Partially revised September 21, 2022. This article is old and needs further revision and references.
This is a comprehensive list of the people involved regarding the disappearance case of Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon, the two dutch women that disappeared in Panama in 2014. All of this information was gathered from various sources online.
I’ve organized this list to be a reference for people that are interested in learning about the case. For more of my in-depth articles about the case, visit: Kris Kremers And Lisanne Froon Case Articles
Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon
Kris Kremers – 21 years old. 167 cm. Studied cultural social education and planned to study art history. She travelled to Peru in the past. Extroverted, cheerful, intelligent and outspoken. Carried an iPhone 4.
Lisanne Froon – 22 years old. 184 cm. Studied applied psychology. Experience in mountaineering. Wrote in her diary that she was homesick. Thoughtful, intelligent, empathetic and a little bit shy. Carried a Samsung Galaxy S3.
Both girls worked together in cafe/restaurant ‘In den Kleinen Hap’ in Amersfoort, Netherlands before their trip to Panama.
Both girls were from the Natherlands (Dutch) and disappeared in Boquete, Panama on April 1, 2014. Their body remains were found the following months, on the Serpent River, north of Boquete, Panama.
Panama Government Officials & Investigators
Betzaida Pitti – Initial lead investigator on the case.
Hernán Mora – New lead investigator on the case (replaced Betzaida Pitti).
Humberto Mas – Director of the IMELCF.
Diomedes Trejos – Head of IMELCF. Said that among the group of bone remains recovered by a group of indigenous people, there were bones corresponding to cattle, pigs, one of the radius of the arm of an infant and a skull of a male. Source
Octavio Calderón – Criminologist on the case. He can be seen in this YouTube video. It’s unclear if he’s still alive because a man with a similar name “Octavio Calderón Batista” died in 2019 – his death was a mystery.
Ana Belfon – Attorney General of Panama (2013-2014) – Later admitted to having paid bribes to officials and individuals involved with Odebrecht (unrelated to the disappearance case). Interestingly, Odebrecht has done construction in Chiriquí province (where Boquete is). They also worked on the Remigio Rojas Irrigation Project by building a dam on the Chico River, and facilitate the sale of local farmer’s produce to the Netherlands.
Enrique Arrocha – The privately hired lawyer of the Kremers family.
Emigdio Miranda – Detective hired by the Froon family.
Verísimo Fuentes – Lead a private search team and worked with Emigdio Miranda.
Lecia Espinoza – Security Director of Boquete’s SINAPROC office that was involved the search process.
Arturo Alvarado – Director General of the National Civil Protection Service.
Elmer Quintero – Spokesperson for Panama’s prosecution.
Dutch Government Officials & Investigators
Dirk Janssen – Dutch Ambassador, Netherlands Embassy in Panama.
Casper Van Der Kruit – Press officer and reporter.
Frank van de Goot – Dutch pathologist that lead the forensics team. Video of Frank here.
People From Panama
Irma Mirando – Ngobe tribe woman that found the blue backpack in Alto Romero. She found the backpack next to the boulder on the bank of the river. Husband is Luis Atencio.
Feliciano Gonzalez – Local tour guide. He said: “Those girls could’ve been saved, if the SINAPROC people knew how to do their jobs.” He was one of the last people to see the girls before they went missing. He searched the girl’s hostel room after they went missing, then later he notified the police of their disappearance. Claimed that he saw vultures circling the region. Discovered the remains very far north on the Serpent River. Owns a farm in Alto Romero.
Henry Eliezer Gonzalez – First son of Feliciano Gonzalez. Potentially part of a youth gang. Frequents Bocas del Toro, where the two girls previously visited, prior to their trip to Boquete. He was overheard while he was drunk, saying unusual things about his encounter with the two girls that day, prior to the girl’s hike. He’s known to be interested in foreign women, a smooth talker. A lot of people online discussed his possible involvement, although no evidence directly points to him.
Chani Gonzalez – Second son of Feliciano Gonzalez. Potentially part of a youth gang. Not much is known about Chani.
Osman Valenzuela (nickname Piki) – Disappeared only 3 days after the girls went missing. Osman was later found dead from drowning in the Chiriquisito River. Was potentially part of a youth gang at one time. Later was discovered that he had met Kris and Lisanne. His body was found only 25 meters from the point where he was last seen. The river is located between the districts of Boquete and Gualaca. Rumors claim that there was no water found in his lungs and his body was found an an unnatural drowning position. To confuse matters further, in 2021 Betzaida Pittí confirmed that Osman had actually helped SINAPROC with the searches for Kris and Lisanne. Debunked: The “swimming” photo was discovered on his phone by police after his death (this is not true).
Jose Manuel Murgas – Worked with Osman (mentioned above). Killed a year later (2015) in a hit and run collision. Was potentially part of a youth gang. After he died, Henry Eliezer Gonzalez (mentioned above) wrote on Facebook that Jose was his “Little soul brother”. His body was found on the side of the road near Boquete to Dolega, near the entrance to the Caldera district, in the Boquete district, in Chiriquí.
Jorge Rivera Miranda – Friend of Henry Eliezer Gonzalez. On April 4th, 2015 he was found drowned in very shallow water. His body was found in the Grande Stream of the Dos Ríos community, in the Dolega district, in Chiriquí.
Heriberto Gonzalez – Man that may be involved in the disappearance of the two girls. Had conflict with the Sabroson Family.
Sabroson Family – Owners of “El Sabroson Restaurant” in Boquete, Panama.
Edwin Aguirre – Son of the Sabroson family. Had a quarrel with Heriberto Gonzalez publicly online. It’s uncertain if he went missing or just stopped posting on Facebook.
La banda ‘Los ND5′ – Gang of 5 people in the area at that time. Membership unknown.
Elvis Gonzalez – Discovered a white plastic bag on a trail that may have been from the two girls. The bag contained trash from food items and had the blue label of a local grocery store called Romero. The bag also contained a red shoe insole, that possibly matched the red and black boots of Lisanne Froon.
Ángel Palacio – Another local guide in the area that worked with Feliciano Gonzalez in finding the remains in the river.
Plinio Montenegro – Another local guide that claimed he saw the girls on the trail. Was a driver for “Mamallena” youth hostel. It’s possible he met Kris and Lisanne as they were leaving Bocas del Toro.
Laureano Bejerano – Another local guide that assisted with searching for the bones. Sometimes he goes by “Lauriano Del Cid”. Featured in March 2018 photos.
Leonardo Arturo González Mastinu – Taxi driver that originally brought the girls to the head of the trail. Later found drowned in the Estí river on March 3, 2015, just before the case was closed.
César Castillo – Climbing instructor that was in the area when Leonardo Arturo González drowned. He did not see the incident directly, but saw Leonardo’s floating corpse immediately afterwards. He said that there was no head trauma nor reason for him to have drowned. He believed Leonardo was murdered. Although unclear if it’s the same person, someone by the name of César Castillo was later found dead in a shaded tree area near Panama City on April 8th, 2018.
Eileen Witek – German woman that lived in Boquete. Worked for Feliciano Gonzalez and was an “assistant hotel manager”. She went with Feliciano to the girls hostel (where they were staying) on April 2nd, after they had failed to show up for their scheduled hike with Feliciano. Eileen assisted Feliciano in notifying the police about the disappearance. Soon after, she left Boquete and returned to Germany. It’s unknown how much she knows but it’s rather suspicious why she left Boquete so quickly.
Miriam Guerra – The host family of Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon. The house was a place where international students stay in the town of Boquete, Panama.
Lee Zelter – Expat of Panama that helped interview locals. Was the owner of boqueteguide.com and started boquete.ning.com. He later past away from health complications after being released from the hospital.
Giovanni and Doris – Owners of Il Pianista Restaurant and owners of “Blue” the dog. Both stated that Blue followed the girls to the trail, although there’s no evidence showing the dog was with them. Giovanni is sicilian and Doris is from Panama.
Ingrid Lommers – Owner of Spanish Location, a language school located in the same region of Panama. Was involved in local investigations. She said “I believe a lot in Pedro’s story. I think they were there and returned to Boquete but how and with whom, and what happened… That is the question.“
Pedro – Owner of “Casa Pedro”. Also known as “Peter”.
Edwin Cornelis and Bas van Lieshout – Two dutch men that Kris and Lisanne met at a hostel. Both were interviewed when they were back in the Netherlands.
Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon’s Parents
Hans Kremers – Father of Kris Kremers.
Roelie Grit – Mother of Kris Kremers.
Peter Froon – Father of Lisanne Froon.
Diny Froon – Mother of Lisanne Froon.
Martijn Froon – Brother of Lisanne Froon.
Nikki van Passel – Spokesperson for the Kremers family.
Journalists & Analysts Involved
Adelita Coriat – Journalist of La Estrella that covered much of the case in Panama.
Eva Wiessing – Dutch reporter that travelled the trail with a guide after the disappearance. (link)
Dirk Janssen – Journalist in Panama that discussed the case publicly.
Marc Bessems – Dutch news correspondent that covers Latin America.
Jeremy Kryt – Journalist from The Daily Beast that covered many details of the case from the USA. Also visited Panama more than once to cover the disappearance.
Dr. Kathy Reichs – Anthropologist and author that analyzed the case. She said that there’s no reason why the bones wouldn’t display signs of animal scavenging.
Dr. Georgina Pacheco – Head of the Legal Medicine Department of Costa Rica. Compares the case to the disappearance of Cody Dial, an Alaskan man that disappeared in the Costa Rica rainforest, yet 90% of his skeleton was unbleached and fully intact.
Romain Casalta – Aspiring journalist from France that visited Panama to retrace the steps of the girls and writes for CamilleG‘s French blog. Romain received access to the autopsy reports, DNA reports and Dutch investigative report.
Scarlet – Writer and publisher of numerous articles and investigative videos. Link to blog.
Juan Perea – Writer and publisher of numerous investigative videos. Link to YouTube channel. Case Photo Album by Juan.
Marja West and Jürgen Snoeren – Authors of the new book: “Lost In The Jungle: The Mysterious disappearance of Kris and Lisanne in Panama“. Marja wrote comments on our article.
Final Notes
This list of names covers the key people involved in the case of Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon. It was difficult in some cases to find the first name and last name of the people involved. However, it’s necessary to publish these names in order to provide the public with the necessary information to perform their own research.
A precise timeline can be found here. It’s in Dutch, so translate it to your preferred language.
It’s likely that some other individuals are missing from this list. If you recommend that any other names be added to this list, please send me an email or write in the comments below. Similarly, if someone wants their information removed from this list, please send me an email. Be prepared to provide identification and verification.
Panama’s government closed the case. However, the vast majority of the case remains a mystery. Therefore more answers will only be found if the public decides to contribute to the effort to find more answers.
Please note: Our team is committed to accuracy of information and respecting the privacy of those involved with this disappearance case. If you have any supplementary information regarding the case, or if you were involved in this case and feel that the information available in this article impacts your privacy, please contact our team.
Excellent research, Chris. A couple points: 1) The Gang: pull the info together on all 5 members, adding their birth & death dates for their ages. Was there any investigation on those drowndings in 2015 ? Any investigative report on the hit-run death of the other one ? Any mention of who was WITH each one when they died ? Any published obituaries or comments by the boys’ fathers or mothers ? Thanks, jj
The family and gang members had nothing to do with the disappearance of Kris and Lisanne. People need to get over that. Notice how it’s an accusation that goes nowhere. There are others who live in the woods.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pCaD8kRTwsI&t=0s
https://youtube.com/watch?v=du1y_jRiiGU&feature=share
Yeah, I’ve seen those videos and frankly, I think they’re phony. The cell phone data and other things tell a different story. Besides, how would anyone know exactly what time one girl has to urinate or what have you. Those videos are nothing but creative writings. Worthless. Find the location of the cave and then you have something important.
Very Interesting case indeed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OPhUt_XJ6Q
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g298424-d3755701-Reviews-Feliciano_Tours-Boquete_Chiriqui_Province.html – Look at the one review and the joke (they found just a shoe with remains right?)
—–
I’m pretty sure the Guide is the man. Too much suspicious coincidences:
– The review on tripadvisor (they are found shoes with remains in them, right?)
– The german woman departuring just after the incident?
– He and his sons have found the remains (How did he find the shoe in the jungle under a Tree again? Superhuman sight?)
– His sons have been in the Gang
– He probably has local Authority to pull something like that and get away with it.
– People involved in this case and the family Gonzales dying like flies (could also be related to the high homocide rate in the region tough)
Just some toughts. But in case of doubt the obvious explaination is often the most propable.
Justamente el Director de esa escuela era el peligroso que sabe de todo, y ni siquiera lo pusieron en la lista de sospechosos, pero es él, él las mandó ir allí, el sabe lo que nadie sabe.
There is some conflicting information whether Feliciano actually met the girls or not. In this article it says the reservation for the volcano tour was done by phone, and not even by Kris & Lisanne, but by the manager of the language school. So as far as this article is correct, he never met the girls.
https://www.panamaamerica.com.pa/tema-del-dia/tras-las-huellas-de-lisanne-y-kris-su-paso-por-boquete
Justamente el Director de esa escuela era el peligroso que las mandó ir allí al sendero, debería estar su nombre en la lista de sospechosos. Él sabe algo que nadie más sabe, muy astuto, mucha viveza gaucha ese director.
En el mes de agosto de 2014 circulo un video en las redes sociales (tal ves Facebook) en donde 3 hombres aparecen (aparte del que seguramente toma el video), en el cual uno de ellos empuñando un cuchillo sobre la mesa y al mismo tiempo que golpea con este la superficie dice textual – donde estan las Holandesas de mierda – sin el menor respeto y hasta mofandose (burlandose) de esa situacion, es un video muy significativo que solamente revela que fueron secuestradas, violadas y desmembradas, y estos sujetos si son identificados seguramente es gente local que indudablemente sabe el destino de estas jovenes. ¿Tu eres panameño?, porque al señalar al director, algo sabes de cerca, ¿correcto? Saludos. Triste caso en verdad.
Hi Chris. I want to ask you what do you think about some questions because I can’t find any answers or maybe I get something wrong.
1) swimming photo. Juan in his google album said that 1 year ago or so he contacted Kremers family and they called this swimming photo as a nonsense (the fact that the girls are in this photo) and they said they saw this photo back in 2014. So it means they didn’t recognize their daughter in this photo. Do you you think it’s more or less possible that these girls in that photo are Kris and Lisanne? I hardly can believe that the girls could swim with some unknown boys because Lisanne was ill a little bit and their mood was a little bit stressful during these days according to her diary. However, this orange color of her hear suits with Kris.
2) Also I read your version that they could return from this trail successfully. But Hans in their video said that the last contact of Kris’ iPhone with cell towers were at 13:37, but in case the girls returned to the Mirador or even to the place between the first stream and the mirador where this signal is, it would be seen in the history of phones’ connections with cell tower, but the last contact was at 13:37. Can it mean they didn’t return or I understood something wrong?
3) Also Casa Pedro in Alto Lino witnessed the girls trying to get a return taxi to nearby central Boquete. Or maybe they were in that area where that swimming photos was taken. The iPhone logs show 911 calls at 4:39 that didn’t connect. Problem: they are now in cell phone coverage (in the city trying to get a taxi or near that Hot springs, doesn’t matter), so why no connection and no call, every try was unsuccessful? For me it indicates that they didn’t return and that’s why there is no connection and they couldn’t call or that phone logs are fake, but the first variant is more possible for me.
Hi Paul, I really don’t believe that it’s them in that swimming photo, and reading the parents perspective, confirms this for me. For me it was looking at the girl in the back, which would be Lisanne in their narrative, and her body language just doesn’t fit with any photos of Lisanne in a social setting in Bocas del Toro. According to her diary she was struggling in Boquete and I don’t think she’d be so flamboyant in mixed and unfamiliar company. It really bothers me in fact that people include this photo without a disclaimer that it’s just speculation in the photo reels of the girls.
As far as the signal, or lack of, on their phones and their position, yes I take the fact that their phones never regained more than 1 bar a sign that they didn’t return to the mirador. So to my mind either they stayed at the location of 508 or thereabouts or they continued in a northerly direction but they didn’t return to the mirador. Personally I have a theory that they were confused about the instructions for the trail and believed they were returning by continuing, that the trail was a loop and not an ‘out and back’ type trail.
Very interesting that Irma Mirando is a Panama Government Official / Investigator!
Can you please provide more information to verify this? I’ve searched online with no luck. In the interest of avoiding spreading misinformation about the case, we’ll need more details.
Thank you
Sorry, that was a joke because you listed her under Panama Government Officials & Investigators. So you’re the one spreading this misinformation 🙂
Ohh I miscategorized her name. You’re absolutely right. Updated – thank you for pointing that out!
Cheers
I heard about this today. Someone made a point over FB and me being an info digger I decided to start info-digging which is what I do best.
The first thing I did was to contact oldest son of Feliciano Gonzalez the Local tour guide who seems to know more than he told. So, when I contacted Henry Eliezer Gonzalez over facebook I decided to ask him straight up what had happened to the Dutch girls.
Mind you all, I have never heard of this person, not have I ever contacted him before. So, I went ahead and ask him right out: – “What happened to the Dutch girls”? I then wrote, “everything will be revealed in due time”. I was shocked to read what he wrote back over FB chat and decided to take a screenshot in case de retracted or deleted the reply.
This is what Henry wrote back: ( the english translation follows thereafter)
” Jajaj ojala todo salga ala luz y mas de 5 mal paridos entre esos tu se den cuenta de una ves por todas que no hisimos nada”
“Haha I will it all comes out and more than 5 assholes, among them you, realize once in for all that WE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING”.
Note that I only asked Henry what he knew about the girls and his answer was … WE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!
Who is we? Was this a slip or subconscious confession of an underlying truth? I leave it all for you to help me figure this out.
I pressed on and asked him further questions but he seems to ignore them. I will update accordingly.
Terrible translation
I’m sure people have contacted him and his family with accusations several times (at least). It wouldn’t be surprising if messages like that got very annoying very quickly. If random people on the internet kept contacting me to accuse my family of murder, and I didn’t just instantly block them, I might start immediately responding with something like that, too.
Chris, phenomenal – you should print the things you heard through the grape vine if it doesmt endanger you- like the saw marks Aklso if they came down to the Caldera Hot Springs, why did their phones not connect with a phone tower? its obvious now the gang killed them but probably Lisanne last and Kris first sawed them apart and buried Kris in a field using quick lime then when they killed lisanne hr body was fresher,,, favorite? what I cannot ponder are the night pictures if these guys had them, but the deaths of everyone surrounding the case reminds me of the Goodfella movie when the old gangsters start saying how great all their friends are and would never roll over ” but why take chances”
Please read the comments on this guy’s Facebook page. You will have to scroll down and be patient. Did he murder Kris and Lisanne or was involved in it? https://www.facebook.com/feliciano.gonzalez.733
Ele apagou as postagens de março de 2014 a fevereiro de 20015.
The girls full name is Eileen Witek (source: https://koudekaas.blogspot.com/2020/02/what-do-other-people-think-about-this.html).
She now lives in Germany (possibly Rostock). Linkedin Profile:
https://www.linkedin.com/authwall?trk=gf&trkInfo=AQEhfScyzS1o5QAAAXRngCNIoSAOxwxds8F-kBsQW2RX7MfF8W_7IRF52bVjcdrD15it2gKKBUX_-swdNtzorzgXHXm-qHMkUYo8S7w0OwDysJiJ1gPLYMIgA70pi1qr8YRLWRo=&originalReferer=https://www.google.com/&sessionRedirect=https%3A%2F%2Fde.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Feileen-witek-44532561
Hi Chris!
What about that “Octavio Calderón” character? I know he commented the case back in 2014, and he can be seen in the Lost in the Wild episode about Kremers-Froon which was filmed in 2019. You say that according to local article Calderón mysteriously died in 2019, but are you sure it’s the same person? Because the article says “de casi ochenta años”, I don’t know Spanish but it seems to be “almost 80 years old”, and the Calderón in the Lost in the Wild episode appears to be much younger.
Hi Joe, good point. It’s unclear if it’s the same Octavio Calderón but you’re probably right. I’m unsure because “Octavio Calderón Batista” died in Chiriquí, which is the same province where the Kremers Froon disappearance took place. It could just be a coincidence though.
There’s very little information online about the criminologist Octavio Calderón from the case. Age/appearance isn’t the best indicator because many latinos retain their youthful appearance. I agree that Octavio from the video looks younger than 70’s.
I’ve updated the information above. Thank you!