The Murders of Michael, "Nan", and Watson Brown in Bocas del Toro

• "Hi I am the daughter of Mike Brown. Daddy was living in Panama with my brother Watson Brown and my stepmother Nam. They too went missing with him 3 years ago. I have not been able to contact the Panama police. Do you have any more information on what happened or are you able to give me some information on how to contact the Panama police department?? Thank you in advance."

Guess Who Took Over The Property: On 2 May 2008 documents were filed in the Panamanian Public Registry making William "Wild Bill" Adolfo Cortez the new Director, President, Secretary, and Treasurer of the Panamanian corporation "Latitude 9.10 Inc." His wife Jean Seana Cortez was named as a Director of the company. This is the property where the bodies of Cher Hughes and Bo Icelar were discovered on Tuesday, 20 July 2010. And thus far no one has been able to find the Brown family. At this point, knowing what we know now, it can only be presumed that this murderous psychopthic serial killer did away with the entire family in order to take over their property. (more)

Bi Icelar's Body Identified: I was told today that law enforcement officials in the Republic of Panama have made a positive identification of Bo Icelar's body using dental records provided from the United States. Apparently both Cher Hughes and Bo Icelar were murdered with gunshots to the head.

Clear Identification Of The Family: In investigating the cases of people have disappeared after coming in contact with William "Wild Bill" Adolfo Cortez Reese and his wife Jane, I've been hearing about "Mike Brown" and how he was the original owner of the land "occupied" by William Cortez. From now on I don't want to use the word "bought" or "purchased" when it comes to anything appropriated by William Cortez and his wife. As far as I can tell he didn't actually buy anything. Rather, he would simply kill the former owners, take over their property and all of their belongings, tell anyone who asked that he had supposedly purchased the property and "paid cash", and then go on about his life as if he were the new and legitimate owner. I've been hearing about the disappearance of "Mike Brown" but I didn't know exactly who he was, where he was from, or any other details. Now, I know:

• Michael Watson Brown, a citizen of Holland, holder of passport number NB0865469. Married, from the Dutch Antilles, resident of Street 4A, Community of Aguacate, area of Tierra Oscura, province of Bocas del Toro.

• Manchittha Nankratoke "Nan" Brown, a citizen of Holland, holder of passport number M18119733, Michael's wife.

• Watson Brown, Michael's son.

Murdered The Entire Family: Relatives of Mike Brown have been looking for them for more than three years. I have no idea if anyone ever filed an official missing persons complaint with the DIJ or not. However at this point it appears William Cortez and his wife Jane simply killed this entire family, disposed of their bodies somewhere, used legal documents to take over the "Latitude 9.10 Inc." company and therefore the 45 acre property in Cauchero, which is owned by the company. No one has seen or heard from any of these people since.

Bill Cortez On The Run: Apparently about two weeks ago Bill Cortez contacted someone in Costa Rica because he wanted to buy a car. The person drove the car down to the area of the border between Panama and Costa Rica. Bill Cortez crossed the border illegally, without going through Immigration checkpoints. They went into a lawyer's office in Costa Rica and legal ownership of the vehicle was transferred to Bill Cortez. He paid with an envelop full of cash and left. Bill Cortez is apparently using this vehicle in Costa Rica. It can now safely be presumed that he has departed the Republic of Panama due to the news coverage of his grisly crimes. Authorities in Costa Rica have been alerted and are now actively searching for him there was well.

Using A New Alias: "Wild Bill" Cortez (or whatever his true name actually is) apparently used the name "Josef Eiser" to purchase the vehicle. And, it can be presumed that he has some identification and travel documents issued in this name as well.

Too Big For The "Personeria" on Isla Colon: In Panama an office known as the "Personeria" is a kind of low level prosecutor, normally at the Municipal level. Right now the "Wild Bill" investigation is being handled by the office of the "Personeria" on Isla Colon in the province of Bocas del Toro. When I first went to talk to Neftalí Jaén, the assistant to Panama's Attorney General Giuseppe Bonissi on 7 July 2010 he said the case would be assigned to a prosecutor. When we met with him again, this time with Cher Hughes' husband, aunt, and sister on Monday, 12 July 2010 - again asking for the Panamanian authorities to take a more active and aggressive role in investigating the case. Neftalí Jaén responded by coordinating with the Director of the Department of Judicial Investigation in Panama, Javier Carrillo. I took Cher's family members to the Complaint Reception Center in Ancon, where we also met with Julio Villareal, the Director of the Complaint Reception Center. He talked to the office of the "Personeria" on Isla Colon in Bocas del Toro and they decided to open an official investigation. That was the first time the Public Minister ever started to investigate any of this. And of course, that was before the discovery of the bodies of Cher Hughes and Bo Icelar on land "owned" by Bill Cortez in Cauchero. This morning I spoke with Neftalí Jaén again - it is becoming increasing apparent that this case is way to big, complex, important, and complicated - with serious international implications - to be handled by the "Personeria" in Bocas del Toro. I suggested that the case should be bumped up to a Superior Prosecutor in David -at the very least. He agreed and I suspect that change will be happening this afternoon.

INTERPOL Red Alert Issued: Today Panama's Attorney General Giuseppe Bonissi issued a "Red Alert" and asked INTERPOL for assistance in locating William "Wild Bill" Adolfo Cortez Reese and his wife Jane Seana Cortez. Preliminary information indicates this pair might have left a trail of dozens of murder victims in Mexico, Belize, and Costa Rica.

Additional Assets and Resources: The Panamanian authorities are still slowly waking up to this case. They are doing better now than they were two weeks ago, however the "get with it" factor is still frustrating to watch as the system, such as it is, slowly becomes more and more aware of the scope, breadth, and depth of this case. It started as a simple missing persons case that no one was really investigating all that hard. With the discovery of Cher Hughes' body this week, and another skeleton subsequently identified as belonging to Bo Icelar, the case took on a new urgency. However, now it seems that everywhere you look there's another new potential victim who supposedly "sold" their land to William "Wild Bill" Cortez - and who has never been seen again. The Panamanian authorities could use a whole lot of help right now. And that help should come from the countries of the known victims thus far - the United States and the Netherlands. Guys - send help. Send people. Send money. Now. There's a whole lot of searching, investigating, and analysis that has to be done and quite simply, Panama is being overwhelmed by this case. That much is clear. Make the generous offer just in case they don't ask themselves. And please, find that murderous son of a bitch William Cortez and his wife, wherever they might be now.

Copyright 2010 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.