UPDATE 2: Young Canadian woman missing in Costa Rica has been located

August 7^th, 2015 (ICR News) A 20-year-old Canadian woman from Quebec has been missing in Costa Rica since July 19^th, according to her family.

Alysson Mercier left Quebec in January for a trip through Latin America, arriving in Costa Rica on July 16^th, according to immigration records.  Her family, which told reporters from Ottawa’s TVA she regularly stayed in contact during her trip, said they “fear the worst.”

A family member contacted by ICR News who identified Mercier as their niece told ICR News that the woman was staying at the Hotel Posada Don Tobias on Calle 12 in downtown San Jose the last time she was heard from on July 19^th.

Immigration officials have no record of the woman having left the country.

On a Facebook page set up by the family to collect information, one Facebook user reports last seeing the woman in La Fortuna de San Carlos on Monday, July 20th.

If you have seen Ms. Mercier, please call the Judicial Investigate Police (OIJ) at 800 8000 645 or email us at [email protected].

UPDATE 2: (Friday, 3:15 p.m.) Ms. Mercier’s family reports that she has been located.  Details were not immediately available.

UPDATE (Friday, 1:46 p.m.): ICR News has spoken by telephone with a local Costa Rican woman in La Fortuna that says she last saw Ms. Mercier 15 days ago.  Ms. Mercier was staying in a motel called “Cabinas Hidalgo Alfaro” in La Fortuna with a man (known locally as “Manteca”) who is well known in the area as a drug user.  The woman claims both were abusing drugs, and that Ms. Mercier appeared “very thin, nothing like the photos” of the woman she has seen.  The woman said she could easily identify Ms. Mercier from the tattoos on her arm, which can be seen in the photos above this story.  The information is corroborated by another previous report that the woman was spotted in La Fortuna on July 20^th while taking a tour.