The alert was given after 2 p.m., when penitentiary police at La Reforma prison in San Rafael, Alajuela first realized inmate Juan Jose Palacios Rivera was missing.

The man (photo included) is a native of Nicaragua, and he was incarcerated October 2017 convicted of aggravated robbery and simple theft.

Palacios was in a “trust” regime and worked in the prison’s kitchen, apparently, with the help of other inmates he cut part of the fence and escaped.

Traces show that he jumped to the canyon of the Virilla River, “there were traces of blood and drag marks that we are following. The problem is that the canyon of this river is very complex and dangerous”, commented Pablo Bertozzi director of the Penitentiary Police.

Aerial Surveillance, the K-9 Unit of the Ministry of Public Security and Public Force officers are collaborating with the Penitentiary Police in the search of this inmate.