Family of missing Hamilton man in Panama still searching for answers months later

It’s been over seven months since a Hamilton man and his family suddenly disappeared from their home in Panama.

The rest of the family here in Canada has been trying to hold onto the hope of eventually finding Ghussan Iqbal but are left with more questions than answers.

Ghussan’s brother and sister-in-law say they’re trying to be realistic about the whole situation as they deal with it from afar. They describe an immense amount of guilt, blame and sadness.

To make matters even more difficult, today is Ghussan’s 32nd birthday, marking the first big milestone the family has to face without knowing what happened to him.

Sulman Iqbal and his wife, Nagham are living an unimaginable nightmare — searching for their brother Ghussan Iqbal and his two-year-old daughter, Nousaybah, who are still missing in Panama.

“It’s hard to even sit here and do this and not be able to call him and wish him a Happy Birthday. So it’s been hard,” Sulman said.

The family has been trying to get answers ever since learning of their disappearance in May.

“To the best of our knowledge, there has been no search. There has been no sightings and there has been no active search for Ghussan or Nousaybah since basically June,” Nagham said.

Even with Ghussan’s history of mental health concerns, the family says the circumstances are out of the ordinary.

“We sort of expected the worst when we were there. When you’re there, on the ground, you see how the conditions are. Nobody is surviving without help in those thick jungles,” Sulman said.

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Tragedy struck when the body of Ghussan’s seven-month-old son, Musa, was found along a local river.

Discrepancies in witness accounts prompted officials there to pivot their search from an abduction investigation to looking into the possibility of foul play.

“Luminol testing was approved by the courts and it was basically done on October 15th. On October 15th, our lawyer messaged us. We haven’t got official reports of it yet,” Nagham said. “The forensic report that’s gets filed – but he told us that there was blood found on three spaces in their home. One in the corner of the house and two in the laundry area.”

The results are still pending.

Meantime, Nagham says one of the hardest parts is trying to explain this complicated situation to their two seven-year-old twin boys.

“When we told them that Ghussan and Musa had been missing, they were like, ‘What do you mean? We talked to him on Monday.’ So they were so confused about this concept of like we just talked to them, where is he,” she said. “But now, they know that Musa has passed.”

The family here in Hamilton are forced to wait for answers from abroad and are appealing to the Canadian government to expedite the timeline on DNA processing.

In an emailed statement to CHCH News, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada says they’re aware of the missing persons case and the death of the infant.

“Consular officials are actively engaged with local authorities and are providing consular assistance to the family,” the spokesperson said. “Local law enforcement is responsible for investigating reports of missing persons in their jurisdictions.”

At this time, the family says there are no suspects in the investigation.

CHCH News also reached out to Panama’s attorney general’s office and the national police for any updates and the status on the DNA test but have yet to hear back.

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