American Drew DeVoursney, Canadian Girlfriend Francesca Matus Found Dead In Belize

A missing American man was found dead in Belize along with his Canadian girlfriend, according to reports late Monday. The couple was reported missing Friday, when the woman was expected to fly to Toronto.

The man has been identified as 36-year-old Drew DeVoursney and his girlfriend as 52-year-old Francesca Matus. They were found dead Monday afternoon, local police told ABC News, without elaborating on the probable cause of death. Autopsies had not been conducted yet, the report said.

DeVoursney and Matus were reported missing by their friend Joseph Milholen, who went to Matus’ house Friday in the Central American nation’s northernmost Corozal District to take her to the airport for her flight to Toronto. According to ABC News, Milholen told local police he did not find Matus at her home and DeVoursney's cycle was parked in her driveway. He reportedly said the last time he saw the couple was Thursday at a bar in Corozal Town.

"When I went inside, her bags were by her bed, packed and ready to go," Milholen, an American living in Belize, said, according to CTV News Toronto. "She left her passport and her travelling money. … So whatever happened, they don't have their things to travel."

The news of the deaths of the couple came a day after Matus’ car was found abandoned in a sugarcane field in near the village of Paraiso, CBC News reported.

DeVoursney was expected to return to Atlanta on Friday.

"That's the hardest part, it's just that we don't know anything, we don't know where he is, or what's going on," DeVoursney’s mother Char told ABC News affiliate WSB-TV on Sunday, before the news of his death was known. DeVoursney’s brother David added at the time there was no information about what happened to the couple.

“Talking with everyone down there, it’s a complete mystery. It's totally uncommon for both of them to disappear with no contact,” David told WSB-TV.

Belize is reported to be unsafe at night but Matus’ friend Nancy Rifenbark told CBC News on April 29: "Things happen just like they do everywhere else. It is a Third World country. But I drive around at night and I've never felt a threat like this."

Before Matus was found dead, Global Affairs Canada told ABC News it was aware of Matus missing in Belize and that it was providing consular help. It also said it was in touch with authorities in Belize.

Following DeVoursney’s disappearance, his friend set up a Go Fund Me page to provide his family with help to search for the missing man. According to the crowd funding page, DeVoursney first served in Fallujah, Iraq, with the 1st Marines in 2004 and returned to the war-torn country with the 11th Marines in 2007. Following that, DeVoursney was a contractor in Afghanistan.

In January 2016, ABC7 executive producer Anne Swaney was found dead while vacationing in Belize. Authorities found stab wounds in her head and neck, and they have not found her killer till now. Prior to that, in late 2015, Canadian filmmaker Matthiew Klinck was found dead outside of his home in Selena, Belize. Two teens were charged with Klinck’s murder.