Couple missing in Belize found strangled to death

BELIZE — The search for a couple who went missing in Belize last April has ended in tragedy, after police found them dead on Monday.

CBC reports that ex-U.S. Marine Drew DeVoursney, 36, and his Canadian girlfriend Francesca Matus, 52, were last seen leaving a popular expat bar in Corozal around 11:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 25.

A friend was supposed to take Matus to the airport for her flight home to Canada on Wednesday. But when he went to pick her up, he found the gate closed, and only DeVoursney’s bike in the driveway. After failing to get hold of the couple, he reported them missing.

On Sunday, police discovered the woman’s SUV abandoned in a remote sugarcane field.

They found the pair’s decomposing remains the next day, in a field about six kilometers outside town. DeVoursney’s body was on top of Matus’, and both had their wrists bound in duct tape.

An autopsy revealed that the couple was strangled to death.

Authorities believe robbery may have been a motive in the killing, but have yet to pinpoint any suspects, according to the Toronto Sun.