British couple, Andrew and Dawn Searle, found deceased in Les Pesquiès, south of Villefranche-de-Rouergue 6th February 2025

[Lalalacasbah]

CCTV footage shows British man buying chocolates hours before dying

Andrew Searle can be seen entering a tobacconist in the nearby town of Villefranche de Rouergue at just before 6pm on Wednesday evening as the shop was closing.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Around his neck is a tracking device used to keep an eye on the couple's two hunting dogs and which were found at the scene and taken away for DNA testing by police following what has been described as their 'violent deaths'.

Thank you @bringmeacupoft @Dotta and @Kittypoo! I thought it was mentioned up thread somewhere but I couldn't remember whatsoever what it was.

 

[Bigditch]

What gadget or is that around his neck? Heart monitor or something or a way to talk on a cell phone?
View attachment 564308

It is a dog tracker.

 

[Dotta]

Thank you @bringmeacupoft @Dotta and @Kittypoo! I thought it was mentioned up thread somewhere but I couldn't remember whatsoever what it was.

At least it is 1 thing we all can agree on

 

[Officer Dibble]

So if Dawn had the Flu that would explain her wearing light nightware - so possibly a daytime attack then? JMO

Also just occured to me if Dawn had the Flu was only Andrew planning to go on the walk with the neighbour? Just my thoughts.

 

[Officer Dibble]

Yes. It's about 6pm UK time

Edit - You're in the UK aren't you? Sorry if I'm wrong.

Yes

 

[Officer Dibble]

He also had a property business that crashed in the year before his death, could have borrowed money off dodgy people to keep it going and couldn’t pay the money back and his lenders came after him

I just am not convinced about murder/suicide or burglary gone wrong in this case

Definitely a possibility

 

[OneLove]

Has it been published what breed the "hunting" dogs are? Since he wears a tracker when he is off their property, we can assume they were not typically confined when he was gone, I'd guess. Could they have been for the purpose of serving as guard dogs and as early heads up if someone entered the property? With grounds, lots of green space, and a nearby river with lots of tributaries possibly providing access undetected by road and neighbors, guard dogs might have been comforting in hus circumstances. Does anyone know how long they've had these dogs? Just since his financial troubles or since he abruptly left his job? Given his age, his professional work tht involved "knowing things" and "how things work", access to both sensitive information and to high stakes money, I'm leaning toward this not being a simple "he got mad and offed his wife then himself in a mad rage", although it could easily be written off as such. That's the way they do it, you know. So many people flying out of windows and hanging themselves unexpectedly and with zero clue or forewarning even minutes beforehand.

But the dogs... I'm very curious about the dogs, and about his level of interest in actually hunting. Did he? Or did he just target practice?

If he was "enticed" to leave his job suddenly against all logic, similar enticements (or deterrents) can be made all the way up and down the chain. When one isn't enough, the other will be & escalating increments will be applied to the screws on each end until success is reached. I hope the investigation has multiple tiers on enough multiple fronts to successfully guard against this in the investigation hierarchy.

 

[bringmeacupoft]

Andrew and Dawn Searle: BBC visits hamlet in France where British couple died - BBC News

Locals who knew Andrew and Dawn Searle describe their shock - this is a difficult moment for a rural community in the glare of a criminal investigation.

www.bbc.com

I expected the home of Andrew and Dawn Searle, the British couple found dead earlier this month, to be remote. That's the suggestion from the photos of the crime scene I had seen. But I was surprised when I arrived to find it well within shouting distance of several homes.
It's an important detail because Dawn's partly naked body was discovered outside the front of the house on Thursday morning last week.

There is no question locals are scared. Several officers from the Gendarmerie photographed our car and asked to see our ID cards and urged us to be discreet. They said the residents were frightened and that their presence was partly to reassure them.

Ever since the deaths I've been speaking to the prosecutor leading the case, who revealed to me late this week that he was handing over the investigation to a senior judge in Montpellier with more resources available.
I asked him if that means he was leaning towards the idea that the Searle couple were both murdered.
He replied that he was not ruling anything out. He added that if they were murdered, and it goes to trial, he would lead the prosecution.

 

[Dotta]

Hmmm...
Interesting Update...

"Investigation into deaths of Andrew & Dawn Searle
handed over to new prosecutor.

A judicial investigation for​

'itentional homicide' ​

had been opened by the criminal division in Montpellier, ​

with the case taken out of the local prosecutor's hands.​

On Friday, AFP reported that
the Rodez prosecutor's office
had now relinquished the investigation in favour of the Montpellier criminal division.

A judicial investigation for
'intentional homicide' had been opened."

Investigation into deaths of Andrew & Dawn Searle handed over to new prosecutor

A judicial investigation for 'intentional homicide' had been opened by the criminal division in Montpellier, with the case taken out of the local prosecutor's hands

www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk

 

[alb1on]

Another wrinkle with private pensions is that some are defined contribution, not defined benefit. In other words, how much one gets is dependent on how well the underlying investments do. Furthermore, even after retirement, the money can stay invested if one chooses. However, if those investments tank post-retirement, then there's less money available to withdraw.

Although defined contribution pensions have been common for many years, they were much later in replacing defined benefit pensions in UK financial services. When I retired I had 3 pensions based on defined benefits from 2 insurers and one bank and my last employer (the UK subsidiary of a global insurer) was still running a defined benefit scheme for existing members when I last checked.

 

[nao]

Moo...re the dogs. Tracking devices for dogs are becoming more common, no matter what breed. Having hunting breed dogs, does not necessarily mean you hunt. But hunting breeds, especially if you have more than one dog, are inclined to follow their nose and wander....moo

 

[indicolite22]

Some locals had noticed a change in his mood lately. Antoine Da Silva, 63, a retired council worker who lives with his wife Emilie, 62, five minutes’ walk from the scene, said Mr Searle was too busy to stop and chat when he passed him the previous week, which he regarded as strange.

‘Then last Tuesday, I saw him on the phone. He said, “I can’t speak with you, I’m on the phone” and looked very worried and walked on immediately,’ said Mr Da Silva.

‘I knew him very well. He was someone calm and quiet and nice. But the last two times I saw him, he was very different.’

Final encounters of 'lovely' British couple found dead at French home

It is more than a week since Andrew Searle called in to the shop near his home in rural France for the very last time.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Bigditch]

Andrew and Dawn Searle: BBC visits hamlet in France where British couple died - BBC News

Locals who knew Andrew and Dawn Searle describe their shock - this is a difficult moment for a rural community in the glare of a criminal investigation.

www.bbc.com

I expected the home of Andrew and Dawn Searle, the British couple found dead earlier this month, to be remote. That's the suggestion from the photos of the crime scene I had seen. But I was surprised when I arrived to find it well within shouting distance of several homes.
It's an important detail because Dawn's partly naked body was discovered outside the front of the house on Thursday morning last week.

There is no question locals are scared. Several officers from the Gendarmerie photographed our car and asked to see our ID cards and urged us to be discreet. They said the residents were frightened and that their presence was partly to reassure them.

Ever since the deaths I've been speaking to the prosecutor leading the case, who revealed to me late this week that he was handing over the investigation to a senior judge in Montpellier with more resources available.
I asked him if that means he was leaning towards the idea that the Searle couple were both murdered.
He replied that he was not ruling anything out. He added that if they were murdered, and it goes to trial, he would lead the prosecution.

Well done.

 

[Occam's Zebra]

Moo...re the dogs. Tracking devices for dogs are becoming more common, no matter what breed. Having hunting breed dogs, does not necessarily mean you hunt. But hunting breeds, especially if you have more than one dog, are inclined to follow their nose and wander....moo

So the dogs were just left to their own devices outside, and he had trackers on them? That seems really odd IMHO. I know people with hunting dogs in the US and the tracker is used while they're hunting. When they're at home, they are either in the house or on a lead outside or in a special kennel. Not left to wander around wherever.

 

[Dotta]

"Andrew and Dawn Searle killings:

Opaque French homicide investigation baffles Brits.

The French judicial system puts prosecutors and not detectives in charge of murder investigations,
meaning
that the flow of information to the public can be greatly restricted.

Magistrates - or 'Juges' -
as they are referred to
are in charge of inquiries
and not the detectives.

In France,
details about the investigation have been few and far between.

The lead magistrate confirmed last week
that 56-year-old Musselburgh-born Dawn received several blow to the head inflicted with a heavy, blunt instrument.
Her 62-year-old husband was found hanging inside the restored farmhouse in the village of Les Pesquies,
around 80 miles north east of Toulouse.

A time of death has not yet been confirmed although Mr Searle,
who worked in Edinburgh and Glasgow, investigating the funding and finances of serious and organised crime groups in the UK,
was captured on CCTV in the village on the afternoon of Wednesday, February 5,
the day before he died."

But due to the 'inquisitorial' approach,
it is not expected that the flow of information will speed up any time soon."

Andrew and Dawn Searle: Opaque French homicide investigation baffles Brits

BIG READ: The French judicial system puts prosecutors and not detectives in charge of murder investigations, meaning that the flow of information to the public can be greatly restricted

www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk

 

[Dotta]

IMO

A new Prosecutor and gendarmes in the area
seem to me that the theory of
"murder suicide"
is not a "slam dunk" as some might believe.

JMO

 

[bringmeacupoft]

IMO

A new Prosecutor and gendarmes in the area
seem to me that the theory of
"murder suicide"
is not a "slam dunk" as some might believe.

JMO

Also don’t think it means that much either. Guess if you’re ruling out murder you want to be doubly sure that is the case. I should imagine if these were French nationals the press might not be that interested.

Ever since the deaths I've been speaking to the prosecutor leading the case, who revealed to me late this week that he was handing over the investigation to a senior judge in Montpellier with more resources available.
I asked him if that means he was leaning towards the idea that the Searle couple were both murdered.
He replied that he was not ruling anything out. He added that if they were murdered, and it goes to trial, he would lead the prosecution.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1752928X23001142

The data analyzed are based on detailed police operational information collected about 1622 homicides that occurred in France in 2019 and 2020.

Analysis shows that 7 % of them were followed by the suicide of the perpetrator (203 cases). Almost all of them take place within family (91 %), and most often within the couple (60 %).

 

[Dotta]

Also don’t think it means that much either. Guess if you’re ruling out murder you want to be doubly sure that is the case. I should imagine if these were French nationals the press might not be that interested.

Ever since the deaths I've been speaking to the prosecutor leading the case, who revealed to me late this week that he was handing over the investigation to a senior judge in Montpellier with more resources available.
I asked him if that means he was leaning towards the idea that the Searle couple were both murdered.
He replied that he was not ruling anything out. He added that if they were murdered, and it goes to trial, he would lead the prosecution.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1752928X23001142

The data analyzed are based on detailed police operational information collected about 1622 homicides that occurred in France in 2019 and 2020.

Analysis shows that 7 % of them were followed by the suicide of the perpetrator (203 cases). Almost all of them take place within family (91 %), and most often within the couple (60 %).

Bien, bon
Time will tell.

 

[Hapworth]

I’m the same, but people have been known to hang themselves via door handles.

So it doesn’t seem impossible.

So true , Designer Kate Spade was found that precise way , doorknob.

 

[Kemug]

Bien, bon
Time will tell.

Or not. I'm not the most patient person, and I'm already beginning to think that we may never know.