# Tragedy in Playa del Carmen



## Kola (Feb 21, 2006)

Tragedy in Playa del Carmen

 Cdn. News media report tonight that a Canadian couple from Ontario, who were apparently in the Mayan Riviera  Barcelo resort for their daughter's wedding, has been found dead in their hotel room.

The Barceló Maya Beach resort hotel is located some 20 kilometres south of Playa del Carmen, on the Gulf of Mexico.

A spokesperson for the Cdn Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that they are in contact with accompanying family in order to offer consular assistance. Mexican authorities have launched an investigation into this tragic death.

According to preliminary reports, some 16 Canadian tourists who were travelling with the couple were already questioned. 

Local Mexican news media should provide further details about this tragic story.

Kola


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## jules54 (Feb 22, 2006)

How can I find this story? Please post when you read more information.


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## lanalee (Feb 22, 2006)

This is scary!

http://snipurl.com/mtkb

.


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## ontariotripper (Feb 22, 2006)

*awful*

It said on our "breaking" news last night that they were from Woodbridge which is just a small community around Toronto.


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## Jim in Cancun (Feb 22, 2006)

*Tulum*

Still lots of details are unclear but local papers report that the prime suspects are Canadian (not 100% sure)but not part of the same group that arrived for the wedding of the daughter of the murdered couple. Luminol tests found traces of the murdered people's blood in the room of 2 women who left the hotel to return home on Monday. The local authorities are in constant contact with the Canadian Consul and Interpol.

More as it occurs although rumours usually proliferate faster than facts.


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## riverdees05 (Feb 22, 2006)

We had friend's daughter that got married there in February.  They had about 50 people go down for the wedding.  Terrible.  Hope they find the killers.


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## ontariotripper (Feb 22, 2006)

They just showed a picture of the couple that were killed on the tv and the newscast said they were actively searching for Canadians that had already returned home. Bet THAT won't take long!


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## Kola (Feb 22, 2006)

*Tragedy*

This morning Cdn newspapers have published many details including photos of the slain couple. Hope you can read this from the Toronto Star

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...le&cid=1140562215590&call_pageid=968332188492

Kola


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## cycart (Feb 22, 2006)

Wow...Canadian news outlets are pretty graphic. I don't know that US TV and papers would have been so descriptive.


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## ontariotripper (Feb 23, 2006)

News this morning says the police believe it was a "professional hit" started from and carried out, from Canada. Therefore this is an probably an isolated horrific incident and has nothing to do with safety of others in Mexico.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Feb 23, 2006)

ontariotripper said:
			
		

> News this morning says the police believe it was a "professional hit" started from and carried out, from Canada. Therefore this is an probably an isolated horrific incident and has nothing to do with safety of others in Mexico.


It was clear from the initial story that this was not a case of locals preying on tourists.  Otherwise, they would have been robbed as part of the crime.

They were specifically targeted for some reason that had nothing to do with being tourists.


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## Kola (Feb 23, 2006)

*A Tragedy*

The mystery deepens, - see http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...le&cid=1140648615042&call_pageid=968332188492

Kola


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## aptiva (Feb 24, 2006)

Did read that yesterday & more today. So sad.
You know you cant believe everything you read
When:
They say it was a professional hit & then they trace bloody footprints from the  crime scene  back to the culprits room .  How Professional!


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## geoffb (Feb 24, 2006)

I was wondering about that myself.


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## caribbeansun (Feb 25, 2006)

The gaps in logic are starting to suggest (at least to me) that the difference between spin and facts has become blurred.  It's in the Mexican government best interest to claim this came from another country so we may never know what really happened.


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## Kola (Feb 25, 2006)

More confusing reports from Mexico

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...le&cid=1140824434498&call_pageid=968332188492


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## Kola (Mar 2, 2006)

*Mexico's chaotic probe*

See Editorial:

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...le&cid=1141168214106&call_pageid=968256290204


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## Kola (Mar 4, 2006)

*Unanswered questions*

See http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...le&cid=1141426212243&call_pageid=968332188492


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## Kola (Mar 6, 2006)

*A Timeline of the Strange Case*

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/mexico-murders/


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## JudyS (Mar 6, 2006)

Kola said:
			
		

> See http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...le&cid=1141426212243&call_pageid=968332188492


That article has the following quote:

_"Who was in Room 4143 of the Barcelo Maya Beach Resort and, more importantly, when?

The room — just down the hall from the Ianieros in 4134 — was the only one with traces of blood on the key slot, the remote control, the refrigerator and the bathroom taps, according to Rodriguez. There was a bloody trail between the rooms....But if, indeed, such blood evidence existed, why did news reports say the room was rented out that same day? 

The new guests apparently were asked to wait on their terrace while police checked out the room. Shouldn't a secondary crime scene have been sealed off?"_

So, this room had blood all over it, probably from a murder, and new guests were checked into it anyway?    

First the Royal Carribean case where the cruise line claimed that a missing person and huge blood stain wasn't evidence of foul play, now this.  Makes me re-consider vacationing outside the US.


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## cedars (Mar 7, 2006)

*the mystery continues*

Today's news is now saying that four staff members have not returned to work at the resort since the slayings of the couple and they now are investigating them.  The investigation leaves much to be desired.  Cedars


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## jerseygirl (Mar 8, 2006)

Did anyone see the interview of the two suspects this past weekend?  It was as if they targeted Mrs. Partridge and Carol Brady.  No way did they commit those murders.


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## caribbeansun (Mar 8, 2006)

Because nobody is ever murdered in the US?




			
				JudyS said:
			
		

> First the Royal Carribean case where the cruise line claimed that a missing person and huge blood stain wasn't evidence of foul play, now this.  Makes me re-consider vacationing outside the US.


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## Kevin (Mar 8, 2006)

caribbeansun said:
			
		

> Because nobody is ever murdered in the US?




No offense to anyone out there but, though we have our share of crime ridden areas and bungled crime investigations... 

I'd rather travel in the US also.  

I'm sure Judy did not mean to offend any other country.  It's just that, this is where WE are used to.  Though there are many languages and "sub" cultures here... English is primarily spoken here and we used to U.S. American customs... food, transportation, etc.   There are many excellent places in this huge world to visit... she just mentioned where she is most comfortable.  I can appreciate that.  

If California had everything that Mexico, Europe, the South Pacific islands, Asia, Las Vegas, British Columbia, New York, and the rest of the world had... I'd never travel outside of the STATE!  Unfortunately, I do have to hop on a plane every once in awhile to enjoy fully life!

No need to have "short man's complex"   .  I'm sure you feel the same about the comfort level of traveling in Canada.  JMHO.

Kevin


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## MusicMan (Mar 8, 2006)

> Because nobody is ever murdered in the US?



Of course there are murders in the US, but, in most cases, there is a fairly competent criminal investigation, not a tourism driven cover-up.


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## caribbeansun (Mar 9, 2006)

I'm certainly not condoning the Mexican coverup nor their apparently inept handling of the situation and it was not intended as a shot at Judy personally.  I certainly didn't see her comments as offending another country and of course a cruise ship isn't another country.

The "I won't travel outside the US" reminded me of the reaction to the problem in Aruba.

Both cases are terrible, I'm just not clear on why one (hopefully isolated) case should alter one's travel plans.  I'm reminded of a few years back when there were a number of murders of Canadian tourists in Florida with most of those cases never being resolved.

The sad truth is that this "stuff" happens everywhere all the time and there's plenty happening in the US every day and to a lesser degree in Canada every day so why should it be a surprise when it happens in other countries?  They are no better than we are at preventing it from happening in the first place.

It seems to me that these days the media is more intent than ever in creating an environment of fear.  Don't go cruising or your spouse may disappear, don't go here or you'll get avian flu, don't go there you could get SARS, killer bees are coming, you'll get cancer if you eat, drink or inhale this stuff and so it goes.  It just seems that if you rely on everything you see and hear in the media none of us would leave our own homes - which of course we've outfitted with surveillance cameras, alarm systems and various other devices to protect us from the bad people...sorry for the rant


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## MusicMan (Mar 9, 2006)

I think the big thing is that whenever "bad stuff" happens here in the U.S. (and to borrow your phrase 'to a lesser degree in Canada") we fully expect a competent investigation, in most cases resulting in punishment for the "bad guys".  There is not always that expectation elsewhere, especially where tourism is involved.  MANY other countries lack the investigative expertise, manpower....and sometimes the WILL to properly investigate a crime.  While it won't restrict my travel, I respect the right of others to "vote with their feet" so to speak, and either avoid the uneasiness they may feel elsewhere OR to not contribute financially to a given area.  

It seems any time someone says they're "boycotting" someplace, others jump on them for doing so.  While it may or may not have an effect, choosing where to spend ones travel dollars is a very individual decision, and can be based on WHATEVER criteria the spender chooses.

It's kind of like the kids that dress strange, pierce every known (and some practically unknown) parts of their body.  They certainly have that right . . .  and I HAVE THE RIGHT TO LAUGH AT THEM!!  To each his own . . .


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## DianeH (Mar 9, 2006)

*Dna*

It was reported this morning that they have recovered hair from Mrs Ianiero's hand.  I find it odd that the Mexican authorities didn't notice it. However, the report did not say how much they found so it could have been a very small amount and not really visible to an inexperienced person.

Diane


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## geoffb (Mar 9, 2006)

Well, the reports in the media are saying that the hair was found before the bodies were sent back to Canada for burial. It has also been reported that hair samples were collected from the wedding guests before they left the country which suggests that someone was onto this fairly early in the investigation. So the Mexican authorities did not miss anything, it just was not reported at the time.

It is hard to tell from the coverage if the quality of the investigation is good or not. Clearly the handling of the media has been poor but that does not mean the whole investigation is flawed.


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## JudyS (Mar 9, 2006)

My point about vacationing in the US was exactly the one Music Man was making.  In the US, there are quite high standards of investigation when a crime is committed.  This does not appear to be the case everywhere else.  We now seem to have two cases of murders (or alleged murders) of tourists, in which blood evidence was removed by housekeeping staff before a thorough investigation.  Hey, if that happened in the US, the hotel (or cruise line) would get the pants sued off of them!    

There are actually a number of places outside the US where I feel quite comfortable traveling.  I've traveled alone to London, Amsterdam, Belgium, Italy, Eastern Europe, Bermuda, and the People's Republic of China.  The only place I had problems was Southern Italy, where I got harrassed by men quite a bit.   The thing about the places listed above is that they all have rates of violent that are lower than in the US.  Mexico, unfortunately, has a crime rate even higher than the already high rate in the US, and now it looks like the level of investigation is poor, too.

Tomorrow, I'm going for a solo trip to Manhattan, and I'll probably worry more about crime than I did in China or most of Europe!


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## DianeH (Mar 9, 2006)

Thanks for clarifying that Geoff.  

Diane


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