Kris & Lisanne likely fell off cliff in Panama: investigators

An unfortunate fall from a cliff is the likely cause of death of missing Dutch women Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon, according to investigators' latest research. The two women disappeared in April last year, and were last seen beginning a hike into the jungle near Boquete, Panama. 

The family members are relieved to finally have a possible and plausible explanation for the disappearance, Kremers family states.

After months of searching, some remains were finally found. Now the researchers have ruled out the possibility of a crime and are focusing on the possibility of a fatal accident, the spokeswoman for the Kremers family told AD.   The investigation includes work by forensic experts, Panamanian authorities and a team from rescue foundation RHWW.

"Having taken the geographical and social conditions into account with the technical facts that emerged from the forensic investigation, a crime in the form of robbery, rape, violent crime or kidnapping is very unlikely," says the head of the research team, forensic pathologist Frank van der Goot.

A team of forensic specialists think that the most probable cause of death of the girls is them slipping off from a cliff. Cliffs in the area are thirty to forty meters high so the risk of injury is very possible, the experts say. Scaling up the cliff's wall without proper equipment is virtually impossible, they added. Water currents are also strong at the bottom of the cliffs which makes finding more human remains very unlikely.

The forensic specialists team, RHWW members and Panamanian specialists traveled to the site for the last time on behalf of both families, with assistance from the Kris and Lisanne Foundation in January. Their task was to search for final answers.