Whoever killed a Marine veteran from Atlanta and his Canadian girlfriend in Belize did not take his wallet or her jewelry, leading authorities to believe theft was not a motive, police said Thursday.
Further, nothing was stolen from Drew DeVoursney and Francesca Matus’ homes in the tiny Central American nation, and her white Isuzu Rodeo was found abandoned some distance from their bodies in a cane field in Corozal, a small oceanside town near the Mexican border.
Some people have been detained and questioned about their deaths, but no one has been charged, said Raphael Martinez, a Belize police spokesman.
“It seems the motive was not theft,” Martinez said. “Several persons have been questioned. Persons have been detained.”
“But nobody so far has been charged,” he added. “I’m hoping later on, down the road, we can get somebody arrested and charged.”
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The couple had been missing for nearly a week before police found their bodies Monday in a cane field in Corozal. Both had been strangled and were found with tape around their wrists.
Meanwhile, DeVoursney’s family is preparing to cremate his remains in Belize and bury them in Nashville National Cemetery in Tennessee, near where he grew up and graduated from high school, said his mother, Char, who lives in Atlanta. A memorial service, she said, will also be held in Nashville for her son, who was born in Thomasville, Ga.
Char DeVoursney said she was heartened to learn this week from the U.S. Embassy in Belize that the FBI is assisting with the investigation. The FBI had no comment.
“I’m wondering if with the FBI being involved will we ever be able to get to the bottom of who did it? That is my number one question,” she said, “and also whatever reasons or why it happened.”
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