Chicago Man Missing in Costa Rica
A 28-year-old doctoral
student from Chicago has gone missing while
hiking in Costa Rica and his parents, a
Highland Park couple, have gone to the
Central American country to search for him,
a family friend said today.
David Gimelfarb was last seen Aug. 11 at
about 10 a.m. by a park ranger as he drove a
rented sport-utility vehicle in the Parque
Nacional Rincon de la Vieja, a national park
in the northwest part of the country,
according to the friend, Michael Kipnis, and
a Costa Rican police report he provided.
After not hearing from their son for two
days, Gimelfarb's parents, Roma and Luda
Gimelfarb, flew to Costa Rica and are still
there, Kipnis said.
"He [Roma] was OK," Kipnis said of his last
conversation with his friends, who called
from their hotel in Costa Rica. "She's not
holding up very well."
David Gimelfarb is a doctoral student
studying psychology at the Adler School of
Professional Psychology and lives on the
North Side's Buena Park neighborhood, Kipnis
said. He graduated from Highland Park High
School and earned an undergraduate degree
from Beloit College in Wisconsin.
He left about a week ago to hike in Costa
Rica, Kipnis said. He is close to his
parents and called home almost every day.
According to a Costa Rican police report
filed by his father, David Gimelfarb was
staying at the Hotel Guachipelin in
Guanacaste province. Roma Gimelfarb tried
calling his son at the hotel on Aug. 12, but
he couldn't reach him. The hotel told him
his son left a day before for the national
park and had not returned. Repeated calls
yielded no more information, according to
the police report.
Worried, the parents traveled to Costa Rica
on Thursday. When they arrived, they learned
that there was already a search party from
the local Red Cross in the park searching
for their son. Their son, the group said,
went to the park alone for a hike. His
rental vehicle, a 2009 Hyundai Tucson, was
found in the park. It was locked, according
to the police report.
Rain, dense forest and the size of the park,
which according to several sources is about
55 square miles, have slowed the search.
Gimelfarb's parents have sought help from
officials at the American embassy in San
Jose, the Costa Rican capital, but have been
disappointed with what they believe is a
slow response, Kipnis said.
"They were told: 'There is not much we can
do. Thank you very much,' " Kipnis said.
A U.S. Marine sergeant who answered the
phone at the U.S. embassy confirmed that
Gimelfarb's mother had called regarding her
son. The marine said no one was available to
release information on the search.
Attempts to reach Roma and Luda Gimelfarb in
Costa Rica were unsuccessful.
Kipnis said he has known the Gimelfarbs
since he immigrated from Russia 30 years
ago. They had come to the United States
about three years before. He said David is
their only child.
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