Missing Tourists in Nicaragua Remain Unaccounted For

After two weeks of dead heat searches, there´s still no clue leading to the whereabouts of an American citizen and a British tourist who were reported missing while they were climbing the 1,394-meter-high volcano that overlooks the Great Nicaraguan Lake, in the southeastern part of the country.

The Nicaragua Army called off search operations Sunday, giving up all hopes of finding American Jordan Ressler, 23, and British citizen Nicholas Roth, 28, alive. The two men vanished on November 17 while clambering the Maderas Volcano on Ometepe Island, some 65 miles south of Managua.

Col. Adolfo Zepeda, a spokesman for the Nicaraguan military, noted all search and rescue operations were suspended because chances of coming out of those heights alive are pretty slim. However, the Army ordered a civil defense team to remain on the premises to conduct a low-profile search.

The Managua Fire Department and Granada´s Red Cross, some 30 miles east of the nation´s capital, are also helping in the rescue operation.