Flight of Despair for Lost Son
By Brendan Roberts, Herald Sun, Australia

After a fruitless 44-day wait for news of their missing son, Brian and Mary Dobbins have flown to Costa Rica to take investigations into their own hands.

Brendan Dobbins, 24, from Glen Waverley, disappeared from the Costa Rican resort town of Tamarindo on March 4.

The RMIT construction management student had been travelling with Australian and American friends. He was last seen walking along a beach after leaving a local bar earlier that morning.

Brian Dobbins said he was frustrated with the lack of results from local investigations and he planned to hire a private investigator to liaise with Costa Rican authorities.

"I'm disappointed with the results. After 44 days, there is still nothing," he said.

"Someone, somewhere knows what happened to Brendan."

An exhaustive search of the local area by Mr Dobbins' friends failed to turn up any leads or new information. Mr Dobbins said he would initiate a local poster and media campaign, including a 24-hour information hotline, to keep the search alive.

"The objective is to fan out from the Tamarindo beach where he disappeared and use the campaign to appeal for information about Brendan."

The Australian Federal Police will send an investigator from Colombia to help with the inquiry. Mr Dobbins said despite the stagnant investigation and no known leads, he was clinging to a faint hope that his son was alive.

"He might have been kidnapped, and police have indicated that homicide is a possibility, but we are hopeful and we will persevere as hard as possible," he said.

Ms Dobbins, too, was hopeful, but realistic about the chances of finding her son alive. "It's a mother's instinct, I have to find an answer," she said.

"My instinct is he is out there and I will only find the answer when I arrive."