On Tuesday, the Judicial Investigation Police told The Tico Times that the U.S. tourist had not returned to La Fortuna to identify the four suspects, and without further evidence, police released the suspects later that day.
A spokeswoman for the Judicial Investigation Police confirmed to The Tico Times that security cameras and witnesses identified four suspects who were at a La Fortuna bar, El Establo, the last place where the victim was seen before the alleged rape took place early Sunday morning.
A 19-year-old woman from the U.S. state of Wisconsin was allegedly raped by seven men in La Fortuna de San Carlos, in the Northern Zone of the country, according to Costa Rica's Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ).
My family and I had been exploring the Pacific coast of Costa Rica for two sunny weeks before we finally made our way to the country's interior rain forest. It was supposed to be a six-hour drive from our last stop, the surf town of Santa Teresa, to our final destination, Tree Houses Hotel Costa Rica in Santa Clara.