Day one: mystery land
It's early in our search for Don Lewis in Costa Rica. I'm nervous that this might lead to a lot of dead ends (no pun intended, probably), but we have something we didn't have before... a LOCATION. And man, can a location bring hope.
Some things we know about Don is that he came down here with a million dollars and at some point before 1997 bought land. A bunch of it, too.
Here's the catch. We don't know where he bought this land. This is a whole country we are talking about. At the time (and as I understand it), he was a man of means running away from home and did not want to be found. In the early-internet 90's when the majority of the web was fan forums and email, that was absolutely more than possible.
Good luck disappearing anywhere today, buddy.
Today I spoke with a real estate agent to get a better idea of how I might locate this land, and — if I'm winning-Jackpot-numbers level of lucky — locate Don Lewis himself. The guy I spoke with is a man named Todd (I am changing his name for privacy purposes), an expat I believe is from Canada, who was able to point me in a simultaneously hopeful and dismal direction.
"[The land] might be almost impossible to find," he said sympathetically as I sat across from him sweating in a baseball cap and a denim coverup in an attempt to not get any more sun exposure than necessary. Todd, however, was wearing a light blue floral button up and sipping an iced coffee with a “pura vida” kind of demeanor to him. Not what I expected visually, but I’ll take it.
Todd explained to me that people buying property in the 90's more than likely used corporation names to purchase the land, making it easy for the people behind the curtain to stay hidden. This is not to mention that people can outright buy property with cash in this Central American country.
However, there is hope.
With the help of Todd, I was introduced to a Costa Rican lawyer who has experience locating information such as this. If we are able to find this land, then we are a step closer to finding Don.
It's not much, but it is something to start. And we have time. I'm patient. I hope you are, too. I will update this as I go along. I am hopeful that keeping this documentation will not only be a fun read for those invested, but helpful in the collective search for the living-dead man.
Side quest: Todd wouldn't let me go before telling me a story about his buddy who drove from Canada to Costa Rica in a van or a bus (Todd wasn't sure) with his dog. He packed loads of human food and generic canned dog food. It was going to be a long trip. At some point during the drive in Central America the friend was pulled over and his vehicle was inspected. According to Todd, the police officer took some of the canned dog food home for himself, believing it was meat... a fee for driving down the road, I suppose. I hope the officer enjoyed the meal.
Todd chuckled, telling me that it gave him and his friend a laugh any time they see canned dog food now. Bon appetit.
Important note: These views are my own and this serves as more of a journal entry. This substack does not represent the company that I work for, and remains my sole opinion and perspective.