Family of missing British journalist mark five years in limbo

USA - English

• Latin America - español

LONDON, Oct. 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The family of a missing British journalist, Michael Dixon, will on Saturday (18 October) mark five years since he vanished in Costa Rica.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20141016/152637

Michael walked out of his hotel one evening in the seaside town of Tamarindo and never came back. 

His brother's own efforts turned up several leads which indicate he was the victim of a violent crime.

But Costa Rican and British authorities did nothing to ensure a proper investigation, despite the family's appeals to former Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla and to British Prime Minister David Cameron.

"The British Foreign Office used to send us a monthly, then a quarterly update on the case. But now we don't even get these any more", Michael's brother, David Dixon, said. 

"Britain has one of the biggest consular and diplomatic services in the world. Its duty is to protect British citizens. But in reality, unless there is a media outcry, the machine doesn't care". 

Some 45,000 British nationals visit Costa Rica every year. 

But in 2009, the year Michael went missing, 12 foreign tourists were murdered or vanished without trace. The authorities have promised to do more to protect visitors. But fresh cases keep turning up.

"Our only hope is that someone comes forward with information. I know it's been a long time. But Tamarindo is so small that someone must have seen something. If they're afraid to come forward, we promise that they will be treated in strict confidence," Michael's mother, Lynn Dixon, said. 

"We will never have peace until we know what happened to our loved one". 

For more information, please visit: helpfindmichaeldixon.com

For media inquiries, please contact:

David Dixon
+44.7920.792 204
[email protected]

SOURCE David Dixon

Related Links

http://www.helpfindmichaeldixon.com