Belize - Francesca Matus, 52, & Drew De Voursney, 36, murdered, Corozal, 25 Apr 2017

[h=1]Canadian woman, U.S. companion missing in Belize[/h]

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Francesca Matus, 52, was last seen leaving a local bar in Corozal, Belize on April 25, 2017. (Francesca Matus / Facebook)

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Rifenbark said that, at approximately 11 p.m. local time, the couple left for home in Matus’ white Isuzu Rodeo SUV. At approximately 8:30 a.m. the next morning, Rifenbark said her friend Joe Milhoen went to give Matus a drive to the airport in Belize City, where she was to catch a flight to Canada.

Rifenbark said that, when Milhoen arrived at Matus’ Corozal home, the gate was locked and her SUV wasn’t there. She said De Voursney’s motorcycle was the only vehicle parked at the home. Milhoen also spotted one of Matus’ suitcases through the glass of the front door.
Rifenbark said Milhoen tried calling the couple’s cellphones, checked with friends to see if anyone had heard from them, and even visited the local police station and hospital. Rifenbark said another friend called the airline and was told that Matus had not checked in for her flight.

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Matus is described as 5′ 1″ tall with shoulder-length brown hair and a slim build, and was last seen wearing white, denim short pants and a white long-sleeve blouse, according to local media reports. De Voursney is 6′ 6″ tall, has a chain tattooed on his right arm and was last seen wearing a Toronto Maple Leafs shirt and camouflage pants.

Matus’ LinkedIn page says she is a real estate investor and property manager from the Toronto area. Friends say she has homes in both Canada and Belize.

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http://7newsbelize.com/sstory.php?nid=40160

Joe Milhoen, Friend of Francesca
"The whole thing is a mystery. We showed up and drove his vehicle which is a motorcycle was in Francesca driveway when I arrived at 8:30 on Wednesday morning and her car was gone. Her luggage was in her house. They got missing sometime between 10:45 the night before when they left the bar and 8:30 when I picked them up and there were obviously together, because the only vehicle he was is parked in her driveway and they were seen leaving Scotty's Bar and Grill together the night before."

"They both have cell phones, but as of 8:30 yesterday morning both phones were going straight to voicemail when you dial their numbers and neither one is responded to any social media. Their families have been contacted, both Drew's and Francesca's. They have not responded to any communication from their families also."

"We have spent countless hours since yesterday morning going down all the roads in the areas, trying to find if they ran off the road at night on the way home or just anything, any trace of the vehicle. We are working closely with the police department in trying to organized search. We are doing a lot of the search ourselves. We have people out searching and we are out riding the roads."
"We have rented a plane and we're fixing to do a flyover of the area to see if we can spot the vehicle. What we are asking the public to do is be on lookout for this vehicle. It's a white 1998 Isuzu Rodeo with a Corozal tag number."

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New [h=1]Police find no trace of Ontario woman and boyfriend missing in Belize[/h]
[h=2]Pair 'well-liked'[/h] According to Rifenbark, police have been conducting an extensive air and ground search, but there's been no sign of the missing couple or of Matus's car, which she was last seen driving as she left the bar.

"It is a lot of jungle and bush and so it's not that easy," Rifenbark said. "So we're hoping to get maybe a helicopter or more plane activity."

She said Matus's and De Voursney's brothers are expected to travel to Belize soon to help with the search.
Rifenbark said she has never felt unsafe in Corozal, where she has lived for eight years. Matus has had her home there for four years, she said.

"Things happen just like they do everywhere else," she said. "It is a Third World country. But I drive around at night and I've never felt a threat like this."
She described Matus and De Voursney as "well-liked" and said they have lots of local friends. Matus lives part of the year at her property in Corozal and part of the year in Canada, Rifenbark said. Matus is also a mother of twin boys, she said.

Friends were posting on a Facebook page belonging to Matus, offering prayers that she be found safe.

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dotr said:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/missing-ontario-woman-belize-1.4092086

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...A spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada would only confirm that the federal department is aware of reports that a Canadian citizen is missing in Belize, but would not confirm Matus's identity, citing privacy considerations.

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tarabull said:

Snipped from cbc link above...

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On Wednesday midday American national Joseph Milholen reported that earlier that day he went to pick up his friend fifty-two-year-old Francesca Matus from Serenity Sands on the Consejo Road in Corozal. Milholen reported that he was to take Matus to the P.G.I.A., but he was unable to locate her following multiple calls made. All attempts to reach Matus’ boyfriend, thirty-six-year-old American Drew Thomas De Voursey in Ranchito Village proved futile.

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meanmaryjean said:

I am asking a mod to change the title as Belize is a separate country from Mexico.

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In the end, Matus's brother told him that the airline confirmed she checked in online on Tuesday night, but did not get on the flight.

"The biggest thing is if we can find the vehicle," Milholen told CBC Toronto. "That will tell us a lot."

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The page describes De Voursney as a former Marine who served two tours in Iraq and then worked as a contractor in Afghanistan.

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otto said:

There must be an assumption that they went off the road since they are doing air searches.

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Drew De Voursney and Francesca Matus are seen in a photo provided by a friend. The couple have reportedly been missing in Belize since Tuesday night. (Courtesy of Joe Milholen)

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Matus and De Voursney were reportedly last seen leaving Scotty’s Bar and Grill on Tuesday night. Barfield said the bar is about 10 kilometres away from Matus’s house, and the terrain has dense forest.

Since the couple were reported missing, search parties with 70 to 80 people have gathered, Barfield said, and aerial searches have been performed

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The situation now is “very strange for everybody,” he said.

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