When Serge Gravel decided to retire at the age of 60 he packed up and moved to Costa Rica for what was supposed to be a relaxing retirement in paradise.
Instead, months later, the former Moose Jaw resident turned up dead in a rented room, leaving his family to figure out what happened.
Sindy Kuntz was one of Gravel’s nieces. “He was a happy man, if he was in the house somewhere, you would hear him laugh, the whole house would hear him laugh, he was always laughing."
Gravel always dreamed of retiring in Costa Rica. But earlier this month, his dream turned into a nightmare. When he was found dead in his hotel room, his family was told the death was ruled a suicide.
“He worked hard his whole life, and then finally he is doing what he wanted to do and you're telling me he went there to kill himself it just makes no sense, I mean he was emailing us all the time, telling us how happy he was over there, how this was the life. He kills himself? Like two days after he emailed us to tell us that life is awesome? It makes no sense at all,” says Kuntz.
The explanation offered by Costa Rican authorities doesn't make sense either. The family says the story has changed, but Gravel reportedly suffered three gunshot wounds to the chest.
The family is frustrated trying to get answers from the foreign officials, and looking for more from the investigation. They want the federal government's help but say so far they've had no luck.
“He's a Canadian citizen and he's over there. It doesn't matter where he is; if one of your people gets murdered you do what you've got to do. It doesn't matter where you are, that’s our job, the government's job to push, because if he got murdered on the street here, I’m sure they'd do something,” says Kuntz.
Gravel's family suspects his death may have something to do with a large sum of money he reportedly invested in Costa Rica before he moved there. But there are still far more questions than answers.
Based on a report by Morgan Reed, CTV Regina
