The grieving family of a father who disappeared in Panama alongside his two children is expressing frustration with the government for what they see as insufficient efforts to find him.
Ontario native Ghussan Iqbal went missing on May 21 with his seven-month-old son, Musa, and his two-year-old daughter, Nousaybah.
Tragically, Musa’s body was discovered weeks later in the Changuinola River, but there has been no trace of Iqbal or his daughter since then.
Authorities report that Iqbal left home without his phone, wallet, money, or any food.
Iqbal had moved to Panama with his wife, who is originally from the country, about a year ago. His family stated that she claimed he had ‘run away’ with their children and had been dealing with mental health challenges.
While Iqbal had faced mental health struggles in the past, his family noted that he seemed to be in a good place prior to his disappearance. They last communicated with him just two days before he went missing.
According to Iqbal’s brother Sulman Iqbal and his wife, Nagham Azzam Iqbal, police instructed them ‘not to trust’ the wife and her family in the early days of the investigation, CTV News reported.
The woman allegedly has up to ‘four identities, lied about her education and ethnic background, and was even seen dressing in different ways from very modestly to wearing more revealing clothing,’ the publication stated.
Ghussan Iqbal, from Ontario, Canada , vanished alongside his seven-month-old son Musa and two-year-old daughter Nousaybah on May 21
There has been no sign of Iqbal or his daughter, Nousaybah (pictured)
Sulman and Nagham traveled to Panama in the wake of their brother’s disappearance in an effort to help in the search operation.
But after three weeks with no luck, they returned to Canada and retained a lawyer to help advocate for the search to continue.
They claim the support they have received from Global Affairs Canada has been subpar and that they’ve all but given up on communicating with Canadian authorities.
‘We can only communicate with them through email and it takes days to respond. We don’t even reach out anymore because it’s not useful,’ Nagham said.
She said the department had indicated that the onus to find Iqbal and his daughter was on Panama authorities.
‘It’s honestly very scary knowing that as a Canadian citizen you’re basically out of luck if something happens to you abroad,’ Sulman added.
But authorities in Panama, while well meaning, don’t have the resources at their disposal to pour into the six-month-old case.
‘In Panama, everything is a very slow process,’ Sulman said.
He had left home without his phone, wallet, money or any food, authorities said
Iqbal had relocated to Panama about a year ago with his wife, who was from there. According to his family, she claimed he ‘ran away’ with the two children and had been struggling with his mental health
The body of little Musa was found in the nearby Changuinola River, but there has been no sign of Iqbal or his daughter
‘(Ghussan and his children) literally disappeared off the face of the earth,’ Nagham added.
The family said he had no wilderness experience and are suspicious that baby Musa was found exactly where Iqbal’s wife had directed authorities to look.
They do not believe he simply ‘ran away’ with his children.
But without any indication about whether Iqbal and his daughter are still alive, the family are struggling to ‘start the process of grieving.’
‘The reality is we may never really get the full story as to what happened to my brother and niece, but we’re still holding out hope. We’re not giving up until we hear otherwise.’
The GAC confirmed it is ‘aware of the case involving a Canadian citizen and two minor children in Panama.’
‘Canada is deeply saddened by the death of one of the minor children and our thoughts are with the family,’ a spokesperson said in a written statement.
