 Media reports have cited various suspects, including those engaged in the illegal production of charcoal, people associated with SOCO International, a British oil company engaged in the exploration for oil in the national park, opponents of the park's law enforcement activities, disgruntled local residents, and those engaged in struggles to control park lands including, at the time, factions of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and of the Congolese military.Merode returned to Virunga National Park on 22 May 2014 to resume his functions as Park Director.Merode married Louise Leakey in 2003, a paleontologist from Kenya.