(Montreal) A Quebec man was shot and killed in Puerto Escondido, a seaside town on Mexico’s Pacific coast, the local prosecutor’s office announced on Tuesday.
His lifeless body was found Monday, inside his vehicle, on the streets of the Arroyo Seco neighborhood of Puerto Escondido, according to a statement from the Oaxaca State Attorney General’s Office.
The office did not provide any possible motive for the murder, saying an investigation is ongoing. The deceased was identified as 27-year-old Victor Masson.
According to information from the newspaper Le Quotidien, the victim is from Chicoutimi, in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean.
In a statement from the family sent to the Daily on Wednesday morning, its members say they are in shock, while some of them learned of the death from the media.
“In order not to harm the investigation that has been opened, when we are able to send you the progress, a press release will be produced. The family supports the crisis management. In closing, the family of Victor Masson asks the press to respect their privacy, fearing that the dissemination of false information in the context of this case could harm the investigation, “says the statement shared by Le Quotidien. .
In an interview with several Mexican media, Eiva Castillo, who presents herself as Mr. Masson’s companion, says he did not return to their hotel on Sunday evening. She reports that she previously received a voicemail from him – broadcast by Mexican TV – asking her to call 911 with his location if he texted her the word “danger”.
After initiating a search and reporting her car, Ms. Castillo says she learned of Mr. Masson’s death from the state attorney’s office on Monday afternoon, Mexican television reports. She says she has no official version of her death. Mr. Masson, however, allegedly made two calls to 911, according to the information passed on to Ms. Castillo.
Mr. Masson’s murder came three days after a man from Argentina was seriously injured in a machete attack in another coastal town in Oaxaca.
Prosecutors announced on Monday that the Argentinian tourist died of his injuries in a hospital in Mexico City.
According to several Argentine media, the victim is Benjamín Gamond, 23 years old.
He was part of a group of three Argentines who were attacked by a Mexican with a machete on Friday in the hamlet of La Isla, at the mouth of the Laguna de Chacahua, on the Pacific coast. The other two people were also injured in the attack, but their injuries do not appear to be life-threatening.
The suspect was scheduled to appear on Wednesday, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Laguna de Chacahua is about 100 kilometers west of Puerto Escondido.