Page 14 - PPIAC Newsletter Mar-Apr 2022
P. 14

Professional Private Investigators Association of Colorado




               CASE PREPARATION              INVESTIGATING AN INTERNATIONAL MISSINGS PERSON CASE
               AND RESEARCH
               Continued from page  13
                                             •   Pocket knife
                                             •   Bandanas (the sweating was real)
                                             •   Poncho
                                             •   Headlamp and flashlight
                                             •   Extra batteries
                                             •   Gloves
                                             •   Hot-weather non-cotton long-sleeved/legged clothing
                                             •   Waterproof dry bags
                                             •   Bug spray
                                             •   Sunscreen
                                             •   Regular clothes
                                             •   Toiletries/hygiene products
                                             •   Small field notebook and multiple pens/pencils
                                             •   Cash
                                             •   Copies of the NNP police report
                                             •   Copies of photos and the missing person poster
                                             I brought much more than that, not knowing what I would face, but
                                             really those were all I ended up needing.
                                             Plan of Investigation

                                             Prior to travel, it is important to lay out a plan of investigation. Perhaps
                                             you will not be able to accomplish everything you planned, but it is im-
                                             portant to do this before you leave so that you’re not wasting valuable
                                             in-country time trying to figure out what you’re going to do next. (We
                                             were only scheduled to be in Nicaragua for five days unless additional
                                             time was really needed to complete the investigation.) Since you’ll see
                                             below what we did, I won’t list our plan here.
                                             FIELD INVESTIGATION

                                             Our driver picked us up from the airport and immediately drove us to
                                             the hostel Abiodun had last known to be at while in Nicaragua.
                                             Hostel Canvassing

                                             This is where his belongings were found. We interviewed the hostel
                                             owners, as well as waiters, bartenders, and guests. Many of them knew
                                             who we were and were willing to provide information (we had to buy a
                                             drink or two), but none of them knew where Abiodun was or where he
                                             went. However, we were able to review CCTV footage that showed that
                                             Abiodun had in fact gone out on the lake that day in a kayak, by him-
                                             self, with no life vest. The general assumption people had was that he
                                             had drowned, but when we asked why they thought that the majority of
                                             them stated that it was because the NNP had so actively searched the


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