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 News from Around the Americas | January 2007 
Family Frustrated by Mexican Police Probe into Canadian Tourist's Death
 Natalie Alcoba - CanWest News
| | Family photo of Adam De Prisco, 19 years, who was killed while on vacation in Acapulco Mexico earlier this week. De Prisco died on Monday from head injuries which the family claim were the result of a beating. (National Post/Courtesy De Prisco family) |
Toronto - Questions are being raised about a Mexican police investigation into the death of a young Canadian who was killed while on vacation with a friend.
The family of Adam De Prisco says the 19-year-old was murdered, viciously beaten with a rock outside of a nightclub in Acapulco. Mexican authorities believe the young man was a victim of a hit and run, but assure all leads will be explored.
"This investigation is not closed," said Yuridia Marban, a spokeswoman with the office of the attorney general of the state of Guerrero, where Acapulco is located. She said local investigators "must have talked to somebody who saw something" that would suggest the young man was hit by a car.
"They can't just make stuff up," said Marban.
But the De Prisco family, from Woodbridge, Ont., is not convinced and urged Canadians not to travel to Mexico. Family members who travelled to Acapulco allege the crime scene was sanitized and do not trust the local authorities.
"It was a joke," said Marco Calabro, who travelled with De Prisco to Acapulco. "Doctors were laughing at us, police were laughing at us, everything to them was a joke because we weren't Mexican."
It is a story that appears to be unfolding much like another high-profile investigation into the unsolved murder of two Canadian tourists.
Woodbridge couple Domenic and Nancy Ianiero was found with their throats slit in their resort room on the Mayan Riviera last February. Authorities in the state of Quintana Roo have been accused of botching that criminal probe by cleaning up the crime scene and hastily pointing the finger at two other Canadian tourists in order to protect the reputation of the tourism industry.
Liberal MP Dan McTeague says there are early indications the probe into Adam's murder is going "off the rails."
Even more disconcerting for McTeague, however, is a lack of government action.
"Fourteen hours after this has happened we still have not heard from anyone in the government who is prepared to stand up for these people. Either we value our citizenship abroad and at home, or we don't," he said Wednesday.
A government spokesman said a probe into the death of a Canadian abroad is the "sole responsibility" of the local police agency. Canadian authorities may only offer assistance upon their request, said Alain Cacchione, with the department of Foreign Affairs. He noted the department's travel advisory urges Canadians exercise precaution while in Mexico.
"Official warnings are only issued when there is a recurring and important security issue," Cacchione said. "An isolated incident does not justify such a warning." |
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