, the DNA of two unknown women will be found, as well as two slightly incomplete "male" DNA. Nevertheless, one of the men can be identified, but who it is and how he left his genetic imprint on the girls' backpack, the police will not tell.
-According to official data, “more than ten” different fingerprints will be found on the girls' mobile phones. Unofficial - thirty-six. Three fingerprints found on phones will also be found on the camera. One of these “duplicate fingerprints” will raise the suspicions of the Panamanian police and will be entered into the fingerprint database of wanted criminals.
- The police did not report anything about the condition and technical serviceability of mobile phones and a camera. However, the data from mobile phones and cameras were subsequently deciphered and published. Most likely the camera's SD card was slightly damaged after all.
-In the place where the backpack was found, the police will take six samples for DNA extraction. Five trials will not give any result. DNA of the sixth sample, belonged to an employee of the Institute of Forensic Science, in which this examination was carried out.
-The remains of soil and plant material will be found on the backpack. According to Dutch police, the material has never been compared to the soil composition of the area in which the backpack was found.
A new search operation was launched along the channel of the Kulebra. During the second search operation, the following were found:
- Black boot. Discovered June 16. It belonged to Lisanne. The shoe was not far from the river bed, behind a tree. Part of Lisanne's leg was found in the boot. According to the police, she was separated as a result of "natural processes". Subsequently, on August 29, not far from this place, smaller bone remains will be found on which the skin will be found. The dermal material showed the first stage of decomposition, leading the police to the conclusion that it was stored in the shade, in a cool place, at low temperatures. Some black dots and many holes were found on the skin, apparently left by insects, as well as some red streaks that are traces of hemoglobin from the muscles.
-Hip bone. More precisely, part of it. Was found nearby, also on June 16. Subsequent DNA analysis revealed that the bone belonged to Chris Kremers. No signs of decomposition were found on the bone. Police speculated that the bone was gnawed off by predators, although no obvious traces of animal fangs were found on it.
-Blue boot. It was discovered on June 18th. Police initially believed that this boot belonged to Chris. However, no evidence of this, in the form of DNA examinations and other studies, was provided. Moreover, after deciphering the photographic material, it will become clear that Chris wore different shoes on this day.
- Denim shorts that belonged to Chris. They were found at the end of June. They lay on a small stone near the mouth of two rivers. There were no traces of blood or tears on the shorts.
On the 3rd August, more than fifteen kilometers (in a straight line) from the start of El Pianisto, new bone remains will be discovered. Most of them belonged to animals, but one piece of bone material turned out to be Chris Kremers' rib. Even on visual inspection, the experts noticed an unusual completely white bone color. During subsequent analysis, a large amount of phosphates were found on the rib of Chris Kremers, as a result of which the rib received this color.
The complexity of the landscape, the area where the girls' belongings and remains were found, can be judged by the fact that only one trip, by the investigator of the Panamanian Prosecutor's Office Batsaida Pitti, after the found bone remains Chris Kremers, lasted about ten hours, and at the end of this "business trip" she needed medical assistance due to dehydration of the body.
After these finds, the Panama police voiced one of the versions according to which the girls could become victims of predators. The main suspect looked like this:
However, Puma was not the only suspect from the Panamanian fauna. Many local media outlets noted that reptiles could pose a much greater danger to girls who went into the jungle. For example, the Bushmeister is the largest venomous snake in South and Central America. Individual individuals can reach a length of four meters. Despite its impressive size, the Bushmeister is a very "shy" snake that avoids meeting a person and settles, as a rule, far from its habitat. But many of his younger brothers of the viper family are more aggressive towards people.
The main hopes that the cause of the girls' death would be established, the police naturally pinned on the data from mobile phones and a camera found in the backpack. These hopes were not destined to come true. On the contrary, photos and a printout of mobile data will completely confuse this story, turning it into one of the most mysterious crime stories of our time.
But before moving on, a few words about the reliability of the data, which will be discussed below. Firstly, apparently, the SD card of the camera was slightly damaged by a long stay in the water or for some other reason. Therefore, some of the police data had to be restored. Secondly, after studying the photographic material, the police handed the photographs to the girls' parents, and the latter, naturally, did not want to arrange a photo gallery from this material, having published only some of the pictures. And thirdly, the time and serial numbers of the photos were published only in the Panamanian press, and were partially confirmed only by the girls' parents. But the data from the mobile phones of Chris and Lizan were published by newspapers around the world, they were referred to by the Dutch police and therefore the probability of error in them is minimal.
So fast forward to April 1, 2014 …
The time of the photographs contradicted all the evidence. According to the photographs, the girls began their journey to El Pianisto not after 14.00, but much earlier, approximately, at 10.45.
The first of the published photographs of IMG_491, taken at 12:03:08, apparently somewhere halfway to the Mirador. In the photo - Chris, in her hands she holds an object that looks like a plastic bottle, which will then be found in a backpack.
The next published photo is IMG_493, taken at 12:22:45 pm, by that time the girls had already been at El Pianisto for about two hours. Apparently, this hiking route did not arouse any special emotions in them, as we can see, they took only three photographs, in two hours of the hike. The photo shows one of the canyons, in Spanish - "barranco", located somewhere in the immediate vicinity of the observation deck. This is apparently one of the recovered photographs. Its place in the general chronology causes heated debate among the researchers of this case. The fact is that in the video of the parents there are no canyons to the Mirador (later, parents Chris and Lisanne will go along this route, filming the path on a video camera). In addition, many people pay attention to the fact that the photo is slightly blurred, as if it was taken while running.
The next photo is IMG_499, taken at 13:01:44. Everything is simple here - Lisanne is on Mirador.
IMG_500, taken at 13:01:50. 6 seconds after the previous photo, Lisanne is photographed facing the opposite side of the Mirador. The differences in cloudiness in both photos are frankly surprising.
IMG_XXX, around 13:00, exact time unknown. The only photo taken with a mobile. Or the only one published. Chris on Mirador.
IMG_505, taken at 13:20:33. The beginning of the "Caribbean Descent". Chris in the steering wheel. The number of photographs is increasing dramatically. Based on the numbering and time, it can be seen that the girls took 5 photos in 19 minutes.
IMG_507, taken at 13:54:50. This is the so-called "Kverbada". Crossing the stream. There are two of them on Caribbean Descent. This is the first one.
IMG_508, taken at 13:54:58. Eight seconds after the previous photo, Chris is photographed on the other side of the stream. Both the police and the girls' parents have confirmed more than once - this is the last photo taken by the girls on April 1st.
What the girls did for the next two hours is unknown. At 4:39 pm Chris will dial 112 on his mobile. This is the emergency number of the rescue service in Holland and many other European countries. Twelve minutes later, at 4:51 pm, Lisanne will follow her friend's example, also dialing 112 on her Samsung.
The telephone number of the rescue service in Panama is 911. However, the fact that the girls tried to call the more familiar number 112 for them, in principle, was not a mistake, since when this number was dialed, the cell phones automatically turned on redirection to the rescue service number of the country in which the owner was located phone at the moment. The real problem was that in the place where the girls were calling, apparently there was no network coverage and neither Lisanne nor Chris could get through to the rescue service. Moreover, on that day, they no longer attempted to call.
April 2nd This time, Lisanne was the first to call at 06:58. Chris makes his attempt at 08:14. and no longer uses his iPhone that day. Lisanne tries to call again at 10:53 and 13:56. This time, she not only dials 112, but also tries to dial 911 directly.
April 3rd At 09:33 Chris tries to call 911 again. However, the network coverage was insufficient to establish a connection this time. This was the last 911 call. During the day, the girls turned on their phones a couple more times, but made no attempts to call or send a text message.
On April 4th Chris turns on his mobile twice, at 10:16 and 1:42 pm. On Lisanne's phone, no activity was recorded that day.
April 5th The Lisanne phone turns on at night at 04:50 and remains on for 10 minutes, as a result of which it completely discharges and turns off. Chris's phone switches on twice at 10:50 and 13:37.
April 6th At 10:26 am Chris's phone turns on again, but for the first time, the one who turns on the phone does not dial the pin. Next switching on at 13:37.
According to information aired on the RTL TV channel, from April 7th to 10th, Chris's phone was switched on a total of 77 times.
On April 11, Chris's phone will be turned on first at 10:51, again without a pin. And then at 11:56 and after about an hour it will turn off.
Weather conditions for eleven days were approximately the same. During the day, the thermometer rose to 30-36 degrees, and at night dropped to 24-20 degrees Celsius. the only torrential downpour with thunderstorms began on the evening of April 3, at 17.00 and ended on the night of April 4, at about two o'clock. Thunderstorms also rained on April 8th, but briefly, from 18:00 to 19:00. On other days, precipitation was not observed.
And on the night of April 8, someone will suddenly turn on the camera and take exactly 90 pictures on it within three hours. That is, on average, one shot per two minutes. Unfortunately 87 of them will be taken in absolute darkness, without flash. As the Dutch police say, despite the fact that the pictures were certainly taken with the lens open, it is impossible to see or recognize anything on them. Of the three pictures taken with the flash, only two will initially be published.
This is IMG_542, at 01:38:12
The next "resulting" photo is IMG_550, taken at 01:39:54
In February 2015, the Dutch police will publish a report on the research they carried out into the deaths of Lisanne Frone and Chris Kremers. The meaning of the report is, of course, not an attempt to prove one or another version of the death of the girls, but rather an attempt to determine the most probable cause. So, according to the Dutch police, the girls died as a result of an accident: “First of all, the geographic conditions on the last leg of the El Pianisto route (meaning the Caribbean descent, and the last kilometers) show that an accident is the most likely cause of subsequent death Lisanne and Chris.
The opinions of experts on this report were naturally absolutely polar opposite, and many have subjected it to serious criticism. A word from Panamanian forensic scientist Octavio Calderon: “There are no facts at all on the basis of which it can be argued that the girls were near the river. Two bones found, two different people, from two different parts of the body, in different parts of the river, rather indicate that someone put them there …"
Almost six months later, Chris Kremers' parents still decided to show the last, "third" photo. The photo was shown in one of the programs on Dutch television.
Map with localization of finds and photographs taken.
The girls' remains were handed over to their parents and buried in Holland.
This is where the "official" part of the post ends, and then we will try to deal with inconsistencies and incomprehensible moments.
1) Why does the timing of the photographs contradict all the evidence?
Officially, neither Panamanian nor Dutch police give an answer to this question. Doesn't match, that's all.
Knowing that the journey to the Mirador takes at least 2 hours, and the girls took pictures on it at noon or so, it means that they went on the route at about 10 am. Why do the witnesses claim that they saw them leaving for the route around 14: 00-14: 30? And at about 17:00 at least two people claim that they returned from the route, although this is impossible, if only on the basis that at about this time there was an attempt to call the rescue service from phones located on the other side of the Mirador, on "Caribbean descent".
Did the witnesses confuse them with other European girls? Or deliberately deceive, misleading the investigation? But then again, why?
The more people deceive and participate in a conspiracy (and here there are about six people), the more likely it is to let slip, or to admit a discrepancy with the testimony of another person. If there was intent, and there was a criminal background, it would be much easier to say that “I saw nothing and I did not hear anything”.
In fact, although the official version says that the girls died in an accident, crime is more than possible here. In Panama, as in many Central American countries, in addition to the drug trade, the sex slave trade is also flourishing. Many girls are kidnapped or tricked into this area. It is quite possible that interested persons could pay attention to foreign girls, different from local ones.
2) Why did the girls only call the rescue service, never trying to get through to relatives or friends?
On the one hand, there is a logical explanation that seeing the futility of trying to dial 911 and 112, they did not want to waste time charging their phones. But it is also perplexing that not a single attempt was made to send SMS to the same friends or parents, especially in the early days, when the phones were not turned off and the battery power was not yet saved. There is always a possibility (and rather big) when, in the absence of a network, SMS "hangs" on the sending, and then, when receiving a minimum signal, it is still sent. Moreover, it is sent even when it is impossible to get through. However, the girls might not know about it if they lived in a place where cellular communication is always stable.
Also, for some reason, there are no entries in the phones, no photos of the incident. At least eleven days, the girls were alive (one for sure, anyway), and not a single phone has a record of what happened (neither voice, nor text), and not a single photograph shedding light on what happened. Not in the phone, not in the camera.
3) The time of switching on the phones, and attempts to get through.
For several days, from April 2 to April 6, the girls turn on their phones at the same time intervals - between 10-11 and 13-14.
Why such selectivity, and timing?
By the way, iPhone Chris "lasted" 11 days. It’s a very good time for a modern smartphone, even taking into account the fact that it was turned off some of the time. When turned on, the mobile phone tries to find the network, and if it is not there, or if it is weak, a lot of energy is spent on finding and holding the network.
4) Chris shorts.
The shorts found during the search operation added another mystery to this case. According to a Panamanian police report, the shorts lay neatly on a large rock near the stream bed. There were no traces of tears, or any other damage, on them. The police also said that no traces of blood were found on them.
In fact, the question is: why take off your shorts in the jungle and leave them on the stone?
Versions that were put forward by users of the forums (both Russian-speaking and Dutch):
a) The shorts got dirty with dirt, they were taken off to wash, put to dry on a stone, but something frightened the girls, they ran away and did not return.
- It is quite possible, but it is unlikely that soiled shorts are washed in such a situation. Well, they got dirty, so what? This is not a city where everyone is looking at you. In the jungle, values and priorities are somewhat different.
Alternatively, the shorts were not soiled with dirt, and the owner had “critical days”. In such a situation, washing is quite logical, but the police officially stated that no traces of blood were found on them, and in the plain water of a mountain stream, without detergents, blood cannot be washed off. However, the examination easily determines the nature of the blood, and the investigation could shyly keep silent about such an intimate fact, considering it irrelevant.
b) The girls wanted to swim in the stream, undressed, but something frightened the girls, they ran away and did not return.
“You don’t really swim in that stream.” This is a stream, not a river. He's small. You can drink from it, wash your hands, but swim … Moreover, why then only shorts remained? What about the rest of the clothes? In addition to the shorts, Chris was also wearing a T-shirt.
c) Chris took off her shorts because she was hot and decided to get rid of them.
- It is difficult to imagine a person walking of his own free will in his underwear through the jungle. Moreover, it was more rational to put the shorts in the backpack, which the girls had with them.
d) The shorts were removed because Chris was injured.
- Why then carefully lay them out on the stone? Wouldn't it be easier to put them in your backpack? Moreover, if the injury was open, there would be blood on the shorts. If closed (fracture or dislocation of the hip joint), then Chris would not have gone far from the shorts. The body would have been found nearby.
5) The remains of the girls, found at a considerable distance from each other, and their condition.
a) Lisanne's boot. The shoe was not far from the river bed, behind a tree. A part of the leg was found in the boot. According to the police, she was separated as a result of "natural processes". Subsequently, not far from this place, smaller bone remains (it is not specified which ones) will be found, on which the skin will be found. The dermal material showed the first stage of decomposition, leading the police to the conclusion that it was stored in the shade, in a cool place, at low temperatures.
These findings speak in favor of the criminal component of the incident. As a result of what “natural” processes, the foot could separate from the lower leg? Ligaments will not rot even in such a hot climate in three months. Also, the police do not say anything about the marks that must have remained on the joint during the separation, as a result of which the nature of the injury would be clear. And how does the find made very close to this correlate: “small bone remains”, on which the skin, which was in the first stage of decomposition, was preserved? How can a leg decompose, up to the destruction of the joint, and the skin remains virtually intact? In what refrigerator were these bone remains, and which of them brought them to the shoe and threw them?
b) Part of Chris's hipbone, near Lisanne's boot. No signs of decomposition were found on the bone. Police speculated that the bone was gnawed off by predators, although no obvious traces of animal fangs were found on it.
The police did not put forward any versions (at least officially) how the pelvic bone could have burst, and what character the fracture line had, by which it was possible to judge the nature of the injury. To break the pelvic bone in vivo, one had to fall from a very great height, and extremely unsuccessfully, on the back or on the side. The version about gnawing by predators does not stand up to criticism. Predators of the cat family (cougar) do not gnaw bones. A wolf or a hyena could have done this, but they are not found in this area. And according to the police, there were no teeth marks on the bones.
If we assume that this place was still the place of death of the girls, then how could their backpack be much further than this place, downstream of the stream? Who brought it there?
c) On the 3rd of August, more than fifteen kilometers (in a straight line) from the start of El Pianisto, Chris Kremers' rib will be discovered. Even during a visual examination, the experts noticed the absolutely white color of the bone. During subsequent analysis, a large amount of phosphates were found on the rib, as a result of which the rib received such a color.
Where did the phosphates on the rib come from? According to the police, it was in the stomach of a predator. But first, what kind of predator was it that could swallow a rib whole? and secondly, how could this rib leave the stomach without being digested, and pass through the intestinal tract? And the hydrochloric acid in the stomach does not precipitate any phosphates on the surface of the bone, but, on the contrary, dissolves inorganic matter, as a result of which the bone becomes soft and is digested …
6) A backpack found in the bed of a stream with things.
Some surprise is caused by its good preservation, and the preservation of the things in it. It is also unclear whether the girls themselves left him here, or he sailed with the stream (during the rain, the water could rise, and theoretically, the backpack left above could be brought to this place by the stream), but if he was carried by a mountain stream, throwing it against the stones, then it the safety is surprising. If the girls left him, how did their remains get upstream? So they came back?
It is also strange that telephones and a camera are well preserved. And in general, the very fact of their presence in a backpack is surprising. By the tragic denouement on April 11, the last time Chris turned on his iPhone, whoever turned it on (Chris or Lisanne) was clearly already in a state close to insane (as indicated by 77 phone on / off switches). A person in such a state will clearly not pack neatly into a backpack.
Jack London has a very powerful story "Love of Life". It very well describes the behavior and state of a person desperately fighting for his life, and about the change in his preferences, values and priorities in the process of struggle. Although the story is fictional, everything is described very reliably, and on the verge of death, it is unlikely that the girl will pack her phones and a camera in a backpack, especially since there is no information on them that can shed light on what happened.
7) Night photos on April 8.
A series of 87 photographs taken with a camera in complete darkness without a flash, and three with a flash.
Different versions of the origin of these photos are being put forward, somehow, someone fell asleep, putting his head on a backpack with a camera, and periodically pressed the shutter button, and an attempt to scare off a predator in the dark with the sound of a shutter.
But if the camera was in a backpack and took pictures by itself from accidental clicks, then how did it end up “on the street” after a series of these pictures, where three more pictures were taken with a flash? All these 90 shots (87 in the dark, and 3 with flash) are one “photo session”. Lie with your head on your backpack, sleep, and then wake up in the middle of the night and start filming? Very unlikely. If this was a deliberate shooting, then why was it necessary to click the darkness for several hours, and then at the end, take pictures with a flash? Scare off a predator? The shutter sound (or simulated shutter sound) is quiet enough to be intimidating. And in the pictures with the flash, there are no predators.
It is possible that the button was pressed by a person who was in stagnation, poorly aware of what he was doing at the moment.
8) Three night flash shots
These images were microscopically examined by many forum users. They were both enlarged and lightened, and what was not done with them, trying to understand what exactly was photographed on them, and most importantly, why.
In the first picture, for example, some people saw … a leg.
With due imagination, in principle, you can really see it there.
The second photo of a branch with something red is also controversial. The red things are plastic bags. Such bags were found in the girls' room and can be seen in the photograph. It is possible that they wrapped something in these bags and put it in a backpack when going for a walk. Why did they just put them on a branch? There are two explanations: they waved a branch to the rescue helicopter, and the bags were to attract attention, or they hung them on the branches to collect rainwater or morning dew for drinking.
Also, it is not clear what kind of piece of paper lies near the branch, and what is written on it, and whether it has anything to do with what is happening.
By the way, it was not possible to establish the localization of this night "photo session".
The third photo, which shows Chris's hair, is the most controversial photo.
His parents did not initially want to show the girls, and in the end they showed it only six months later, and then, in a TV show, where on top of it lies another photo, hiding part. The full photo has never been published, and it is unknown whether by accident or intentionally part of the photo was hidden. If intentionally, then what is depicted there?
Many people say that Chris's hair looks clean, which is strange for the eighth day of wandering in the jungle, opponents say that this is a flash effect, in which even dirty hair can look relatively clean. There have even been experiments (amateur) to support this statement. Well, who is right, and whether the hair in the photo is clean or not, is unknown.
Later, there was information that there is also a fourth shot with a flash. The edge of the cliff is visible on it. Although initially, in the primary sources, it was said about three pictures. It is possible that this picture was also not shown by the parents at first, and then they made it public.
There are many more mysteries in this story than answers, and whether it will be known what actually happened in the jungles of Panama in April 2014, or this case will enter the treasury of unsolved tragedies and incidents, is still unknown.
