People have said that the best feria (farmers’ market) in Costa Rica is the Feria del Agricultor, in Perez Zeledon, or San Isidro de El General. The feria has row after row of amazing fruits and vegetables, all crisp and fresh, and right off the farm, for delicious/healthy eating. On Friday, February 7th, the last booth on the left was missing a kind familiar face: Tandra Joy Thorbeck, an American 72-year old, longtime fixture at the feria.
Tandra is known for Colibri Corner, where she assists the owner selling cheeses, spices, salmon, kombucha, chocolates, ginseng, turmeric, and all sorts of hippy folk medicine cures for whatever ails you. Now people are wondering what might be ailing Tandra: she has disappeared.

Tandra was scheduled to be picked up by her usual taxi driver early morning on Friday. She wasn’t home. The dogs were inside safe, but there was absolutely no sign of Tandra. The taxi driver exited his cab and walked around Tandra’s very rural Matasanos grounds. He found everything tidy, but no signs of Tandra. Tandra lives alone. He drove to the feria, and reported his discovery to Colobri Corner, at which point the alarm went up. This was not typical behavior for Tandra. Her brother Casey Bahr, another expat living in Perez Zeledon, was notified, and the word began to spread among the American community that one of their own was missing.

A permanent resident and well-known “feria face”, Tandra is known for baking desserts of every description, pet sitting, house sitting, and all sorts of other jobs a 72-year old who came to Costa Rica without duffle bags of money can handle to make ends meet. She is known/recognized by many fellow gringos.

Her family and friends have swung into detective mode, putting Missing Person flyers up in her neighborhood and favorite haunts. Telephone trees have been activated. The American Embassy has been notified, and of course, the Organismo de Investgacion (OIJ) has been notified, and have helped with detectives interviewing acquaintances and a visit to review Tandra’s house and neighbors. Posts on Facebook have yielded a tentative timeline for her disappearance.
The last sighting of Tandra was on Wednesday, at 7AM, when Tandra was seen waiting for the 7:30 bus to head into town. Then someone said they saw her at the grocery store in town on Thursday. She was seen exiting the store, groceries in hand. That is the last someone has reported having seen this dear lady.

The expats of Perez Zeledon are asking for help finding Tandra Thorbeck. If you have information, or have seen her, please call the authorities at 800-8000-645. She had her purse with her, but apparently her cell phone had been either lost or turned off. A Facebook site has been created to help track latest information: https://facebook.com/groups/WheresTandra.
Her family needs her home, her dogs need her back, and the PZ farmers’ market needs to see her smiling face again. Please help. These disappearances are rare in PZ; let’s get her home

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