HELP locate missing biker on his way to Bolivia
 

Update - 10/08/19: Finally some light in the darkness! Nicolas is now actively searched by the Bolivian police. He's also become a Bolivian TV and YouTube star - not sure he'll be ecstatic about this. We've started receiving reports of sightings in Bolivia, which we are still verifying. Our hopes are definitely up!

BTW We = a bunch of wonderful bikers and people from various places in Bolivia. Special thanks also to the Belgian consulate in La Paz, who have generously assigned a lawyer to accompany me to the police and the immigration office.
==================================================

Update - 04/08/19: Nicolas crossed over to Bolivia at Tilali and registered with Bolivian immigration at Puerto-Acosta on June 16.
There's no trace of Nicolas leaving Bolivia. We are now focussing our search on Bolivia. He should have gone through La Paz on June 17 or so.
Please forward this post to anybody you know who is traveling in Bolivia, or was traveling in Bolivia at the time
==================================================

Hi,

My brother Nicolas Holzem, who has been biking across South America since April, hasn't been in touch since June 15. He was in Cusco at the time and he was planning to continue towards Bolivia, and finally travel down to Buenos Aires. I've contacted friends and relatives, nobody has heard from him since then.


Nicolas is 44 and about 1.7m tall. He's a very experienced biker. His ride is a white Suzuki DR650 (registration Y34412) he bought second-hand in Vancouver August 2018. I've attached 2 pics of him as well as one of his bike.


Nicolas speaks Spanish fluently and is likely to have been in contact with locals quite a lot. His mother tongue is French. Apart from Spanish and French he also speaks English and Polish. He's a Luxembourg citizen and lives in Krakow, Poland.


We're obviously frantic with worry and would be grateful for any information that might help us locate him.

Catherine

Catherine.
Fully understand your concerns.
The travelling community's will be on the look out and enquire for Nicolas no doubt.

I have been on the road a long time and also not reported "back home" at times and this concerns many.
Its easy just getting involved in something local and forgetting .

All will be well. We are on the look out.

Bolivia
 

Hi there,

I have send it to some friends in Bolivia.

More later.

mika

Hi!

Did you post it in http://www.advrider.com ?

It's another traveller community that may help. I'm from Spain, so please, just tell me if I can help you with translations to spanish or whatever...

Yes, I did. Here's the link: https://advrider.com/missing-person-...south-america/

Hi Pastourer, Are you maybe able to contact the border personnel at Tilali crossing and try to find out if they've registered his crossing? My Spanish is just too basic. Obviously we've alerted police and consulates but they are so slow - I just talked to the consulate in Lima, they're still waiting for some authorization to formally start the search.

I was in Peru and Bolivia in 2006, so this is old, but at that time I was often, but not always, asked for my passport number and nationality when checking in to a hotel or hostel that catered to foreigners. I assumed it was for cases like this, where a foreigner turned up missing. I doubt that the info goes to a database or anything, but his passport info is likely in some hotel registry somewhere, if there was a way to find it. Not sure if this helps, but something to think about.

Hoping for the best.

Hi Catherine, I am also hoping for the best for your brother.

I have a couple of ideas for you if you have not tried them yet.

1. Did he use the website couchsurfing?

2. Did he use Airbnb?

3. What was the longest period he was out of touch before this on his travels?

4. Did he have camping equipment with him on this trip?

5. What time of the day did he normally ride at? Does he like to sleep in/ Go to bed early?

6. Have you contacted his last riding buddy? Maybe they had an idea of what his plans were.

I will try!

We've just got confirmation from the embassy that Nicolas crossed over to Bolivia at Tilali on June 16

any guy ridding at bolivia, right now???
 

Hi, Grant Johnson:



does anyone here knows anyonw ridding at bolivia, right now??? How can I search at HUBB who would be traveling around there??


thks.

I was unable... I've tried to contact the mayor's office, local police... Finally I got a phone number but it was from a driving school doh

Police says that the border crossing is not operated by local police, and only gave a general info number from Border Police, who dind'nt gave me the phone number for the post.

Do you have a phone number for the border post???

Just readed it... So his crossing is confirmed, he must be at Bolivia...

Correct. Thanks for trying! We are now focusing our search on La Paz and on the Carretera dela Muerte. I'm trying to reach out to adventure cyclists as they travel slower and also because Carretera dela Muerte is a popular destination with them. If you've got any idea how to best reach South American adventure cyclists that would be really helpful!

Hi Nicolas' sister!
I've been posting some suggestions on the Facebook HU group. (Same first name and similar avatar.)

Just shared links to some Facebook bicycling groups you could try posting on.

Best of luck!

Hey guys, we have better clues to go off of now. We know for sure that Nicolas made it into Bolivia.

We all know that in missing person cases like these that time is very important.

I find it hard to believe that there are no Hubb riders in Bolivia right now. Spending a day showing random Bolivians Nicolas's photo and asking if they have seen him probably will not solve it, but there is always a chance.

We need to come up with some creative ways to engage the local Bolivian motorcycle groups. I think getting them to ask around and possibly do some looking will be our best bet to find Nicolas.

Catherine, is your family planning on traveling to Bolivia to look for Nicolas? Many of us have contacts in Bolivia and I think it would be easier for us to put pressure on the government, media, and locals if they know someone from the family is there searching for him.


Geoff

There will be quite a few bikers in Bolivia at the moment. The problem is, from my recent experience, virtually none of them frequent the hubb.

Many current bikers I spoke to had barely heard of HU, the website/forum (i.e. here). About half knew of Facebook HU. I found most bikers in South America didn't have English as their first language. Few spoke any English. Why would they go on an English language 1990s technology forum? Even English native speakers don't use un-user-friendly (web based) bulletin boards anymore.

Social media on mobile devices is where it's at. Catherine/ Sophie have posted on Facebook HU as well as other bicycle travel FB groups.

They have also posted on Advrider (website/forum). I'm sure, they're looking for other social media channels and local individuals/ groups to contact. I've made several suggestions on HU FB and contacted all the Bolivians I know.

Can you suggest any social media channels? Have you contacted your people?

Hi, I've booked my flight to La Paz. I'm scheduled to land on Aug 8, very early in the morning. I'm really counting on the help of the local biker community to find Nicolas. We'll probably set up a dedicated FB page in English and Spanish. I'm also trying to think of an app to help us portion out and keep track of the covered territory as it gets searched.

akosiwa,

best of luck on your trip to Bolivia...sorry I don't speak Spanish or have any local contacts there!

Just making sure you've contacted people at Contact a Community | Horizons Unlimited

I assume you're waiting for your brother's paper credit card / bank statements. I'm able to view all my transactions online between paper statements. Will his bank/cc company allow you to view his most recent transactions? I presume you have reported him missing with his local police force. The police could then insist the financial institutions divulge this information.

Destinations where many bikers/ tourist go are: Copacabana on Lago Titicaca, La Paz, "Death Road" to Coroico (now since there's very little traffic except bicycle tours and it has been improved it's no more dangerous than any wide mountain easy gravel track anywhere in the world: but the name is still popular as a marketing tool for bicycle travel tours for backpackers...), Potosi, Sucre, Ruta del Che including Samaipata and Uyuni town/ Salar de Uyuni (also for Altiplano "Lagunas route" to Chile).

Check the Copacabana border to Peru incase he reentered Peru east to west. There's also another border at Desaguadero if he was aiming for Arequipa/Peru.

Villazon is the main border town in the south to Argentina. Some people head further east to Santa Cruz de la Sierra towards Brazil, but not as many.

Oruro and Cochabamba tend to be transit towns only.

Download the iOverlander app (Google Play Store and Apple store) for ideas where Nicolas might have stayed overnight, based on his tastes and budget). Also visit www.ioverlander.org If he stayed at Estrellita in Cusco he has very budget tastes! I do too! I was last there in December 2018

The very best of luck!

Hi Catherine, that is good to know that you are headed down there. I have a good friend in Cochabamba that I will try to get to help you. He speaks over 5 languages and I know he would be a big help if he is available right now to provide assistance.



Hey Chris, thanks for your feedback on social media. I would not have guessed that, but what you are saying makes sense. I disagree with you about the number of Western motorcyclists using the Hubb. It is still the go to place if you are planning an international motorcycle trip or need help with a problem while you are on the road. I have noticed in the bikes for sale section that there are a few people who have ads for selling their bikes in Colombia in a month. I'm going to write those guys and anyone I can find looking for parts/ mx advice in those forums.

I need to do way more work on this search. Thank you for your efforts. Catherine just needs a few more people like you and we will be able to narrow this down and find out what happened to Nicolas.

The main Immigration office phone number posted on their web-site in La Paz is (591-2) 2110960. To call from the USA you add 011 (591-2) 2110960. They should have a record of all the entries and departures from the country including those at the border crossings. But today (Aug 6th) is a country holiday and nothing will be open, wait until tomorrow am.

There is only one main road after crossing the border in Tilali leading to La Paz. This road borders Lake Titicaca and has many little towns/villages along the way. I believe the next step is to follow this road and inquire along the way if anyone remembers seeing him. The longer time passes the more difficult the tracking will be. I'm an ADV rider but I'm not in Bolivia, otherwise I would help.

Bolivia
 

Hello there,


I live in Bolivia, but I will only get back around 10th of September to Bolivia. But not to La Paz, I live in Samaipata, near Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Last week I send links to biker friends in Santa Cruz and they posted it on the FB sites of their club.



As others said above, most travelers use Whatsapp or FB now.



I dont have any close biker friends in La Paz. But if you need an English speaking biker, that could help you finding your way around in La Paz and help you with the search, pls contact me and I will contact a friend in Sucre, that could come to La Paz to meet you.



You will find your brother.



Pls keep us posted here on the HUBB.

All the best
mika

Hi, fellows


I sent a post - from my Facebook (nick name "Paulo Assis")- to "Rede de Television UNO", asking help.

Any news? :rolleyes2:

We've started a dedicated FB group where we're trying to centralize all the available information. I've committed the ultimate sacrifice :wink3: and registered with FB. Please contact me if you want to be added to the group.

I'm in Lima waiting for my last connection flight. I live in Wellington, NZ, it's a long trip.
I'm meeting with the honorary consul for Belgium in La Paz tomorrow afternoon. I'll write up a detailed update after this meeting and make sure to post it here and on advrider. I might also jump on your offer then.

I know I will : )

Thanks guys, for being so supportive! I would have gone crazy without your help!

Did you contact my friend Matthias?

Hola Geoff:

Please do not hesitate to establish contact between Miss Catherine Holzem and me.

Señor Matthias Bode
Calle Prof. José Mérida #2243
Villa Graciela, Pacata Alta
COCHABAMBA / BOLIVIA

MOB: 70 71 56 64; TEL: 4 - 4 29 88 14
LVSABA@HOTMAIL.COM

I would like to get the local press/media involved.

Matthias is president of a 4x4 off road vehicle club in Bolivia. He has created an off-road map for most of Bolivia.

La Paz
 

The consul is a good start in La Paz. But you will need biker contacts on the ground and you will need the media.

I dont use FB, but I will send you my whatsapp number. I will contact the HU community in La Paz and other places in Bolivia, if you have not done it. Welcome to Bolivia. Suerte.

mika:mchappy:

https://www.facebook.com/NicInBolivi...mCMDvIFxGn-mYV

https://www.facebook.com/NicInBolivi...mCMDvIFxGn-mYV

Here is the link to the facebook page the family has setup for him:
https://www.facebook.com/NicInBolivi...mCMDvIFxGn-mYV

Here is a link to Sophie Holzem's (the sister) facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/Sophie.Holzem

I agree with Mika. There is a lot of inefficency in Bolivia's government and police. Someone like Mika or Matthias can give you the best advice in coming up with a plan on how to find your brother.

This is my opinion: a few people in Bolivia know what happened to your brother or his motorcycle. The average wages in Bolivia are very low, so getting the media involved and offering a reward will lead to finding him the fastest.

Post on ADV offering help
 

I just noticed the post below on ADV from 2 days ago. Might be a good lead..


Cae Rodriguez Calvo > Natgeo14 • 2 days ago
Hello, I am Vice President of La Paz hotel chamber, we would
like to help in any way possible, please send me your details to +59168660500. The system we have should allow us to search if he stayed at any of our hostels or hotels in La Paz. We will also send information to all affiliates and the national chamber.

Done. Unfortunately we came up empty...

Thanks gatogato, we are contacting Matthias.

Nicolas Holzem
 

fellow bike traveler Pedro Mota put this out


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7TFvrBQBpU


pls share it with all your Bolivian and foreign friends in Bolivia!!



mika

Customs post ??
 

Hi all,

as I have never myself crossed the border at Tilali on the Eastern shore of Lake Titicaca (North of La Paz) .... could somebody please tell me where the next customs post (aduana) is to register your vehicle for the temporary import into Bolivia??

Thank you.

mika

I wrote this on FB on Nicolas' missing person's thread:

=======
From recent experience, there's only one border post on the east side of Lago Titicaca. Coming from the Peru side, immigration is on the main square in the last town. Names/ passport details written manually in a big book. Aduana is 2km south on the main (paved) road. Either manual or electronic bike registration, depending on electric supply and the very unhelpful Aduana officer. Also manual name / passport registration with the police at this barrier.

Then 10 or 15 km of gravel road of no man's land. Then Bolivia immigration and Aduana. Nice and very friendly people. Paved main road from here.

=======

So: Bolivia aduana and migracion are opposite each other at the border barrier.

Bolivian Aduana
 

Thank you Chris, this helps. As you know, I dont follow FB :cool4:

mika

"Sophie Holzem .

Administrator · 12 h

https://scontent.fbau1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...8e&oe=5DD74932

‎Catherine Holzem‎ para Help - missing person in Bolivia.12 h ago

Queridos amigos / Dear friends,
First of all we would like to thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for the support you've shown us!
We are monitoring this page around the clock and are grateful for any lead we get. Every sighting is followed up with the help of a network of biker friends in Bolivia.
We've just confirmed sightings of Nicolas in Rurrenbaque some 3-4 weeks ago. We've now received more recent reports of sightings of Nicolas around Villamontes and Tarija. If you are from these areas or happen to be traveling there please keep your eyes out for him. We've started hoping that all this could just have been a bad dream after all!"

"Help - missing person in Bolivia. compartilhou uma publicação.

Administrator · 49 min

¡Hola amigos! Muchas gracias por su ayuda hasta ahora. Hemos tenido algunos reportes de personas que parecen haberlo visto desde Rurrenabaque hasta Riberalta, Puerto Teresa, Villa Montes y Santa Cruz. Todavía estamos tratando de verificar estos reportes.
Creemos que estuvo en Santa Cruz el jueves pasado. Si crees que has visto a Nicolas, ¿puedes especificar cuándo y dónde y también dejar tu número de teléfono para que Catherine pueda contactarte (o contactar a Catherine al 78797494)? ¡Por favor, también dile a Nic que su hermana Catherine está en Bolivia e esta lo está buscando si lo ves!
Gracias de nuevo mis amigos!"

:clap::clap::clap:

Good news!!!

Translation:

Hello friends!
Thank you very much for your help so far. We have had some reports of people who seem to have seen it from Rurrenabaque to Riberalta, Puerto Teresa, Villa Montes and Santa Cruz.We are still trying to verify these reports.
We think he was in Santa Cruz last Thursday.

------------------ etc
So not found yet.

I've met Nick in mexico, awesome guy, he showed me pictures of his rides, and he loves to go off the beaten path and off roading on his bike. He didn't have the best safety gear, so he may have gotten stuck somewhere with a mechanical failure or gotten hurt. Best thing to do would be to look for all the off-roading trails near his last known location and search there.

Drive to every single hostel first thing and ask about him - he hops hostel to hostel you should be able to trace him to the day he went missing by tracking the hostels - get access to his booking and hostelworld accounts. Then you have a search radius.

Thanks Bucephalus,

Bucephalus sent me this message just now:

"He also wrote my on June 9th here on the forums NicoGSX, but he did not respond to my reply and it looks like his last log on date was June 14th."

reply from "HELP! Missing Person in Bolivia - Facebook"


Nicolas adora la musica y toca su guitarra de viaje que se ve en la foto en cuanto puede. Si crees que has visto a Nicolas, ¿puedes especificar cuándo y dónde y también dejar tu número de teléfono para que Catherine pueda contactarte (o contactar a Catherine al 78797494)?
(thanks Jhoan Cristhian Untiveros Vilches for the pictures



https://scontent.fbau1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...98&oe=5DEC36B0



https://scontent.fbau1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...f8&oe=5DE1D240

Hi Bucephalus, I wrote to booking.com and hostelworld a while ago. booking.com never replied, hostelworld sent the missing person post through all their network but nothing has come out of this. We've also had help from Cae, the Vice-President of the La Paz hotel chamber, who sent the ad through to all hotels in the country, nothing so far... I'm waiting to get a serious lead to go there myself and knock at every single hostel in the area. The only serious lead we seem to have at this stage is Rurrenabaque over a month ago. I'm currently in Tarija trying to confirm some recent sightings in el Angosto. If I can't confirm them, I'll be on my way to Rurrenabaque tomorrow.

I do not think you are turning over every stone to find him. It is hard to be critical of someone when they are dealing with something like this.

A lot of us have offered advice or asked questions and a lot of it has not been followed up on.

You can't just wait for it to fall in your lap.

Yes, Gatogato! And, for real, she is not alone. There is a vast surrounding. That is why we are here: together.
With or in proximity to another person or persons at this search. Each one and other looking under the stones. Each small or strong report. Building this search. looking for him, whom we didn't found yet . not yet. not yet.

That is why we are here: together.

In the very beggining of this august, no one knew that there were a search for Nicolas Holzem. Now, many people know. And are concerning and helping. People in Bolivia and around the world have been brought together to help.

I am thinking how I can improve my efforts and help to have him back home. no matter how far or close I am.

I am a traveler. For some moments, a motorcycle traveler. I use to make my travels to distants distances alone. Maybe like him. And I have family. Maybe like him. And I have had the chance and testifyed that, for real, eache one is never alone.

Let’s spread the voice of this search for Nicolas, very probably a good guy!

“Los mineiros de Chile!" (Y)

Unhelpful. Very unhelpful comments, especially the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs, IMHO.

You have no idea what leads have or haven't been followed up. Do you regularly speak with the family directly? Are you in Bolivia helping? There's a lot more happening than you know about, I assure you!

Your positive contributions are appreciated, not keyboard warrior heroism from 10 thousand miles away!

Gas station
 

I was riding in Bolivia last year. From memory there were only one or two national gas station chains. I wonder if they could help spread the word. I found their staff helpful and friendly. Ok there are plenty of casual sellers of gas but I found the national chains the best. Good luck

Yes, DLyttle.
In fact, as far as I know, most are casual salespeople.
National gas chains are helping a lot.
As far as I know, the people in Bolivia are very friendly and helpful.
And reaching out to them, bringing it to them for help, to let them know of this search for Nicolas Holzem, spreading and broadcasting this message and these images, so that they can - who knows something - help us, is the most important. The internet there is not very present. However, it is a powerful instrument. Perhaps all information obtained from there - however vague - gives it a chance to be known and accurate.

Please help spread these searchs and claims for help by distributing this message to every of your contacts.

Internet is powerful tool. Especially when used for disclosures like this. Bringing people together for a good cause.

Never forgot: "los mineros de Chile!"


https://scontent.fbau1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...ba&oe=5DE723A8

united. straight. amity.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us-TVg40ExM

Sophie Holzem
Administrador · 10 h
������������������Queridos amigos������������������
Nuestra hermana Catherine comenzará el viernes 16 de agosto en Cobija
para recopilar los diversos testimonios de personas que piensan haber
visto a nuestro hermano Nicolás.
Si crees que has visto a
Nicolas, ¿puedes especificar cuándo y dónde y también dejar tu número de
teléfono para que Catherine pueda contactarte (o contactar a Catherine
al 78797494)?
Gracias de nuevo amigos nuestros!

translation - abrivated.
 

Catherine will start on Friday, August 16 in Cobija to collect the various testimonies of people who think they have seen our brother Nicholas.
If you think you've seen Nicolas, can you specify when and where.

:thumbdown:

Can anyone help? Must be able to write and understand Spanish and have/know how to use WhatsApp.

Sophie, upon my suggestion, searched the iOverlander app for accommodations that Nico might have stayed in or visited during his time in Bolivia. She generated 120 or so possible hostals/ budget places that had safe motorcycle parking in Bolivia. It’s now in the format of a Microsoft .xls spreadsheet.

I’ve just spend a while searching (Google/Facebook) each of these (often with incomplete names/locations) for phone numbers. I have 60. In my experience of Latin America, most cell phone numbers match a WhatsApp contact.

Is anyone able to send a text based message in Spanish asking if they have seen Nico (link to Facebook group and video etc) and also the poster that they could print and put up in their hostal. And share with everyone in their Bolivian address book.

I can email you the spreadsheet if you can contact these hostals. I would do it myself, but my Spanish is poor, especially written, and time doesn’t permit. After a 2 and a half week injury layoff in Kyrgyzstan, I’m now able to ride a bike again from tomorrow!!

As it’s quite a lot of work (but really only a lot of copy and pasting of the same text…), if there were 2 or more, I can send you an equal share each. Many hands make light work.

The guy can’t just have disappeared off the face of the earth! While there are relatively speaking in the motorcycle travel community a lot of bike travellers, in South America a gringo on a bike is still something very unique and hopefully memorable for the locals!

Email me via my website or direct msg me and I’ll advise my email address.

willing to help
 

I would be more than glad to help in anyway possible. I'm a Bolivian ADV rider living in the USA, fluent in Spanish.

Most Hostels have landlines and will not accept any txt, however I'll try, at home we have a pretty inexpensive landline calling rate I can use. Likewise If you have WhatsApp numbers I'll call those numbers too.

To be efficient and effective we need to organize a calling record keeping system so we do not duplicate the effort and get through the calls faster...

Im willing to send my cell phone # to someone, please send me a PM.

I stand-by, plz let me know.

Carlos

Hi Carlos
Thanks for you kind offer. Lots of people offered on FB, so we're fine for now.

The group is at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1172...location=group

Yes! I can.

This my e-mail is:

˜pauloescritorio@netscape.net˜

Tuesday morning update for the HUBB
 

Hi all,

I found a bit of time to write a short update about the search for Nicolas in Bolivia.

We could get a lot of media attention in Bolivia, Catherine (Nicolas sister) did a lot of TV interviews and many people shared the story on FB and Whatsapp.

So, of course, with a bike that common as the Suzuki DR650. We had a lot of sightings being reported. Catherine followed the most promising leads on the ground in La Paz, Tarija, Cobija and Riberalta. Yesterday we even check out a hospital, because somebody reported a Suzuki DR650 had crashed.

The Bolivian police is also searching for Nicolas, as data from Migration showed that he entered but not left Bolivia.

A group of very well connected Bolivian and foreign bikers are helping her in a Whatsapp group. But so far we could not find Nicolas, even most of the bikers all over Bolivia know the story and are looking for him.

Today Catherine told us, that she wants to hire a private rescue company from Israel and pay for this via crowdfunding.

More later.
mika

Mika, thanks much for the update, hopefully you'll have more positive news very soon!

From what has been posted about contact with the Bolivian authorities, it appears that he has entered Bolivia, but has not left, so it appears that focusing on Bolivia makes the most sense.

Done, nothing so far

In process

Might be a long shot, but if he was going to attempt "ruta de las lagunas" it might be worth emailing all the tour companies in Uyuni that do this trip with the missing poster, perhaps a reward for info?

from "HELP! missing person in Bolivia" - Facebook:


Help - missing person in Bolivia. está https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/rsrc.php..._x=rZCQY8_Tn6tprocurando respostas.30 min
Estamos buscando información ������ sobre un accidente de motocicleta que involucró una gran moto blanca y un motorista extranjero ������ que habría ocurrido hace aproximadamente un mes en la carretera que conecta Trinidad con Santa Ana del Yacuma. Mauricio Suárez de Trinidad nos contactó sobre esto, pero no recuerda dónde leyó esta noticia, probablemente en un sitio de taxinoticias. Si tiene alguna informacion al respecto por favor avisenos ya que estamos tratando de eliminar esta pista. ������ ¡Muchas gracias por su ayuda! ������������������

Just a quickie to encourage you. Keep strong! My best wishes from Spain.

Update: posted by the Trinidad-Beni Newspaper "La Palabra del Beni"
 

Motociclista desaparecido Nicolás Holzem fue visto en Trinidad

FAMILIAR. Catherine Holzem comentó, también, que se reunió con oficiales de la Policía en esta ciudad y que hoy viajará a La Paz, donde tendrá una entrevista con autoridades de la FELCC.
MOTOCICLISTA DESAPARECIDO NICOLÁS HOLZEM FUE VISTO EN TRINIDAD.
FOTO RS
se les proporcionó a la familia. Catherine relató, a los medios de comunicación locales, que una vez en Trinidad, su persona se dirigió a un hotel céntrico, oportunidad en que la responsable de recepción le comentó que vio a Nicolás a principios de julio, quien buscaba hospedarse, pero al no lograr el ingreso de su motocicleta grande, dejó de
insistir y se fue.
Expresó que el citado dato
es el más concreto que logró hasta el momento, porque la recepcionista que afirma haberlo visto lo reconoció a través de las fotografías que mostró su persona. Aunque se trata de un indició, dijo, después de ello no pudo conseguir más información, ni siquiera de la Cámara Hotelera, que es la que aglutina a los hoteles y residenciales.
De acuerdo con los datos que la familia colocó en el grupo de Facebook, Nicolás mide 1,7 metros de altura. Su motocicleta es una Suzuki blanco DR650 (registro canadiense o placa Y34412). “Es un motociclista muy experimentado y ha estado por América del Sur desde abril, pero no ha estado en contacto desde el 15 de junio de 2019”, anotó la familia. Celulares de referencia: 72042457- 71552063-71045950.
Nicolás Holzem, motoquero de Luxemburgo, fue visto en la ciudad de Trinidad, informó su hermana Catherine, quien se encuentra en esta capital con el propósito de obtener información que ayude a esclarecer la desaparición de su familiar.
Nicolás Holzem, de 44 años de edad, inició un viaje por Sudamérica en motocicleta en abril de este año. Presuntamente habría ingresado por Puerto Acosta a Bolivia, a finales de junio, de acuerdo con datos que
AUTORIDADES
Catherine Holzem comentó, también, que se reunió con oficiales de la Policía en esta ciudad y que las siguientes horas viajará a La Paz, donde tendrá una entrevista con autoridades de la Fuerza Especial de Lucha Contra el Crimen (FELCC), asimismo volverá a tomar contacto con el Consultado de Bélgica, que es el que representa a Luxemburgo.
Nicolás Holzem, de 44 años de edad, inició un viaje por Sudamérica en motocicleta en abril de este año. Presuntamente habría ingresado por Puerto Acosta a Bolivia, a finales de junio, de acuerdo con datos que se les proporcionó a la familia.

Hi gatogato, I owe you an apology. I've just seen that you sent me 3 PMs 2 weeks ago with recommendations. You have to understand, the last few weeks have felt like being caught in a maelstrom for me. I've tried to work on all possible fronts, while keeping an overview of what was going on. I think I've mostly followed all your recommendations. I forwarded your friend's Matthias Bode contact details to one of the bikers who've been helping us from Cochabamba. 'Unfortunately' we started getting a lot of sightings reports, which had to be verified. And I forgot to follow up on this. Thanks for your time and for trying to help.

I haven't participated in this thread, but I've noted that akosiwa has exhibited considerable grace in a very difficult situation. It would seem to me that anyone offering suggestions or help might do the same. This would include remembering that it is not you who is suffering.

My best wishes to all.

Mark

"...

Help - missing person in Bolivia.

4 de setembro às 13:45 ·

Gracias a la ayuda de un grupo de amigos bolivianos super-bacanos ♥️ finalmente hemos logrado encontrar un primer rastro 100% confirmado de Nicolás en Bolivia después de su entrada al país en Puerto Acosta el 16 de junio:
Nicolás pasó 3 noches en el Hotel Bella Vista (del 18 al 21 de junio) en Coroico y tenemos la entrada de registro del hotel firmada por él para probarlo. Ahora estamos sosteniendo un extremo del hilo que nos lleva a Nicolas. Si usted es de la región alrededor de Coroico o conoce personas que viajaron a la región hacia fines de junio, por favor ayúdenos a desenredar aún más este hilo

Thanks for the update Paulo - Good news

Message translated to English..

Thanks to the help of a group of Bolivian super-Bacan friends ♥️ finally managed to find a 100% confirmed first trail of Nicolás in Bolivia after his entry into the country in Puerto Acosta on June 16:
Nicolás spent 3 nights at the Bella Vista Hotel (June 18-21) in Coroico and we have the hotel check-in signed by him to prove it. Now we're holding one end of the thread that takes us to Nicolas. If you are from the region around Coroico or know people who travelled to the region towards the end of June, please help us further untangle this thread

Good news!

Nicolas Holzem
 

Hi all,

I got back to Bolivia and try to write a short update here again.

Catherine, Nicolas sister, left Bolivia after a month searching for Nicolas, but she will come back when needed. She back in New Zealand now, but we are in regular (a couple of times a day) contact with her.

When she was here, she made a lot of noise to get the story out with TV and radio interviews and newspaper reports. Today a friend told me, that when he got his tyre change in Santa Cruz, the mechanic told him about Nicolas and showed him a picture. So the story is big here and most bikers are aware that we are looking for him. Catherine got over 1000 posters printed and they are being distributed at the moment.

Catherine went with the police to the border station at Puerto Acosta. But they could not find any other lead than the custom entry document (TIP) for Nicolas bike. One police officer searched the road from Puerto Acosta to La Paz without success for two days.

At the moment we have three confirmed sightings (Rurrenabaque, Trinidad, Santa Cruz de la Sierra) and a lot of other unconfirmed sightings, that are being investigated at the moment.

As being said above, we found a hotel register entry from Coroico, Bella Vista Hotel (June 18-21), and the friend who found this, is searching in Rurrenabaque at the moment.

The Consulate in Brazil told us, that Nicolas did not enter Brazil. This means, if he entered, he did not get his passport stamped. But most of us here, believe that he is still in Bolivia.

Nacho Piccone, a Argentinean biker that Nicolas spent some time with in Cusco, told us a lot about Nicolas plans and ways of traveling.

So, that is all that comes to my mind at the moment, but we are trying our best to find him. More later.

mika from Samaipata

Mika.
Cheers for the update.
Still positive that good news is coming.

Hope some of the sightings will point you to him!

https://www.facebook.com/NicInBolivi...&theater&ifg=1


this is an open letter from Nicolas' sister to Luxemburg autorities asking help.

Still no news?

Jesus... All my support to his relatives, it must be a nightmare. Keep the faith.

not that i've looked at every bit of evidence with a microscope, nor have i been on the ground in bolivia, but from what i'm reading here, it seems as though the guy does not want to be found. they found evidence of him continuing his voyage long after he went out of touch.


maybe, hopefully, he's just angry with his family and wants to be left alone.

Not yet. Yes. Hopefully, it would be best scenario a single mistake among families. But, it seems not. On the ground search, perhaps, may begin, made by a guy of this HUBB living there.

Well, from what his sister has said, he “hasn't been in touch since June 15. He was in Cusco at the time and he was planning to continue towards Bolivia, and finally travel down to Buenos Aires”…

Then was “found a hotel register entry from Coroico, Bella Vista Hotel (June 18-21)” just few days after last contact, and then nothing for the last 3 months.

So, looks that isn’t the case you think…

As Javier said above, you're wrong in this regard. It would be worth reading the posts on the Facebook Group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1172629699586558/

A moderator recently suggested that posters on this forum post in a compassionate way. The family read here too. I can't imagine the anguish they face 24/7.

Here's hoping for a positive outcome!

Nicolas Holzem
 

Hi all,

just a short update here from our search for Nicolas in Bolivia.


@teevee.

Thank you for your reply and your thoughts. You are not the first one I come across who tells me this version, but I can assure you that this is not the case.

We know now, that Nicolas bought a Sim card in Coroico, just five or six days after entering Bolivia, and he registered it in his name. As we dont have the number yet, and also Tigo (the network operator he bought his card with) did not give us any information yet. The Bolivian police is hopefully getting this information, lets see. We dont know if Nicolas bought a new phone or found his old phone, that he lost in Cusco.

The witness we have here in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, could now remember the date he met Nicolas. He was here on 29th of June. We are searching the hotels and putting up posters everywhere.

Catherine, Nicolas sister, just posted an open letter to the government in Luxembourg on Facebook. I know its in French, and I also cant read it, but please if you have Facebook like this post, she said, that this would help.

More later.

Saludos desde Samaipata
mika :mchappy:

Nicolas Holzem 07/10/2019
 

Hello again,

its been two weeks since the last update here. So, its time for me to write again a bit here in Bolivia about our search for Nicolas.

Bikers from all over Bolivia are still helping as much as they can to find Nicolas. Marcelo Camacho from La Paz took time off work and went to look for him around Coroico (where Nicolas stayed at Hotel Bella Vista 18.06. - 21.06.) for a few days. But he did not find any new leads.

The Bolivian police (FELCC) checked all three network operators for cellphones if Nicolas phone was registered with them. Even we have a witness that sold a Sim card to Nicolas and registered it with Tigo, the police said that there is no Sim card registered under Nicolas name and his phone (that he maybe lost in Peru) was not used in Bolivia. But as the registration was done by phone, his last name could have been misspelt. So, nothing came out of this.

Catherine, Nicolas sister, came back to Bolivia yesterday. Today she met with the police in La Paz. Tomorrow she will come to Santa Cruz, also to meet the witness that we have here. Pls check facebook for more detailed information about this.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1172629699586558/

Nicolas daughter, Elise, posted on Facebook as well. She is 19 yrs old and studies in Canada now.

The press in Luxembourg started publishing articles about our search, well written but of course in German and French. This will hopefully gets the police in Luxembourg moving, as we still dont have the some of his credit card numbers.

So, one last short story. Yesterday I met Peka, a biker from La Paz here in Samaipata. As soon as I showed him the poster of our search, he told me his story. Of course he knew about our search. When he passed through Coroico, two weeks ago, he talked to a friend and a DR650 came up for sale. And all of a sudden a white DR650 passed him, so he followed the bike and stopped the rider and talked to him about the bike. Yes it was the bike that was for sale. He took a few pictures. We checked this pictures yesterday, but it was NOT Nicolas bike that he saw in Coroico. As you can see, this story is big here in Bolivia.

So, this is it for today. More later.

mika :mchappy:

Mika, thanks for the update...this sounds like big news...so what did the rider of the white DR650 have to say?!?

NOT Nicolas bike
 

Hi Motoreiter, sorry for the confusion :oops2:, it was NOT Nicolas bike. The rider of the white DR650 just said that he was selling his bike.

mika :mchappy:

Damn! Thanks for the update.

I'm a bit shocked that the Luxembourg police don't seem to have done anything after all this time...checking for credit card activity is Missing Persons 101...

Uyuni?
 

do you think by chance he might want to go down to the Salar in Uyuni?
Been following off and on, concerned and my best thoughts to all.
Jeff

You might want to keep posting on ADV Riders, or post with a cyclist adventure groups, I passed quite a few 2 wheelers on my journey through Bolivia.

Keep the faith,
Smiles

Best wishes and all my support. Keep the faith!

Tks mika. Yep,pastorage!!

Hello everybody,

First a big thank you for your support so far, I would have felt very alone without the help and encouragement from the biker community!

I've been back in Bolivia for a week now. We have a hotel register entry in Coroico - Nicolas made it through the Carretera de la Muerte unscathed. He stayed at Hotel Bellavista from June 18 thru 21. He was apparently planning to take ill-famed route 25 from Coroico to Cochabamba through Chulumani, and then ride on to Santa Cruz.

I'm now in Santa Cruz, where I've talked to a very credible witness, who had a chat with Nicolas around June 26.

We need help from riders who are currently in Bolivia, in the Santa Cruz area: We need a hotel/hostel registry entry for his nights before / after he left Santa Cruz end of June: Nicolas' full name is Nicolas Stephane Marc Holzem, he's a Luxembourg citizen, and 44 years old.

Many thanks for the update. As you know from your Facebook group, this article was in a local newspaper
https://www.eldeber.com.bo/153042_bu...o-desaparecido

(You had it put there, of course!! )

Is this the "chat" you refer to? With the guy who worked on Nico's bike?

How close are you to accessing his bank / credit card transaction information?

Hang on in there. Stay strong!

Hi Chris, there's a mistake in this article (and I'm not the one who posted it on FB). Nicolas talked to the manager of Superstore Sure, who is a keen biker himself. The manager - his name is Franklin - noticed Nicolas' bike parked outside of the store and went out to have a closer look at the bike and a chat with Nicolas.

Re the credit card information, believe me, I've been pushing for this as hard as I can from day one. The problem is, from my experience so far, Luxembourg cops are all in all not less lazy and burocratic than their Bolivian counterparts. Nicolas has a bank account in Poland. My sister brought the bank name and the account number to the Luxembourg police on a silver platter. The only thing they needed to do was write an official request for the associated credit card number to Nicolas' bank. This is all the Bolivian police needs to search the national credit card transaction database. This was more than 6 weeks ago. Instead of contacting the Polish bank they started some heavy judiciary procedure to request full access to Nicolas transaction history from Nicolas' Polish bank. Or at least this is my understanding: The Luxembourg police won't even talk to me - in their very own words 'because I'm not physically present in Luxembourg' ...

Many thanks for the quick reply and the clarification regarding my first point.

The Luxembourg police clearly are as useless as the (unjustified?) reputation for which Latin American/ African police are known. You have the letter from the lady in the Luxembourg Royal Family. Is that any use when dealing with the Lux police? There must be some sort of European / Worldwide missing persons central bureau? Like there's Interpol for looking for criminals.

In my limited experience of dealing with commercial organisations, including in my case, ASDA supermarket and British Airways, when I couldn't get what I wanted from their minions, I wrote to their organ grinder = chief executive. And got what I needed... Write/email to the Luxembourg Prime Minister/President? Or the Polish equivalent?

Done: https://www.facebook.com/11056946362...ndex=0&app=fbl

and done: https://www.facebook.com/11056946362...78871/?app=fbl

What I need is hotel register entries around Santa Cruz ... see my first post for today above

Thanks. Presume that they haven't replied?

Thinking out loud: Try doorstepping the PM? Or a local member of parliament? If you're not in Luxembourg, is there another family member/friend who lives locally? Get a lawyer involved: Threaten to sue the Lux police for not doing their job? Anything to promote their fat ar$es into burning calories.

Stay strong!

Nicolas Holzem 26/10/2019
 

Hello all,

time for an update here on the Hubb again.

Bolivia is at the moment locked down by a nation wide general strike, as the election fraud was too obvious.

Catherine, Nicolas sister, is searching for him near Rurrenabaque ... and the Bolivian biker community is trying to help as much as they can. Catherine found some new leads and talked to people that met Nicolas near Rurrenabaque.

On 16/07 Nicolas was seen in San Buenaventura (near Rurrenabaque) at the village fiesta, and Catherine met people that talked to him. He was trying to sell his bike.

This is exactly one month after he entered Bolivia and after he had the last contact with his family.

We are still waiting for the credit card details from the police in Luxembourg.

More later on.

Saludos desde Samaipata
mika :mchappy:

if these findings are true, this story and thread are becoming quite suspicious. traveler stops communicating with his "family." now trying to sell his bike during a trip? his own national police refusing to investigate their own missing citizen's financial history? maybe he wants to disappear.



i truly hope the guy is ok. i really do. but this story has become fishier by the day.



and yeah, someone is gonna come along and tell me to shut up, and that's fine.