S10 E5: Historias

Summary

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Someone Knows Something – S10 E5: Historias

Date: April 6, 2026
Host: David Ridgen (CBC)
Main Theme:
Investigative journalist David Ridgen continues his deep dive into the disappearance of Jacqueline Furlan Smith in Costa Rica (August 17, 2021). This episode examines unverified witness sightings, the reality of the local taxi trade, and personal recollections from those who knew Jacqueline and her partner Sebastian, weaving together inconsistencies and rumors surrounding the days after Jackie vanished.

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Episode Overview

Episode 5, "Historias," shifts focus to the testimonies and purported sightings of Jackie after her disappearance, scrutinizing whether these narratives withstand scrutiny. Ridgen speaks with local taxi drivers, friends, and witnesses, wrestling with conflicting stories and the limitations of memory and hearsay.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Taxi Driver Trail

• [00:50–07:27]
  • Ridgen attempts to track down a specific red taxi driver in Playa Coco, based on witness claims that Jackie was seen in a red cab the night she vanished.
    • Red cabs are popular with expats, and there were roughly 18 in the area in 2021 (now about 12).
    • The drivers and dispatchers consulted all deny picking up Jackie or having heard of anyone else doing so.
    • Unofficial “pirate” taxis exist but are typically not red.
  • Key insight: No cab driver knows of or remembers transporting Jackie. There are no logs or passenger records.

"If someone wants to call a cab, do they call you directly or do they call a cab company?"
— Interviewer/Investigator [05:48]

• Diego, a known red cab driver, says he knew Jackie and Sebastian as customers but reaffirms none of the drivers report picking her up.
• Raises further doubt: Jackie usually walked and left her car at home—why a cab that night?

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2. Eyewitness Accounts: Piecing Together a Timeline

• [08:24–17:19]
  • Sebastian (Jackie’s partner) insists three people saw Jackie after her disappearance: Oro (a neighbor), Carol (a waitress), and Keith (a chef).
  • Ridgen meets Keith in a mountain town:
    • Keith clarifies he never actually saw Jackie after her disappearance. Mistaken identity is likely; the woman was later identified as Jocelyn (similar appearance but distinct features).
    • Keith shares skepticism about Sebastian’s version of events.

“I believe it's Sebastian building a try and do this to cover up whatever he did. That’s my opinion.”
— Keith [13:50]

• Carol recalls seeing someone she thought was Jackie outside a liquor store but can’t confirm the date or if it was indeed Jackie.
  • Surveillance footage checked by police—no confirmation.

“Did Carol see Jackie? Did she see her after August 17th? ...We now know that it was probably not Jackie.”
— David Ridgen [17:19]

• The OIJ (Judicial Investigation Agency) discards all post-17th sightings as unconfirmed/mistaken.

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3. A New Witness, More Uncertainty

• [18:09–20:39]
  • Krista, Jackie's friend, relays a story from an anonymous woman who says she met Jackie at Claudio y Glorias bar (afternoon before Jackie went missing).
    • Companion named Michael was allegedly present.
    • Michael later denies the sighting and says he only saw Jackie jogging on the beach previously.
    • Another likely case of mistaken identity.

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4. Perspectives from the Expat Community

• Frank Evans Interview [22:10–29:03]:
  • Frank, a long-time acquaintance who knew both Jackie and Sebastian well, speaks highly of Sebastian:
    • Describes their relationship as close, athletic, and loving, without signs of hostility.
    • Joined Sebastian on searches for Jackie, never saw prior behavioral red flags.
    • Refers to Sebastian’s state post-disappearance as “devastated”, physically shaken and deeply upset.

“My experience and my just in my gut feeling was...seeing him afterwards and the reaction and then the physical change, you know, that would not be the norm if you were involved in something wrong. Right. He was trying everything, from my point of view, to try and find her.”
— Frank Evans [29:03]

• Frank recognizes rumors but stands by his impression of Sebastian’s character.

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• Pete (Coconuts Bar Owner) [29:44–35:40]:
  • Knew Jackie and Sebastian as friendly customers, not close friends.
  • Recounts three very public, heated arguments between them at Coconuts Bar—the last so intense Pete considered barring them.
  • Describes Jackie as outgoing and Sebastian as notably reserved.
  • After Jackie vanished, Pete noticed Sebastian’s demeanor wasn’t what he’d expect of a grieving spouse; seemed eager to move on.
  • Four months after the disappearance, Sebastian approached Pete for help finding a job for a new romantic partner, which Pete found odd.

“If my wife went missing, I would be devastated...The behavior that I got from him was not that.”
— Pete [31:50]

“My gut told me... it's obvious that he had something to do with it. He was just very—this is demeanor just like he was happy. I think he snapped and, and it was probably something in the spur of the moment... I don't think it's premeditated.”
— Pete [34:24]

• Pete joins others in theorizing but admits the investigation was limited, the community rife with speculation, and evidence is thin.

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5. Summary of Known Facts & Open Questions

• [36:05–39:27]
  • Timeline recap:
    • Jackie vanishes after leaving a physiotherapy appointment in Tamarindo, upset.
    • Diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, reportedly off medication.
    • Credit card used at a surf shop (likely Jackie) between 6–7pm.
    • Security guards, neighbors, and purported witnesses offer inconsistent reports.
    • No confirmed sightings of Jackie after Aug 17, 2021 (OIJ files).
    • Sebastian’s own narrative is inconsistent about his whereabouts and the sequence of events.
    • Discrepancies abound regarding the fight, injuries on Sebastian, and who saw Jackie last.

“There are no confirmed sightings of Jackie and anywhere after Aug. 17, 2021, according to police documents. All of it adds up to questions that I need to take back to Sebastian. I need to talk to him again.”
— David Ridgen [39:19]

• The episode ends with Ridgen emphasizing the persistent gaps and unresolved questions in Jackie’s case, foreshadowing further direct engagement with Sebastian.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the cab search:

  "Trying to find one specific cab four years later may seem like a long shot, but I think it's one well worth the taking."
  — David Ridgen [01:07]

• On mistaken identity:

  “If there's a picture at the Coconuts Bar and she walked by the Coconuts Bar where she'd always go in to drink...And nobody noticed. That kind of odd to me.”
  — Keith [13:00]

• On community perceptions:

  "It's incredibly difficult to just do that too, right? I mean, suicide. I don't think many people really—they're probably trying to get found, right? ...Nobody's that good at not getting found, especially for suicide. That's crazy."
  — Pete [35:40]

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Key Timestamps

• 00:50–07:27 – Taxi driver interviews, confirming no driver recollects picking up Jackie.
• 08:24–17:19 – Interview with Keith (chef), analysis of mistaken identity, failed witness accounts.
• 18:09–20:39 – Krista relays anonymous tip, Michael investigated.
• 22:10–29:03 – Frank Evans interview, insider view on Sebastian and the couple’s life.
• 29:44–35:40 – Pete (bar owner) gives observations, discusses odd behavior by Sebastian.
• 36:05–39:27 – David Ridgen synthesizes facts, contradictory reports, and the case's open questions.

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Tone & Style

Ridgen maintains his characteristic calm persistence, balancing empathy with skepticism. He is respectful but probing, regularly re-centering on tangible evidence over rumors. The interviewees display a variety of emotions—some defensive loyalty (Frank), some skeptical detachment (Pete, Keith), all against a backdrop of a close-knit but rumor-plagued expat community.

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Conclusion

“Historias” strips down local lore and rumored sightings, casting doubt on nearly every eyewitness account after August 17, 2021. It highlights the community’s fractured perspectives, the perils of hearsay, and the emotional complexity of those left behind. At the episode’s end, Ridgen is determined to press Sebastian further, as central uncertainties persist: What really happened to Jackie in those crucial hours, and why does every apparent answer only lead to more questions?

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Transcript

[David Ridgeon]

K Pop Demon Hunters, Saja Boy's Breakfast Meal and Hunt Trick's Meal have just dropped at McDonald's. They're calling this a battle for the fans. What do you say to that, Rumi?

[Podcast Narrator/Host]

It's not a battle. So glad the Saja Boys could take breakfast and give our meal the rest of the day.

[David Ridgeon]

It is an honor to share.

[Podcast Narrator/Host]

No, it's our honor.

[David Ridgeon]

It is our larger honor. No, really, stop. You can really feel the respect in this battle. Pick a meal to pick a side. Ba da ba ba ba. And participate in McDonald's while supplies last. This is a CBC podcast. The following episode contains difficult subject matter, including references to suicide. Please take care while listening.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

So I'm driving through Playa Coco looking for this red taxi driver. It's dark here, and there's a particular taxi driver I'm looking for. I know his cab number, I know what he looks like, and I know his name.

[David Ridgeon]

Playa Coco at night is different, wilder and more unpredictable. I've been looking for this red cab for a while. They're all numbered. And the driver of this specific one is popular with expats because he can speak English pretty well. I'm wondering what his reaction will be if I start talking to him about Jackie. Trying to find one specific cab four years later may seem like a long shot, but I think it's one well worth the taking.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

I'm just heading into the downtown area now, past the last speed bump before you get into town. If Jacqueline was in a cab and her driver remembers where he took her, that could really help. Especially the timing of that could also corroborate story and narrative that we've been hearing or I have heard. I just gotta figure it out. I gotta ask this driver if I can find him. I'm gonna have to go park somewhere.

[David Ridgeon]

It's just nutty here.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

And then I'm gonna walk down the hill and see if I can find the right cab. Hey, did you see Jacqueline? It's the only way to do it. You gotta go right up and. See what I can find downtown. Playa Coca. It shouldn't be impossible to find this cab. Polka dancing.

[David Ridgeon]

There's a cab and it's the right cab. Tucked in on a loud and busy corner. I walk right up from the front so I make sure he can see me approaching. The driver's window is open, so I stick my head in so I can be heard.

[Taxi Driver 1]

Oh, hey there. Are you working today?

[David Ridgeon]

Yeah.

[Taxi Driver 1]

I got a question for you. I'm doing a documentary on somebody that disappeared from this area back in 2021, from the Katzik area up there. The development. Yeah, Katzike. Her name was Jacqueline.

[Keith]

Jacqueline.

[Taxi Driver 1]

Jacqueline. And I'm just trying to. Somebody said they saw her in a red cab, but I'm trying to figure out if anybody. If there's a way I can find out who was working that night that's a red cab driver. It would have been August 2021.

[Taxi Driver 2]

No, but in Cacique. I don't remember any. Anybody. The cab driver in Cruget Pack.

[Taxi Driver 1]

So you didn't hear anybody say that they drove a woman named.

[Taxi Driver 2]

From Kazik? No, I don't know anybod.

[Taxi Driver 1]

Yeah, but you know who I'm talking about? The woman that disappeared. The Canadian woman.

[Taxi Driver 2]

I remember. Yeah. One woman that I can see in the pictures and everything. Yeah, yeah.

[David Ridgeon]

He immediately knows exactly what I'm talking about. Jackie's face was posted all over Coco in the wake of her disappearance.

[Taxi Driver 2]

Yeah. And I say I have here 10

[Taxi Driver 1]

years now, but nobody ever said I remember taking that girl somewhere to. You you never heard anybody say that?

[Taxi Driver 2]

No, no.

[Taxi Driver 1]

So. And you didn't pick her up that night really?

[Taxi Driver 2]

I don't know exactly. Ex. I. I remember I saw the.

[Taxi Driver 1]

How do you say? The poster.

[Taxi Driver 2]

Yeah, the poster. Yeah, yeah, for the girl. But I. Yeah, I don't remember her. Yeah. Because really I don't know her. Yeah.

[David Ridgeon]

This man says he didn't see Jackie or hear about her from other cab drivers. But I still want to look a little further in the cab trade. Did one of them see her or have Jackie in their cab? That

[Diego]

WhatsApp.

[Frank Evans]

Okay,

[David Ridgeon]

We already know cab companies in Coco don't keep a log of passengers and the drivers I call suggest that they would have heard about Jackie being picked up that night if she had been. We send Jackie's photo around the cab driver network, but none say they saw her or drove her. There are about 12 red cabs in the area now and were reportedly about 18 in the area in 2021. Unofficial or pirate cabs exist, but are usually black, gray or white, not red in color.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

If someone wants to call a cab,

[David Ridgeon]

do they call you directly or do

[Interviewer/Investigator]

they call a cab company?

[Diego]

Always they call to the dispatcher or sometimes they call us through our cell phones.

[David Ridgeon]

Diego is a well known red cab driver in the area and he says he knew Jackie and Sebastian as customers.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Do you think that a taxi driver in Coco who's being, you know, probably driven by a local Costa Rican could get away with doing something to a gringo like a white Person down there?

[Diego]

Well, I don't think so. I'm driving only daytime, and there's another group coming at night. There's another ship. So I know them, but I don't know them the way I know my body's. You know, they don't.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

And do you think that word would get out, though? I mean, if something happened, do you think that someone would tell somebody? Like, is it a pretty tight group? Do you guys talk and.

[Diego]

Yes, yes, they will. We try to help people here, people who work in a public services. They like to help tourists because they're helping us with our economy here, you know?

[David Ridgeon]

Oro, Jackie's neighbor says she saw Jacqueline in a red cab. Wouldn't any cabbie who dropped Jackie off be desperate to tell the world where he did so for fear of being implicated? And why would Jackie take a cab this time if her car was parked in the garage? And we know from security guards she used to walk everywhere. Would she take a cab to her suicide?

[Diego]

If I know something for sure, I'll let you know.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Thanks very much, Diego.

[Diego]

Any cartridge?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Okay.

[Taxi Driver 1]

Bye.

[Diego]

Bye.

[David Ridgeon]

Sebastian says he and Jackie didn't take taxis because they had a scooter and a car and that Jackie didn't have a preferred cab driver on speed dial. Also, according to Sebastian, other people did see Jackie in downtown Playa Coco in the following days. That would mean she did leave the house that night, whether in a taxi or not. I'll have to find these people and speak to them myself. I'm David Ridgeon, and this is season 10 of Someone Knows Something. The Jacqueline Furlan smith case Episode 5 Historias.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Sitting at the side of the road here in a little town in the mountains. Took me a couple hours to get here. Got up at 5 early morning, sitting in front of a mega superstore, waiting for a guy named Keith to get here. Keith is another Canadian who used to live in Cocoa, used to be a chef at the Cocoa Nuts restaurant. And he may have may have seen Jacqueline in the days or on a day after she disappeared from her house.

[David Ridgeon]

Sebastian suggested three people I talked to who he says saw Jackie after she left their house on the evening of August 17, 2021. I've already spoken to Oro, who was returning with her husband from the San Jose airport. And I still need to find a waitress named Carol who worked at a restaurant in Playa Coco. And then there's Keith, a chef who worked at Coconuts, who should be arriving any minute now.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

My difficulty with sightings if Jacqueline was seen in downtown Cocoa by anybody Including Keith. Why didn't many people see her in downtown Cocoa? Just heading across to see this dude. Pretty noisy spot here. It's okay. Hey, how are you?

[David Ridgeon]

How are you?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Nice to see you, Keith. Thanks for doing this.

[David Ridgeon]

Keith is from Kitchener, Ontario and says he's been here in Costa Rica for 17 years, working mostly in kitchens. He's now a cook at a brew pub type place in Bihagua, about a two hour drive inland of Playa Coco. Keith's in a light gray baseball cap with a red maple leaf gray sweat top and black tartan patterned shorts.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Okay, so just tell me who you are as we go here and how you kind of fit into the story here.

[Keith]

Yeah, they were both customers at the restaurant I worked at. I worked at Coconuts.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Oh, okay. You were a chef or a cook?

[Diego]

Yeah.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Okay. And they would always come in, Sebastian and Jacqueline.

[Keith]

Yeah, both of them would always be in there talking.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Okay.

[Keith]

One day I saw on the cash register there was a flyer saying she was missing.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Okay.

[Keith]

And I said, hey, that's those people that come in here all the time.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Okay. So you knew what she looked like? You knew that the person who was with Sebastian, you knew that she was Jacqueline and that what she looked like?

[Keith]

Yeah.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

So then, like, how is it that you made this sighting?

[Keith]

I would just stand in front of the back of the liquor store after work and I have a drink. So I was just having my drink there and I saw this girl walk across the street. He pulled up in a car.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Who did?

[Keith]

Sebastian.

[Diego]

Oh.

[Keith]

And started asking me questions and all this. And have you seen her? People have said they've seen her around here. Oh, no. I saw this crazy girl walking around here. That could be her. She had blonde curly hair though.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

So the person you saw was not Jacqueline?

[Keith]

No.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Because it was blonde curly hair, quite tightly curled or.

[David Ridgeon]

Yeah. So Keith didn't see Jacqueline after all. But he does offer his opinions about Sebastian at the time.

[Keith]

And Sebastian was saying, well, if it was wet, if we got out of the shower, it would have been curly. Apparently this girl had been down there and they said, yeah, she was a little crazy, but her parents came and took her back home.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

And so Sebastian was the first person to come and ask you if you'd seen her around?

[Diego]

Yeah.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Okay.

[Diego]

Yeah.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Okay. And did he ask you any other questions about her or just say, that could be her and then leave?

[Keith]

That was pretty much it. Just that could be her. Kind of talked a little bit. I'm like, how are you doing? Any luck? He's like, no, no, I Think there was about three or four people that had said they saw her at the liquor store where I was, and they saw her walking down towards the beach, which was the same direction this girl was going in.

[David Ridgeon]

This other woman that Keith saw is allegedly named Jocelyn. I have seen a photo of her. And while she has similarities with Jackie in her slimness and her hair color, even height, Jocelyn has a large tattoo on her hand, curly hair, and her face is not Jackie's. Despite that Jocelyn was the subject of some mistaken identity sightings. In the aftermath of Jackie's disappearance, Jocelyn was seen drinking around Playa Coco in the bars and on the beach. Keith wonders why Jackie wouldn't have been seen if she was in fact in Cocoa after she disappeared.

[Keith]

And if there's a picture at the Coconuts Bar and she walked by the Coconuts Bar where she'd always go in to drink.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Yes.

[Keith]

And nobody noticed.

[Diego]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Keith]

That kind of odd to me.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Did you hear anything else in the aftermath about stories? You know, I'm not talking about rumors, but any kind of credible stories about what might have happened to her or anything like that?

[Diego]

No, no.

[David Ridgeon]

Keith tells me that he doesn't buy Sebastian's story that Jackie just wandered away and disappeared.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Okay. I mean, that's it. I mean, you have been raised as one of the big eyewitnesses of maybe having seen her.

[Keith]

I know, which seems odd to me, especially being I've already said that it wasn't her and it was curly blonde hair.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Yeah.

[Keith]

And I believe it's Sebastian building a try and do this to cover up whatever he did.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Okay.

[Keith]

That's my opinion.

[David Ridgeon]

Keith messages me a few weeks after I see him in Costa Rica to tell me that Sebastian showed up with some friends riding what he says were Harley's at Keith's Mountain restaurant not long after I left. That's a two hour drive from Playa del Coco. Keith says Sebastian came to the restaurant and sat drinking beers for a bit, then walked out looking through the kitchen door at Keith. Sebastian said hi, and Keith replied hi. Then Sebastian left with his friends. Keith says he has never seen Sebastian there before. Sebastian tells me when I ask him that he was just having a beer with friends at Keith's bar in Bihagua and didn't know Keith worked there. Carol is the last of the three people Sebastian told me had seen Jackie after she disappeared from the house on August 17, 2021. Carol, a local, used to work at the Santorini restaurant in Playa Co. Hello, Carol, we're talking to people who say they Saw Jackie after she disappeared. We were told you saw her? Yes, I thought I had seen her. I used to work at a restaurant called Santorini. It's in Playa Coco Centro. They would always come eat there. Always a couple that looked in love and relaxed. On the day I saw her, I had gone to the liquor store to buy some cookies and some snacks to share with my co workers. So I was at the register paying and I looked toward the door and thought I saw her. Carol sees someone she thinks is Jackie waiting outside. Since I recognized her, I greeted her with a wave. Just a simple hand wave. But when I went outside, she was no longer there. Did she say hi back? She smiled at me. The all important question is if this was Jackie. When was this sighting? I honestly don't remember exactly, but I saw her alone that day, like standing at the liquor store by herself. I didn't see her with her husband. When some days later, Carol sees a Facebook post about Jackie going missing, she messages Colleen and Gordon and tells them she might have seen Jackie and mentions that there is video surveillance at the store. They should check the cameras.

[Frank Evans]

The only case, no confirmed sightings. Yeah, no on camera. No confirmed sightings.

[David Ridgeon]

Police didn't see Jackie. On tape, Carol says she went more than once to the store around this time and wonders if the OIJ was looking at the right day. Both Carol and Keith's recollections add up to some great uncertainty. Did Carol see Jackie? Did she see her after August 17th? If Carol saw the same blonde woman that others reported seeing near the liquor store, we now know that it was probably not Jackie. The OIJ file says that they looked into all reports of Jackie being seen, but determined that there were no credible sightings of her after August 17th. Stating these sightings were investigated and discarded. Was the OIJ thorough and meticulous.

[Krista]

I received a message personally from a woman who said that they didn't want to give their name because they were afraid. But she said that she personally met Jacqueline at a local bar.

[David Ridgeon]

Jackie's friend Krista says there was one sighting that seemed very intriguing to her next to a local watering hole on the beach called Claudio I Glorias.

[Krista]

This woman who sent me the message said that she was there that day and that Jacqueline was sitting with a group of males, one of them being a guy named Michael, and that the woman had introduced herself to Jacqueline. And she said that Jacqueline was sitting there quietly, not much to say, while the guys were like drinking and laughing. And so she said that she introduced herself and the woman said that her name was Jackie. And she. She said that Jacqueline said that she was from Canada. And then the Michael guy cut off the conversation. He had said that Jackie was his girlfriend, and. And then he cut off the conversation between the two women. Now, this would have been before Jacqueline went home for supper, because this was during the day, like around 3, 2 or 3 in the afternoon.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Okay.

[Krista]

So I told Colleen and Gordon, and I also told the private investigator that they had.

[David Ridgeon]

The investigator is Douglas Barrantes, the man who sold Colleen and Gordon a condominium within weeks of Jackie's disappearance. I tried to get Barantes to talk to me on this trip, but he developed some kind of heart condition and said he was unavailable. I'm unaware of anything he might have discovered in his investigation. Christa searches for and finds Michael in Coco at the very same bar he was supposedly with Jackie at. And he is questioned.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

So did Michael say that he saw her?

[Krista]

He said that he had seen her

[Interviewer/Investigator]

running on the beach, but that day.

[Krista]

Sorry, no. He said he was not sitting with her that day, but he knew who she was because he had previously seen her running on the beach.

[David Ridgeon]

To get a definitive answer, I try to call Michael. No answer. Then go through his friends and former employer, but he doesn't want to talk. The former employer named Janey does, though. Janie recalls hearing that Michael said the woman was smoking something Jackie did not do. And he said that the woman wasn't Jackie. Michael also said he knew what Jackie looked like because he had seen her running on the beach sometimes in the mornings. Colleen and Gordon, too, spoke to Michael, and he told them that the woman wasn't Jackie. And the woman sounds to me to be the same woman people were mistaking for Jackie at the time. Another case of mistaken identity.

[Podcast Narrator/Host]

Chicago, 2011. A cop is murdered. Police and prosecutors swear they have the trigger man. He swears he didn't do it. How far will each side go to prove they're right?

[David Ridgeon]

Like, it's just one bombshell after another,

[Krista]

you know, you're like, what?

[David Ridgeon]

What?

[Podcast Narrator/Host]

The story of a PlayStation, a brain eating amoeba, and the relentless pursuit of justice. Off duty, out now. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Just gonna see a guy named Frank Evans here in Playa Coco. It turns out he lives just down the street from where I'm staying. Frank's somebody who knew Jacqueline and Sebastian. Knew them quite well, I guess. And Sebastian gave me Frank's name as a sort of character to reference. So I'm gonna walk up on him here.

[Frank Evans]

David.

[Keith]

Yeah.

[David Ridgeon]

Hey,

[Interviewer/Investigator]

anywhere you like, man. That's good. How you doing? Thanks, Frank, for meeting me.

[Frank Evans]

Okay. I'm gonna have a drink. Do you want something?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

No, I'm fine. Just go ahead. Frank?

[Taxi Driver 1]

Yeah.

[David Ridgeon]

Frank is relaxed and tropically clothed, balding, with a big smile and bushy eyebrows. There's a Guinness Book sized collection of booze lined up behind him on a shelf.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

I guess I wanted to talk to people that know Sebastian and can talk about him and their relationship and what was going on with them. And there's a lot of opinions, you

[Frank Evans]

know, everybody, you know, Like, I know there was a lot of condemnation at the outset and there was a lot of suspicion, but he was involved. But I've known him literally when he first arrived in Costa Rica. You know, the guy's got a heart of gold. I mean, no question, Jackie. When I met her, everything seemed pretty normal. Like we would share meals here and often I would be invited to go to wherever they were living in me, have a meal together. And then it just started getting further and further and further apart and there was less socialization and. Well, she came with Sebastian. I mean, I saw her at the pool over at my condominium and wow. And this girl's got a great figure and, you know, they're very. Both of them were athletic and, you know, out doing paddle boarding and surfing and whatever they could do. So you never saw them apart.

[Diego]

Right.

[Frank Evans]

They were always like attached at the hip. I saw it always as a very positive, you know, nice relationship. And I got along with him very well and I got along with her very well. And I was just like freaking blown away when, you know, Sebastian calls me and says, like, Jackie's missing. It's like, what? Haven't seen her for whatever it was two days, whatever. He told me at that time.

[Taxi Driver 1]

And I think.

[Frank Evans]

What do you mean missing? You know, like, you just don't grasp that.

[David Ridgeon]

And do you remember the date that he called you?

[Frank Evans]

No.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

How many or how many days afterwards it might have been?

[David Ridgeon]

No.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Okay.

[Frank Evans]

No. I mean, it was several days after. But I saw him probably a week and a half, two weeks after. And he came here and I mean, the guy is skinny anyway, and like, he was like really skinny. So I made him sit down and eat and I forced him to have food because he hadn't been eating, he hadn't been sleeping. And, you know, he's very particular about what he eats anyway. But he was, he was totally devastated. I mean, just. You could see it in his face. You could see it in his physical being. He wanted to resolve whatever the hell it Was.

[David Ridgeon]

It's clear that Frank has known Sebastian for a long time and considers him a friend. His perspective on Sebastian aligns closely with Sebastian's girlfriend Lorraine's point of view. A man of concern and care.

[Frank Evans]

We would go on search trips, and we would drive around the neighborhood. We drive into all the little barrios and, you know, have you seen this person? And we had a picture of Jackie and bars or whatever, everything. We went everywhere. We went all up and down the beach. We talked to all the homeless people, you know, and we're thinking, you know, somewhere there's got a piece of clothing, there's got to be something, some trace. You know, the fact that she left her belongings behind, very odd. And her phone and her ring. Yeah, like, you know, that to me, struck me as I don't want to be found. So there's no phone to trace me by. There's no other way of, you know, tracking me down. And there was so much speculation that many of the people suspected that Sebastian was involved in some, you know, bad dealings with her, but never saw them fight.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Did he ever mention anything about pushing or, like, an argument escalating?

[Frank Evans]

I have never heard that that happened. I can't imagine that Sebastian would do that. I think he may restrain. So if he's being hit, he's going to grab her hand and, you know, stop her from hitting him. But I understood that she was aggressive, but again, it was what Sebastian told me.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Yes.

[Frank Evans]

I never saw it.

[David Ridgeon]

Yeah, of course.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Did he ever tell you or did you ever know Jackie to have left at other times and.

[Frank Evans]

No.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Stormed off or.

[Diego]

No.

[Frank Evans]

No. That's the. The only time that I had heard that she had just gone poof.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Yeah.

[Frank Evans]

You're in Nicaragua, and nobody knows who the heck you are or you're in Panama. Nobody knows who the heck you are. And you can disappear pretty easily, I guess, if you want to.

[David Ridgeon]

The OIJ file says that the General Directorate of Immigration reviewed Jackie's migration movements and it was determined that she did not leave the country. And the Canadian embassy confirmed that Jackie did not enter Canada.

[Frank Evans]

I never had an inkling that there was any hostility from Sebastian's side to Jackie. And I never saw anything on Jackie's side towards him. They seemed always to be a happy couple.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

You know, Jackie herself was pretty strong, would you say?

[Frank Evans]

I would say she was very athletic, very attractive girl. And I just feel quite honestly that there's no way that you. He could have done something malicious towards Jackie. I mean, if he wanted to just walk, you know, he's got lots of resources. He's a smart guy.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

You know, one credible thing is accident or something. Some accident happens, but.

[Frank Evans]

And somebody's hiding it. You know, it's possible.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

I mean, and we don't really know what we don't know. And speculating about it is stupid because

[David Ridgeon]

it doesn't get you anywhere. So facts are important.

[Frank Evans]

My experience and my just in my gut feeling was, you know, seeing him afterwards and the reaction and then the physical change, you know, that would not be the norm if you were involved in something wrong. Right. He was trying everything, from my point of view to try and find her.

[Pete]

Hello, Good morning.

[David Ridgeon]

Hey, Pete.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

It's Dave Richin.

[David Ridgeon]

I reach Pete on the phone only after I leave Costa Rica. Pete's an American who owns and runs several businesses in the Playa Coco area, including the Coconuts bar. He knew Sebastian and Jackie, and he says they would come into his bar regularly.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

And did you talk to them as sort of friends or just customers, friendly acquaintances?

[Pete]

Yeah, I definitely knew them and talked to them. We weren't close. I didn't have them over at the house for dinner or anything like that. But friendly customers. He was always pretty mild, you know, very calm. And she was very bright and bubbly. And she liked to talk with kind of whoever wanted to talk with her is how it felt. Like she was very open and just a bright person is what it seemed like. And he was kind of the opposite. He was friendly, but not nearly as he was always like. I don't know how you put it. Just one. One mode, you know, monotone. Very mild. This happened again at Coconuts, at my restaurant, also on the main street in front of a lot of people. At least two times that they had gotten in very, very heated arguments. And I would say she was the one who was physically upset and was leaving. She seemed to be the one who was more angry. He was always very calm. Didn't really have much of a reaction. I could tell he was. He's saying something, whatever it was to piss her off. We never got involved. But it was to the point where I think I actually asked them not to come back at Coconuts at one point because it was so ugly. So I think it was really three times that I saw them get into serious arguments. And it was that third time at Coconuts where they were really screaming at each other. Remember, she was outside the bar yelling at him inside.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Okay. And did he ever come and talk to you about anything in particular or did he ever come. Oh, okay. So tell me about that.

[Pete]

So after she went missing, this is where it got strange for me. If my wife went missing, I would be devastated. I'd be doing everything I could to find her. And the behavior that I got from him was not that it was very much like, I don't want all this attention on me. I don't want this to. You know, it's almost like I just want it to be over with. It certainly didn't seem that he had the demeanor of someone who just lost the love of their life, is how I felt. And then it was maybe four months after she went missing that he got in touch with me. And he wouldn't text it. He said, I need to have a phone call with you. And I have a few missed phone calls from him in my contacts. So I look back to see if there was any written message about this. But then I remembered my wife reminded me he wanted to meet with me in person. So I was at Coconuts one day, and the meeting was very nonchalant. It wasn't something we had planned. And we just happened to see each other. He was just there having beers, and he said, hey, can I talk to you? And he said, hey, I'm looking for a job for my girlfriend. And that kind of caught me off guard.

[David Ridgeon]

This request from Sebastian would have been about four months after Jackie disappeared. And this girlfriend is not Lorraine.

[Pete]

Maybe he just means a friend of his that, you know. No, he meant a romantic girlfriend that was living in Tamarindo. I guess she would.

[Diego]

She.

[Pete]

She wanted a job at my restaurant, but she wasn't legal. I don't know. I remember being really just uncomfortable. And he had been drinking. This girl that he described was. I don't know if he said she was Venezuelan or Nicaraguan, but he was, like, proud. It was like, I'm sleeping with this new girl down in Tamarindo, and she wants to come move in with me, and I need to find her job up here. And I keep taking my moped back and forth to Tamarindo. And it was like a joke. He's like, I don't want to keep driving my moped back and forth. I want her to come up here and work. Work somewhere, you know, nearby. This girl is not the one who he's living with now, by the way. It was a different girlfriend. I never met her. I was kind of. I never got back to him. Of course, it was just so shocking that he would even ask that.

[David Ridgeon]

Sebastian tells me that this conversation with Pete did happen, and I hope to get into more detail from him on this if I can.

[Pete]

And at that point, you know, I guess I, you know, I'm not. My gut told me like it's obvious that he had something to do with it. He was just very this is demeanor just like he was happy. I think he snapped and, and it was probably something in the spur of the moment, heat of the moment. They were fighting physically. Any, whether it's an accident or just went overboard, it's kind of how I feel. I don't think it's premeditated. It sounds like they got into a physical fight and you know, you whatever. There's a thousand places that he could have been within two hours and back. It wouldn't be terribly difficult to hide somebody like that here and have him not be found.

[David Ridgeon]

Pete's theories aside, he doesn't know what happened to Jackie and he doesn't know the person in Tamarindo he says Sebastian asked the favor for or how long Sebastian might have been seeing her. But he says it's not terribly uncommon in the region for people to have partners on the side. I ask Pete for his thoughts on Jackie's disappearance.

[Pete]

It's incredibly difficult to just do that too, right? I mean it's suicide. I don't think many people really. They're probably trying to get found, right? I mean you're not. Nobody's that good at not getting found, especially for suicide. That's crazy. The investigation wasn't thorough at all from what I understand. But you know, whatever, who knows?

[David Ridgeon]

Indeed, who knows? A small expat community far from home can be a beacon of support, but also a concentrated and divisive rumor mill. Jackie's case is no exception. And after all of the theories, assertions and stories, there are still questions and inconsistencies. So here's what we know. Jackie Furlan Smith disappeared sometime after leaving her appointment with her physiotherapist Tatiana in Tamarindo, Costa Rica on August 17, 2021. Jackie left upset and messages I've been shown by Sebastian from across that afternoon show this. Jackie was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and reportedly was not taking any medication at this time. She suffered from serious symptoms exacerbated by stress or in social situations that included paranoia, delusions and depression. I think Jackie was likely the one who used her credit card between 6 and 7pm at the surf shop, but I can't be 100% on it. After that, the information gets even hazier. Jackie might have been seen arriving at the Cacique development by Michael the gate guard between 6:30 and 7:30pm waving hello, but we cannot confirm that date. Sebastian says he looked for Jackie in Tamarindo, but he didn't go to the clinic she was at. Sebastian has multiple stories about what he did when he arrived back in Playa Coco area that evening. He ate supper at home or ate out. He saw Jackie first, then left and returned. Or he only saw her when he returned from supper at the Poms restaurant. Then there was an argument, a fight, a back at the house. The order of events there is also unclear to me after Sebastian says Jackie walked out leaving her phone and ring behind. A neighbor says she saw Jackie in a taxi that night around 8pm is positive she did now, despite being initially unsure in the months immediately afterward. But no taxi driver or dispatcher remembers picking Jackie up or hearing of her being being in a red cab that night. And I couldn't reproduce seeing anyone in a car under similar conditions. Then there's the fight that night, the punch in the face Sebastian says he got from Jackie. People noticed scratches and a scar on him in the following days, and the stories about that seem variable. How did he get them? Jackie's parents say Sebastian pushed Jackie. He says it didn't happen that way, though. Jackie Jackie's texts suggest that he could be unpredictable. Others who know Sebastian well say he has a heart of gold. Sebastian says there is a video of Jackie leaving that night. There isn't. He says that there are people who saw Jackie. Keith didn't see her. Carol might have, but the date is unclear and many saw a different person that was not Jackie. In fact, there are no confirmed sightings of Jackie and anywhere after Aug. 17, 2021, according to police documents. All of it adds up to questions that I need to take back to Sebastian. I need to talk to him again.

[Diego]

Adam.

[David Ridgeon]

Someone Knows Something is hosted, written and produced by me, David Ridgeon. The series is also produced by Maria Jose Burgos. Sound design by Evan Kelly. Natalia Ferguson Ferguson is our transcriber. Emily Cannell is our digital producer. Chris Oak is our story editor. Our executive producer is Cecil Fernandez, Tanya Springer is the senior manager and Arif Noorani is the director of CBC Podcasts. You can binge all episodes of Someone Knows Something early on the CBC True Crime YouTube channel or for early and ad free listening. Subscribe to to the CBC True Crime Premium channel on Apple Podcasts. Just click on the link in the show description. If you're looking for more investigations, check out the Con. Each season focuses on stories about scammers and con artists. A podcast exposing the art of deception. Find the con wherever you get your podcasts. For more cbc podcasts, go to cbc ca podcasts.