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Canadian-American lovers strangled to death

HeadlineCanadian-American lovers strangled to death

COROZAL TOWN, Corozal District, Thurs. May 4, 2017–The gruesome double murder of a United States Marine Corps (USMC) veteran and his lover, a Canadian estate investor, which occurred on Belizean soil, has sent shock waves through the international community.

American Drew DeVoursey, 36, and Canadian Francesca Matus, 52, were last seen alive on the night of April 25 at Scotty’s Bar and Grill in Corozal Town.

Colin McGowan, the owner of that establishment, confirmed to Amandala that the couple had visited his bar so that Matus could say goodbye to her friends.

She was scheduled to return to her two children in Ontario on Wednesday, April 26. DeVoursey, her boyfriend of six months, was scheduled to return to Georgia on May 5.

A friend of Matus, Joseph Milholen, was scheduled to transport her to the Philip Goldson International Airport (PGIA) that morning. However, when he arrived at Matus’ house in the Consejo Shores area of Corozal, she was nowhere to be found.

Her white 2003 Isuzu Rodeo was missing, but DeVoursey’s motorcycle was observed in the driveway. Milholen tried to contact the couple via cellphone, but his calls went unanswered.

Milholen revealed to the media that he saw Matus’ packed suitcases, passport and travelling money inside her home. All was in order at the house where she had lived for the last four years.

On Tuesday night, Matus had confirmed her flight reservation online. Surprisingly, however, on Wednesday morning, she did not board her flight.

By Thursday, several search parties combed Corozal for any trace of the missing American-Canadian couple.

However, their efforts yielded no results until Sunday when Matus’ vehicle was found abandoned in a sugarcane field in the village of Paraiso, in the Corozal District.

Hours later on Monday, the couple was found by a farmer 6 miles away from the vehicle in a sugarcane field in Chan Chen, also in the Corozal District, already in an advanced state of decomposition.

DeVoursey, the US veteran who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was found on top of the real estate investor; both of their wrists were duct-taped.
According to our sources, they were murdered elsewhere and then dumped in the field a few miles from the Mexican border.

A post-mortem examination confirmed the cause of their deaths as strangulation.

While there are conflicting reports as to the number of suspects arrested, Senior Superintendent of Police, Dennis Arnold, has only confirmed the detention of one man. He is a Canadian national identified as John Deshaies, who was a tenant of Matus, our sources revealed.

Information to our newspaper is that he was not pleased with her decision to sell her home. We are told that she had already identified a buyer and had successfully negotiated the terms of the sale.

Senior Supt. Arnold revealed that threats were recently made against Matus. However, he was reluctant to share details and no official police report had been made.

Currently, efforts are being made to have the remains of DeVoursey and Matus returned to their respective countries.

Tonight, Thursday, a memorial will be held in Corozal for the couple.

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