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Daughter of missing French couple to visit Costa Rica

The only daughter of a married French couple, Claude and Gerard Dubois, who disappeared while vacationing on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica in March 2011, plans to visit the country soon.

“I’m sure that they have more information that they do not want to give,” Céline Roussel, the missing couple’s daughter, told AFP on Monday.

Roussel, who resides in France, will travel to Costa Rica to meet with officials.

The Dubois, both 65, disappeared March 31 while on holiday near Manuel Antonio, a popular tourist town on the central Pacific coast. 

The couple left for a trip from their Manuel Antonio hotel after arriving the previous day. Their rental car, a Daihatsu Terios, was found on a bridge over Naranjo River on the highway between Quepos and Dominical. The car’s doors were locked, but the windows had been smashed.

Their backpacks and sunglasses were found alongside the river. Their bags did not contain any possessions. The couple’s passports were found 75 kilometers north of their car in a trash can close to the beach town of Jacó.

The Dubois’ credit cards were used on several occasions between the date of their disappearance and April 7, in amounts totaling almost €12,000 ($15,000). Items bought with the cards included computer equipment and shoes, and purchases at area gas stations. Evidence raises suspicion that a crime occurred, but little information has resulted from Costa Rica’s investigation, a family attorney said.

Judicial Investigation Police said the materials could have been robbed from the car since it was left abandoned on the side of the road for two days.

Costa Rican authorities have posited that the couple accidentally drowned at sea, although a search by the Costa Rican Coast Guard did not turn up any leads. Police also did a sweep of nearby rivers and mountains.

Roussel does not believe that her parents could have drowned based on the evidence.

“Nine months later, it seems silence suits everyone best. And the investigation is not moving,” Roussel, who lives in the Paris suburb Saint-Germain-sur-Morin, said in January.

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