Costa Rica - 2 Years and Still No Answers in Search for Missing British Journalist

LONDON, October 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

The family of missing British journalist Michael Dixon returns to Costa Rica on the second anniversary of his disappearance to continue to look for answers.

Michael Dixon, a 35-year-old British journalist working for RISI walked out of his hotel room in Tamarindo, Costa Rica two years ago on 18th October 2009 and vanished without trace. "Although Michael's case remains open, neither the Costa Rican nor the UK authorities have indicated any further interests in helping us pursue this case. At the moment we have no one to turn to and are forced to fend for ourselves," says Michael's brother David.

In May of this year, the then Foreign Minister, Rene Castro said that the Costa Rican police were ill-equipped to deal with cases of this kind and that he would welcome the participation of the British police. The family wrote to Prime Minister, David Cameron asking for assistance. Mr. Cameron was instrumental in involving the British police to review the disappearance of 5 year old Madelaine McCann in Portugal.  In response to the letter, Jeremy Browne Minister of State responsible Central and South America contacted the family stating that the UK police cannot intervene without a formal invitation from the OIJ. This invitation has not been forthcoming.

Within the past 18 months, nine other EU and US citizens have either gone missing or been murdered in Costa Rica. "All the families we have spoken to are facing a similar situation whereby little if any work is being done to determine what happened to their relatives," says Dixon.

"Someone out there must know what happened to my brother. My family and I will never give up until we have some answers."