Relatives of Jorge Mario Brenes, who disappeared July 4 during a snowboarding trip in Zermatt, Switzerland, are appealing for help in a search effort to find the missing Costa Rican, who turned 30 on Monday.
Brenes travelled to Europe with his family for vacation in late June. On the morning Brenes vanished, he left a message for his girlfriend in Costa Rica at 5:45 a.m. He withdrew $137 in cash from an ATM at 10 a.m. before heading toward the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise. In a message posted on Facebook, a relative said that as of July 8, Swiss authorities had not yet searched for Brenes because of inclement weather. Family members organized a helicopter search that began Monday morning and would continue on Tuesday.
On a Facebook page about Brenes’ disappearance, family members in Costa Rica rallied to draw attention to the situation Sunday night. A message posted in Spanish, Swedish and English said:
“We are organizing a volunteer rescue operation to look for Jorge Mario Brenes Jaikel, our beloved one, [who] went to ski on Tuesday last week and never came back. He is in Zermatt, Switzerland, and we are looking for volunteers who can open their hearts and help us. His mom and dad are there, and we are trying to organize everything from Costa Rica.”
