Costa Rica

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>

High Levels of Carbon Monoxide Found in Gardner Son's Hotel Room

Cause of death not yet confirmed for teen son of former Yankees player Brett Gardner

(Newser) - Officials in Costa Rica say high levels of carbon monoxide were found in the hotel room where the 14-year-old son of former New York Yankees baseball player Brett Gardner died during a family vacation. Authorities initially said Miller Gardner may have asphyxiated after vomiting, possibly due to food poisoning, but...

Teen Son of Ex-Yankees Star Was Not Killed by Asphyxia

Costa Rican authorities now say airway was not obstructed

(Newser) - Officials in Costa Rica are reversing course, and are now saying it does not appear that asphyxia killed Miller Gardner , the 14-year-old son of former New York Yankees star Brett Gardner. "It was preliminarily ruled out that the cause of death was due to asphyxia, due to the fact...

Ex-Yankee's Teen Son Dies on Vacation
Ex-Yankee Star's
Son Likely
Asphyxiated
UPDATED
Mar 25, 2025 6:44 AM CDT

Ex-Yankee Star's Son Likely Asphyxiated

Brett Gardner's 14-year-old son, Miller, apparently fell ill after eating in Costa Rica

(Newser) - The 14-year-old son of former New York Yankees star Brett Gardner died of suspected asphyxiation "after a possible intoxication after apparently ingesting some food" in Costa Rica, an official with the country's Judicial Investigative Agency tells NBC News . Miller Gardner fell ill along with other family members on...

This Is the Happiest Nation on Earth
This Is the Happiest
Nation on Earth
Mar 20, 2025 12:50 PM CDT

This Is the Happiest Nation on Earth

Finland tops World Happiness Report for 8th straight year; US comes in at No. 24

(Newser) - Feeling down in the dumps? Maybe it's your country. Unless you're in Finland, which just took the top spot on this year's World Happiness Report for the eighth year straight, reports CNN . The annual ranking used Gallup World Poll data from more than 140 countries around the...

Rescuers Carry Sole Crash Survivor 14 Hours Out of Jungle

Woman, 31, is the only survivor after plane went down in Costa Rica

(Newser) - A small plane crashed in a remote area of Costa Rica on Monday, killing five of the six people aboard, reports Reuters . But the survival of that sixth person—identified by the Tico Times as 31-year-old Paola de Los Angeles Amador—turns out to be a remarkable story. Rescuers found...

Costa Rica Finally Does Away With Public Zoos

Its final 2 state zoos have closed

(Newser) - "Captivity is only justified when animals cannot return to the forest for either physical or behavioral problems that prevent them from living in freedom"—a stance that obviously clashes with the concept of a zoo. It's Costa Rica's stance, with that line said in a Saturday...

Man 'On the Lam' Arrested 30 Years After Wife's Brutal Murder

Virginia's Jose Lazaro Cruz has been extradited back to States after trying to cross into Costa Rica

(Newser) - A Virginia man on the run for more than three decades has been extradited back to the States, wanted in the long-ago killing of his then-estranged young wife. In a Monday presser, officials with the Fairfax County PD announced that Jose Lazaro Cruz is in their custody, nearly two years...

Story of $6M Bank Heist Will Have You Shaking Your Head

Authorities say Costa Rica's largest-ever bank heist was an inside job

(Newser) - Little by little, an employee of Costa Rica's National Bank took advantage of a surveillance blindspot to slip more than $6 million worth of currency into envelopes and casually walk out of the country's largest bank, authorities said Wednesday. First announced last month, it was the largest bank...

Scientists Find a Rare 'Octopus Nursery'

Site off Costa Rica is only the third such site known to exist (by humans)

(Newser) - Researchers exploring the ocean floor off the coast of Costa Rica discovered an incredibly rare thing: an octopus nursery. The deep-sea area is exactly what it sounds like—a place where brooding octopuses gather to hatch their eggs, reports NPR . The discovery brings the number of known octopus nurseries in...

Costa Rica's New President Declares State of Emergency

Country has been hit by ransomware attacks

(Newser) - After a month of crippling ransomware attacks, Costa Rica has declared a state of emergency. In theory, the measure usually reserved to deal with natural disasters or the COVID-19 pandemic would free up the government to react more nimbly to the crisis. President Rodrigo Chaves, who was sworn in Sunday,...

Emergency Landing Splits Cargo Jet in Half

DHL pilots were unharmed in Costa Rica accident

(Newser) - Cargo carrier DHL says both pilots were unharmed after a emergency landing in Costa Rica Thursday that split the aircraft in two. Juan Santamaría Airport, San Jose's international airport, was closed for hours after the dramatic incident, Reuters reports. Luis Miranda Munoz, deputy director of Costa Rica's...

Zip-Lining Boy Slams Into Unexpected Visitor
He Was on the Zip Line.
Then, a Surprise Obstacle
in case you missed it
Mar 20, 2022 11:40 AM CDT

He Was on the Zip Line. Then, a Surprise Obstacle

Both child and sloth are said to be OK after boy slammed into creature

(Newser) - A young boy experienced quite a ride during a zip-lining expedition in Costa Rica, with an unexpected surprise along the way. Go Adventure Arenal Park posted a video this week showing the excited child, filmed by the guide behind him, as he began his swoosh through the rainforest. "No...

Latest Outbreak of Tainted Alcohol Kills 19

Costa Rica has issued a national alert

(Newser) - Tainted alcohol has killed 19 people in Costa Rica since June. The 14 men and five women ranged in age from 32 to 72, and lived in several cities, CNN reports. The alcohol they drank contained toxic levels of methanol, and the Ministry of Health has now warned against several...

Man Who Killed 2 in '03 Easter DUI Is Finally Behind Bars

Florida man fled before he could be sentenced in crash that killed retired couple 16 years ago

(Newser) - Justice has been a long time coming for Florida man Henry de la Hoz, who killed a retired couple while driving drunk on Easter Sunday 16 years ago. Victor and Olga Lisabet had been on their way to a sunrise service in South Miami-Dade when they were hit by de...

5-Year-Old Tourist Brings Measles Back to Costa Rica
This Country Was Done With
Measles. Then the Boy Arrived
in case you missed it
Mar 2, 2019 2:45 PM CST

This Country Was Done With Measles. Then the Boy Arrived

5-year-old French tourist in the country has the disease

(Newser) - A French family arrived in Costa Rica last Monday and put an end to Costa Rica's measles-free status: No citizen there has contracted the disease since 2006, and the last time a foreigner brought it to the country was in 2014. The Independent reports that a 5-year-old boy was...

3 More Women Accuse 'Revered Statesman' of Sexual Misconduct

Oscar Arias allegations span more than 30 years

(Newser) - Former Costa Rican leader Oscar Arias is beginning to go from revered to reviled as more women come forward with allegations of sexual assault. After antinuclear activist Alexandra Arce von Herold filed a sexual assault complaint against the former president over an alleged incident in 2014, three more women came...

'Revered Statesman' Accused of Sexual Assault

Nobel laureate and former Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Sanchez is accused

(Newser) - Another prominent figure has been accused of sexual assault, this time Nobel laureate and former Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Sanchez. The New York Times , which first reported the allegations, calls Arias "one of Latin America's most revered statesmen." Now, however, his legacy is at risk. Antinuclear...

Security Guard Suspected in US Tourist's Murder

Nicaraguan was staying next to Carla Stefaniak's Airbnb in Costa Rica

(Newser) - Despite her brother's best hopes , a woman's body discovered at the back of an Airbnb property in Costa Rica has been identified as Florida's Carla Stefaniak, whom a security guard is now suspected of killing. Nicaraguan Bismarck Espinosa Martinez, a 32-year-old security guard who'd been staying...

Woman's Body Found Near 'Sketchy' Airbnb

Costa Rica officials aren't sure if it is that of missing US woman Carla Stefaniak

(Newser) - A grim find has been made in the search for a Florida woman who was reported missing after she failed to return from a trip to Costa Rica. Officials with Costa Rica's Judicial Investigation Department say a woman's body was found at the back of the Airbnb property...

Woman's Last Text: 'It's Pretty Sketchy Here'

Carla Stefaniak, 36, was visiting Costa Rica for her birthday

(Newser) - A Florida woman has gone missing in Costa Rica after visiting for her birthday and getting into an unknown car, WFLA reports. Carla Stefaniak, 36, was scheduled to return Wednesday, the day after her fellow traveler/sister-in-law flew back—but Stefaniak never made the plane. "She totally went missing, ghosted...

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>
Most Read on Newser