Police arrested two men — including a U.S. citizen — in Costa Rica's Corcovado National Park last week during a ground mission to expel illegal hunters and gold miners from the renowned nature sanctuary.
Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) confirmed to The Tico Times that a European tourist died of an apparent heart attack while hiking in the remote Corcovado National Park in the southwestern Osa Peninsula Sunday afternoon.
Since 27-year-old Alaskan Cody Dial went missing after hiking in Costa Rica's wild Corcovado National Park, his father has traversed the park, repelled down waterfalls and trekked illegal gold mining trails in an attempt to find him. But even after weeks with no sign of his son, Roman Dial, a legendary Alaskan outdoorsman, is not ready to give up.
Search-and-rescue teams wrapped up a final operation on Monday to find U.S. hiker Cody Dial, who disappeared in Costa Rica in early July. Search teams focused their efforts on the rugged Corcovado National Park, where Dial was believed to be hiking, but failed to find any clues as to what happened to the 27-year-old Alaska-native.
Representatives from the U.S. Embassy are now in Puerto Jiménez, near the park's eastern entrance, to take over the search, accompanied by Dial's father, Roman Dial, a National Geographic explorer and well-known adventure sportsman.
Two flyovers and several ground patrols have failed to turn up any sign of 27-year-old U.S. hiker Cody Roman Dial, who is suspected missing in Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica's southwestern Osa Peninsula since July 22. There is no official record of the young Alaskan's entry into the park and it is believed that Dial, an experienced backcountry hiker, followed routes that are off-limits to tourists.