Deputy U.S. Marshal Emir Perez mentioned that they had received intelligence suggesting that Armstrong was staying in hostels in Costa Rica. He emphasized the abundance of hostels in the country. Although the U.S. Marshals did not disclose their exact methods of intelligence gathering, their team in the United States had managed to obtain the phone number of an American businessman they believed could provide valuable information.

Det. Marc McLeod: We didn't know what city he was in. So we decided, hey, let's just cold call him. … So we call him. And we're on the conference room and he answers. And we're like, "Hey, it's the U.S. Marshals. My name is Marc." And he goes, "I don't want any," click just hangs up. Like it's a — like a —
Jonathan Vigliotti: A telemarketer.
Det. Marc McLeod: Yeah. A telemarketer.
Det. Jonathan Riley: Right. Or a scam call.
After three or four call attempts, the businessman finally stayed on the line to answer the U.S. Marshals' questions.

Detective Marc McLeod: During our conversation, we took the initiative to send a photograph of Kaitlin to him. Upon viewing the picture, he acknowledged that it was indeed her, but mentioned that she did not resemble the image and was not using that particular name.