two canadian tourist killed in mexico

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Bodies of slain Canadian couple found in Mexican resort city

June 21, 2022 / 6:33 AM EDT / CBS/AFP

The bodies of two Canadians were found in an apartment in the Mexican resort city of Playa del Carmen, their throats apparently slit, prosecutors and police announced Monday.

A security guard was also injured at the tourist apartment complex, which is located in the center of the city, the state prosecutor's office said .

In the apartment where the bodies were found, investigators also found identification for the male victim with three different names. Authorities added the man was wanted internationally for fraud.

Investigators have not yet determined whether the victims were longtime residents or tourists, although it is believed that they had been in the area for several months.

Playa del Carmen is located in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, which borders the Caribbean Sea and is also home to tourist hotspots Cancun and Tulum .

Violence is not uncommon in the region, but until recently has occurred mostly away from tourist areas.

Last October, a shootout between suspected drug traffickers in Tulum left two tourists dead , a German woman and an Indian woman who lived in California.

On January 21, two other Canadians were killed and one injured in a shooting at a resort near Cancun.

And in March, a British resident of Playa del Carmen was shot and killed in broad daylight while traveling with his daughter in his car.

Quintana Roo authorities have indicated that most of the recent attacks are related to drug dealing or extortion.

The state's beach resorts are key to the country's tourism industry, which makes up 8.5 percent of Mexico's GDP.

Mexico has registered more than 340,000 murders and tens of thousands of disappearances since launching a controversial military offensive against organized crime in 2006.

Experts and human rights defenders say the militarization of combat against organized crime has exacerbated Mexico's problem with violence.

Since coming to power at the end of 2018, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has repeatedly called for security services to rely more on intelligence than force in combating criminality.

In March, Lopez Obrador accused popular television shows of glamorizing the violent drug trade. He criticized TV series on platforms such as Netflix, saying they presented a rose-colored version of the lifestyles of drug traffickers. 

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Two Canadians found dead in Playa del Carmen Mexican beach resort

The victims, a man and woman, are the latest in a string of several violent incidents in Quintana Roo state

Two Canadians – one of whom was sought by Interpol – have been found dead of knife wounds in Mexico’s Caribbean coast resort of Playa del Carmen, the state prosecutor’s office said on Tuesday.

Prosecutors in Quintana Roo state, also home to resort towns including Cancún and Tulum, said the man and the woman were found dead on Monday at a hotel or condominium in the troubled resort, and a third person was reported injured.

There was no immediate information on their names or home towns. “Global Affairs Canada is aware of the death of two Canadian citizens in Mexico,” the ministry said in a statement.

Playa del Carmen has been hit by several instances of violence involving foreigners, most recently in January, when two Canadians were killed at a local resort, apparently because of debts between international drug and weapons trafficking gangs .

In March, police in Playa del Carmen found the bodies of four men dumped near a housing development. The fact the bodies were left together in the shrubs beside an access road suggested a gangland-style killing.

There have been a series of brazen acts of violence elsewhere along Mexico’s resort-studded Mayan Riviera coast, the crown jewel of the country’s tourism industry.

In November, a shootout on the beach of Puerto Morelos, just north of Playa del Carmen, left two suspected drug dealers dead . Authorities said 15 gunmen were from a gang that apparently disputed control of drug sales there.

In late October, further south in the laid-back destination of Tulum, two tourists – one a California travel blogger born in India and the other German – were caught in the apparent crossfire of rival drug dealers and killed.

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Canadian killed in southern Mexico, 2nd tourist slain in Oaxaca in less than a week

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A Canadian man was shot to death in Mexico’s Pacific coast beach town of Puerto Escondido, prosecutors said Tuesday.

He was the second foreign tourist killed in the southern state of Oaxaca in less than a week.

Oaxaca state prosecutors said Tuesday the Canadian man was found dead in a car with a bullet wound on Monday in a neighborhood of Puerto Escondido where few tourists stay.

Prosecutors did not provide any possible motive in the slaying. The dead man was identified as Víctor Masson, 27, but no information on his hometown was available.

The killing comes three days after a man from Argentina was seriously wounded in a machete attack in another coastal town in Oaxaca.

Prosecutors said Monday the Argentine tourist — whose name was not released — died of his injuries at a hospital in Mexico City.

He was among a group of three Argentines were attacked by a Mexican man 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 tourists were also wounded in the attack, but their injuries do not appear to be life-threatening.

Laguna de Chacahua is about 60 miles (100 kilometers) west of Puerto Escondido.

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Continuing Coverage

Murder of Two Canadians at Mexico Resort Was Over Gang Debt, Prosecutor Says

A first group of assassins hired to kill them earlier in january abandoned the job because there was too much security at the resort. a second assassin flew in to the resort and carried out the killing, published january 27, 2022.

A prosecutor in Mexico said Tuesday the killing of two Canadians at a Caribbean coast resort last week was motivated by debts between international gangs apparently dedicated to drug and weapons trafficking.

On Friday, prosecutors said both dead men had criminal records in Canada, and one was a known felon with a long record related to robbery, drug and weapons offenses. A third Canadian, a woman, was wounded and is being treated at a local hospital, but is not yet able to speak with investigators.

“The investigations indicate that this attack was motivated by debts that arose from transnational illegal activities that the victims participated in,” said Oscar Montes, the chief prosecutor of the Quintana Roo state. “The information (is) that they were involved in weapons and drug trafficking, among other crimes.”

Montes said the attack had been planned for almost a month by a cartel or gang that had not previously been known to operate in the area. But in keeping with standard procedure, he declined to name the gang.

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The attack took place Friday at the Hotel Xcaret resort south of Playa del Carmen. The attackers apparently had guest wrist bands to enter the resort.

Montes said a first group of assassins hired to kill the Canadians earlier in January abandoned the job because there was too much security. A second assassin flew in to the resort and carried out the killing, he said.

Canadian Tourist Killed, 2 Wounded in Mexico Resort Shooting

Gunmen on Jet Skis Show Up at Cancun Resort Beach, Fire Shots, Police Say

Authorities said the two suspects arrested in the case so far include a professional kidnapper from Mexico City who coordinated the plot.

Police also arrested a female, identified only by her last name, Nu, who was apparently part of the group of 10 Canadians who were vacationing at the resort. Montes said Nu both “cared for the children” of the victims and allegedly met with the killers and may have been providing them information on their activities.

The hired killer who actually fired the shots is being sought.

Last week’s killings are just part of a series of brazen acts of violence along Mexico’s resort-studded Mayan Riviera coast, the crown jewel of the country’s tourism industry. Several rival drug gangs are fighting for control of the area's lucrative drug market.

On Tuesday, prosecutors reported a man had been shot to death at a well-known beach club restaurant in Playa del Carmen. They did not identify the dead man, but the local business chamber identified him as the manager of the business.

In November, a shootout on the beach of Puerto Morelos left two suspected drug dealers dead. Authorities said there were some 15 gunmen from a gang that apparently disputed control of drug sales there.

In late October, farther south in the laidback destination of Tulum, two tourists — one a California travel blogger born in India and the other German — were caught in the apparent crossfire of rival drug dealers and killed.

Following those events, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador sent nearly 1,500 members of the National Guard to reinforce security in the area.

If Canadian gangs were involved in Quintana Roo, it would not be shocking. The Caribbean coast state, because of its huge flow of foreigners, has seen a number of crime rings with international connections.

A Romanian gang has long operated in the state, using ATM machines to clone credit cards or make illegal withdrawals. And this week authorities arrested two Ukrainians for their alleged involvement in a fuel theft ring. Immigrant traffickers have long used Cancun as base for smuggling Cuban migrants

This article tagged under:

Debt dispute probably sparked killing of two Canadians in Mexico

• Two Canadians killed near Cancun last week had debts linked to criminal histories
• An employee was killed in a trendy Playa del Carmen beach restaurant in separate incident on Tuesday

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Reporting by Valentine Hilaire; Editing by Sandra Maler and Kenneth Maxwell

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Several people were being held hostage in the eastern Dutch town of Ede early Saturday morning and homes in the area were evacuated, police said.

An Israeli strike on Saturday hit a vehicle carrying United Nations technical observers outside the southern Lebanese border town of Rmeish, wounding several observers, two security sources told Reuters.

The Indian Navy said it had freed a hijacked Iranian fishing vessel from nine armed pirates in the Arabian Sea on Friday, rescuing its crew unharmed.

Two Tourists Killed in Separate Attacks in Mexican Hotspot, Police Say

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A Canadian tourist was killed in the Mexican state of Oaxaca this week, local authorities said on Tuesday, a day after another tourist was killed in an attack in the popular holiday region.

Oaxacan authorities said a male Canadian was killed in Puerto Escondido, a relaxed beach town popular with surfers, adding that they were investigating his death. They gave no indication of the motivation for the attack.

Argentine tourist Benjamin Gamond, who was attacked with a machete on May 12 in the nearby coastal area of Chacahua and died on Monday after being transported to a Mexico City hospital, prosecutors from the state said in a statement.

Prosecutors said Gamond's attacker, accused of assaulting two other Argentine tourists who survived, is being held on suspicion of homicide.

A relative of Gamond who posted on social media suggested that he had died "a hero" during a struggle.

Oaxaca and its beaches have lower crime rates than most states in Mexico.

This year, two American citizens died after a group of four were kidnapped in northern Mexico.

(Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz; Additional reporting by Isabel Woodford. Editing by Gerry Doyle)

Copyright 2023 Thomson Reuters .

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Tags: crime , Mexico

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London, Ont., woman killed in roadside gunpoint robbery in Mexico

Friends, family react to killing of gabriele schart on saturday while driving to canada.

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A London, Ont., woman who lived in Mexico for close to a decade was shot and killed during a roadside robbery while driving home to Canada, according to friends and local news reports. 

Canadian officials have not yet confirmed the death of Gabriele Schart, but her family and friends have spoken to CBC News. 

Schart owned the Firefly Cinema and karaoke bar in Zipolite, a town in southern Mexico. The business, founded by Schart about eight years ago, was a popular gathering spot for expatriates and locals, friends say. 

Family members say they've been told Schart was shot in Queretaro, just north of Mexico City, on Saturday — about a day into her journey home with her four dogs and cat. Mexican media say Schart was 50 but a friend said she was 57.

"She absolutely loved animals and she would not leave without them, so she decided to buy a vehicle there and drive home with them," said longtime friend Raquel Shulman, adding Schart was going home to look after her ailing mother. 

Canada warns Mexico visitors to be cautious

Global Affairs Canada is "aware of the death of a Canadian in Mexico," a spokesperson said in a statement.

"Consular officials are providing consular assistance and support to the family and are in contact with local authorities to obtain additional information," said the statement emailed to CBC News on Wednesday. "Due to privacy considerations, no further information can be disclosed."

The Canadian government also advises visitors to Mexico to "exercise a high degree of caution" because of high levels of criminal activity and kidnapping.

CBC News also reached out to authorities and others in Mexico about the Schart case.

• U.S. asks Canada to reimpose visa requirements for Mexico to stem surge of crossings at northern border

Ramon Rodriguez is a reporter who specializes in security issues and wrote about Schart's killing for regional Mexican media outlet Iqro, based in Queretaro.

Rodriguez told CBC News the road on which the robbery happened has been a hot spot for robberies because of the access criminals have to vehicles that slow down as they approach a toll booth. 

Shulman said Schart was driving with a male friend who was supposed to help her on the sometimes dangerous Mexican highways, where drivers are sometimes stopped by men who demand money. 

"He was supposed to be a safety net for her, so she would be safe getting to the border." 

Family working on funeral plans

The friend was also shot and sent to hospital for treatment, Rodriguez said. Authorities told him Schart got out of the car when a group approached and she was shot and died instantly. 

"Mexico right now is living one of its most violent times of recent years," Rodriguez told CBC News in Spanish.

"It's a situation that you, as foreigners, should be aware of becoming to Mexico," he said, adding the country is also dangerous for locals.  

Schart has two sons — Corin, who lives in Mexico, and Michael, who lives in London with his grandmother. The siblings are working to get answers from authorities in Mexico.

"Gabriele was a very bright person. Strong-willed. Loving. No matter how hard things got, she found the strength to keep on trying," eldest son Michael wrote on a GoFundMe page to raise money for travel costs to claim his mother's remains and for funeral costs. 

A funeral will be held in Mexico, Shulman said. 

She said Schart moved to Mexico in 2015 to escape the hustle and bustle of life in Canada.

"She applied to lots of different places that offered room and board and Mexico was the first place to get back to her, offered her a job at a hotel doing data entry, and she took it. She fell in love with Zipolite." 

2 of woman's pets found, search on for 3

One of the dogs she was taking home, a boxer named Ruby, as well as a cat were picked up by Mexican animal protection officials after the killing.

The three other dogs have not been found but people in Mexico are trying to locate them, said another friend, Claudia Mamet. 

"Gabby and I met years ago when she offered to foster two dogs. She already had two of her own," said Mamet, owner of the Dogs of Puerto Angel rescue organization, which operates in Mexico. "She's well known in the community of expats because she ran the only cinema in the area, which was very popular." 

Recently, the health of Schart's mother deteriorated, so she decided to move back home to help her son look after her, Mamet said.

"She could have taken a flight back to Canada and it would have been a lot less expensive and easier," she said. "But there was no way she was going to rehome these animals and leave them behind." 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Reporter/Editor

Kate Dubinski is a radio and digital reporter with CBC News in London, Ont. You can email her at [email protected].

• @KateDubinski

With files from Eva Salinas

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Canadian woman living in Mexico identified as victim in fatal shooting

After a decade in Zipolite, Gabriele Schart was on her way back to Canada to care for her mother, whose health had declined

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QUERETARO CITY, Mexico — The son of a Canadian woman killed in Queretaro, Mexico, says she was on her way back to Canada to look after her elderly mother.

Mexican police put out a release on Tuesday identifying the Canadian as Gabriele Schart, adding that she was killed in a shooting on March 16.

Police say Schart and a friend stopped in front of a convenience store to check on their pets, when they were supposedly approached by alleged criminals who threatened them into handing over their belongings.

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The pair were both shot, with Schart dying at the scene while her companion was shot in the arm and taken to hospital.

According to a post by her son Corin on the Facebook page for his mother’s theatre and karaoke bar in Zipolite, a town in southern Mexico, Schart was driving to the border at the time in an effort to return to Canada.

She was coming back after a decade in Zipolite to care for her mother, whose health had declined.

Global Affairs Canada says it is aware of the death of a Canadian in Mexico.

“Consular officials are providing consular assistance and support to the family and are in contact with local authorities to obtain additional information,” Global Affairs said in a statement. “Due to privacy considerations, no further information can be disclosed.”

The office of Mexico’s attorney general in Queretaro said it could not comment beyond what had been released by police.

The family has started a GoFundMe to cover transportation and funeral costs.

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The friend of a Canadian killed in Mexico says she spoke to Gabriele Schart on the phone just moments before the woman was shot in a gas station robbery.

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’She was always laughing’: Friend remembers Canadian killed in Mexico robbery Back to video

Raquel Shulman says Schart was making the long journey by road back to Canada with a friend when they made a stop outside of Queretaro City, Mexico to fuel up.

She says that’s when the pair were robbed at gunpoint — Mexican police said Schart received a fatal shot in the face.

Shulman says she’s trying to process what happened as she mourns a friend who had a great sense of adventure and loved to travel.

Mexican police say Schart, who was from London, Ont., died at the scene while the friend suffered injuries to his arm on Saturday.

Global Affairs Canada has said it is aware of the death of a Canadian in Mexico.

Schart, 57, was moving back to Canada to help care for her aging mother when she was killed, Shulman said.

“I spoke to her while she was at the gas station she was killed at,” Shulman said in a phone interview from the Greater Toronto Area.

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“She was telling me it was her last tank of gas until the (U.S.) border.”

Schart was travelling from Zipolite, Mexico, with a friend and pets, and had expressed concerns over bandits targeting motorists on Mexican highways, one of her sons wrote in an online post.

Mexican police said the pair were robbed at a gas station, with the thieves firing three shots. One hit Schart in the face, killing her, while the friend was shot in the arm, they said.

Shulman said she knew Schart for more than 15 years and met her at a bar in Canada where they discovered they were dating the same man.

The relationship with the male suitor didn’t last but the friendship endured even as Schart moved to Mexico about eight years ago to pursue a slower-paced life.

Shulman said Schart was fun to be around and a great travel companion.

“She was always laughing and giggling. She had the same love of travel that I had,” Shulman said. “She was fun and talkative and insightful … we were always able to talk to each other about everything.”

Global Affairs Canada has said consular officials are providing assistance and support to the family and are in touch with local authorities.

The office of Mexico’s attorney general in Queretaro said it could not comment beyond what had been released by police.

Mexican police said Thursday that they were investigating and “the crime will not go unpunished.”

Schart’s family has started a GoFundMe to cover transportation and funeral costs.

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Easter 2024

Mob in Mexico brutally beats suspected kidnapper to death hours before Holy Week procession

The Good Friday Eve religious procession, which dates back centuries in the old Mexican silver-mining town of Taxco, went off as planned Thursday night despite the mob killing of a woman earlier in the day.

A woman suspected in the kidnapping and killing of an 8-year-old girl, is dragged out of a police vehicle by a mob in Taxco, Mexico, Thursday, March 28, 2024. Police then picked her up off the ground and took her away. The Guerrero state prosecutors’ office later confirmed the woman died of her injuries. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

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A mob beats a woman they suspect of kidnapping and killing an 8-year-old girl, after dragging her out of a police vehicle, in Taxco, Mexico, Thursday, March 28, 2024. Police then picked her up and took her away. The Guerrero state prosecutors’ office later confirmed the woman died of her injuries. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

ADDS THAT THE WOMAN DIED - A mob beats a woman they suspect of kidnapping and killing an 8-year-old girl, after dragging her out of a police vehicle, in Taxco, Mexico, Thursday, March 28, 2024. Police then picked her up and took her away. The Guerrero state prosecutors’ office later confirmed the woman died of her injuries. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Residents gather as the coffin that contain the remains of an 8-year-old girl is delivered to family, in Taxco, Mexico, Thursday, March 28, 2024. The 8-year-old girl disappeared Wednesday; her body was found on a road on the outskirts of the city early Thursday. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Funeral workers carry the coffin that contain the remains of an 8-year-old girl, in Taxco, Mexico, Thursday, March 28, 2024. The 8-year-old girl disappeared Wednesday; her body was found on a road on the outskirts of the city early Thursday. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

A relative of an 8-year-old girl, who was kidnapped the previous day, weeps as her body is handed over to family in Taxco, Mexico, Thursday, March 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

A relative mourns as funeral workers carry the coffin that contain the remains of an 8-year-old girl, in Taxco, Mexico, Thursday, March 28, 2024. The 8-year-old girl disappeared Wednesday; her body was found on a road on the outskirts of the city early Thursday. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

A woman holds a sign with a message that reads in Spanish: “Justice for Cami” in reference to an 8-year-old girl who disappeared the previous day, in Taxco, Mexico, Thursday, March 28, 2024. The 8-year-old girl disappeared Wednesday; her body was found on a road on the outskirts of the city early Thursday. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

A woman wipes away tears during a demonstration protesting the kidnapping and killing of an 8-year-old girl, in the main square of Taxco, Mexico, Thursday, March 28, 2024. Hours earlier a mob beat a woman to death because she was suspected of kidnapping and killing the young girl. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Women chant the word “justice” during a demonstration protesting the kidnapping and killing of an 8-year-old girl, in the main square of Taxco, Mexico, Thursday, March 28, 2024. Hours earlier a mob beat a woman to death because she was suspected of kidnapping and killing the young girl. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

A woman chants the Spanish word for “justice” during a demonstration protesting the kidnapping and killing of an 8-year-old girl, in the main square of Taxco, Mexico, Thursday, March 28, 2024. Hours earlier a mob beat a woman to death because she was suspected of kidnapping and killing the young girl. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

A woman carries her daughter during a demonstration protesting the kidnapping and killing of an 8-year-old girl, in the main square of Taxco, Mexico, Thursday, March 28, 2024. Hours earlier a mob beat a woman to death because she was suspected of kidnapping and killing the young girl. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

A woman holds a sign with a message that loosely translates from Spanish: “Children should not be harmed”, during a demonstration protesting the kidnapping and killing of an 8-year-old girl, in the main square of Taxco, Mexico, Thursday, March 28, 2024. Hours earlier a mob beat a woman to death because she was suspected of kidnapping and killing the young girl. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

A bare-footed penitent walks in a Holy Week procession, in Taxco, Mexico, Thursday, March 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Penitents carry a bundle of thorny branches during a Holy Week procession in Taxco, Mexico, Thursday, March 28, 2024. In traditional processions that last from Thursday evening into the early morning hours of Friday, hooded penitents drag chains and shoulder the thorny bundles through the streets, as some flog themselves with nail-studded whips meant to bring them closer to God. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

TAXCO, Mexico (AP) — A mob in the Mexican tourist city of Taxco brutally beat a woman to death Thursday because she was suspected of kidnapping and killing a young girl, rampaging just hours before the city’s famous Holy Week procession.

The mob formed after an 8-year-old girl disappeared Wednesday. Her body was found on a road on the outskirts of the city early Thursday. Security camera footage appeared to show a woman and a man loading a bundle, which may have been the girl’s body, into a taxi.

The mob surrounded the woman’s house Thursday, threatening to drag her out. Police took the woman into the bed of a police pickup truck, but then stood by — apparently intimidated by the crowd — as members of the mob dragged her out of the truck and down onto the street where they stomped, kicked and pummeled her until she lay, partly stripped and motionless.

Police then picked her up and took her away, leaving the pavement stained with blood. The Guerrero state prosecutors’ office later confirmed the woman died of her injuries.

“This is the result of the bad government we have,” said a member of the mob, who gave her name as Andrea but refused to give her last name. “This isn’t the first time this kind of thing has happened,” she said, referring to the murder of the girl, “but this is the first time the people have done something.”

“We are fed up,” she said. “This time it was an 8-year-old girl.”

The mayor of Taxco, Mario Figueroa, said he shared residents’ outrage over the killing. Figueroa said a total of three people beaten by the mob — the woman and two men — had been taken away by police. Video from the scene suggested they had also been beaten, though The Associated Press witnessed only the beating of the woman.

The state prosecutors’ office said the two men were hospitalized. There was no immediate information on their condition.

In a statement issued soon after the event, Figueroa complained he did not get any help from the state government for his small, outnumbered municipal police force.

“Unfortunately, up to now we have not received any help or answers,” Figueroa said.

The Good Friday eve religious procession, which dates back centuries in the old silver-mining town, went off as planned Thursday night.

People crowded Taxco’s colonial streets to watch hooded men walking while whipping themselves or carrying heavy bundles of thorns across their bare shoulders in penitence to emulate the suffering of Jesus Christ carrying the cross.

But the earlier flash of violence cast a pall over the already solemn procession, which draws thousands to the small town.

Many participants wore small white ribbons of mourning.

“I never thought that in a touristic place like Taxco we would experience a lynching,” said Felipa Lagunas, a local elementary school teacher. “I saw it as something distant, in places far from civilization ... I never imagined that my community would experience this on such a special day.”

Mob attacks in rural Mexico are common . In 2018, two men were torched by an angry crowd in the central state of Puebla, and the next day a man and woman were dragged from their vehicle, beaten and set afire in the neighboring state of Hidalgo.

But Taxco and other cities in Guerrero state have been particularly prone to violence.

In late January, Taxco endured a days-long strike by private taxi and van drivers who suffered threats from one of several drug gangs fighting for control of the area. The situation was so bad that police had to give people rides in the back of their patrol vehicles.

Around the same time, the bullet-ridden bodies of two detectives were found on the outskirts of Taxco. Local media said their bodies showed signs of torture.

In February, Figueroa’s own bulletproof car was shot up by gunmen on motorcycles.

In Taxco and throughout Guerrero state, drug cartels and gangs routinely prey on the local population, demanding protection payments from store owners, taxi and bus drivers. They kill those who refuse to pay.

Residents said they have had enough, even though the violence may further affect tourism.

“We know the town lives off of Holy Week (tourism) and that this is going to mess it up. There will be a lot of people who won’t want to come anymore,” said Andrea, the woman who was in the mob. “We make our living off tourism, but we cannot continue to allow them to do these things to us.”

Associated Press writer Mark Stevenson in Mexico City contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

'She was always laughing': Friend remembers Canadian killed in Mexico robbery

Raquel Shulman says Schart was making the long journey by road back to Canada with a friend when they made a stop outside of Queretaro City, Mexico to fuel up. 

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She says that's when the pair were robbed at gunpoint – Mexican police said Schart received a fatal shot in the face. 

Shulman says she's trying to process what happened as she mourns a friend who had a great sense of adventure and loved to travel. 

Mexican police say Schart, who was from London, Ont., died at the scene while the friend suffered injuries to his arm on Saturday.

Global Affairs Canada has said it is aware of the death of a Canadian in Mexico.

Schart, 57, was moving back to Canada to help care for her aging mother when she was killed, Shulman said. 

"I spoke to her while she was at the gas station she was killed at," Shulman said in a phone interview from the Greater Toronto Area. 

"She was telling me it was her last tank of gas until the (U.S.) border."

Schart was travelling from Zipolite, Mexico, with a friend and pets, and had expressed concerns over bandits targeting motorists on Mexican highways, one of her sons wrote in an online post. 

Mexican police said the pair were robbed at a gas station, with the thieves firing three shots. One hit Schart in the face, killing her, while the friend was shot in the arm, they said.

Shulman said she knew Schart for more than 15 years and met her at a bar in Canada where they discovered they were dating the same man. 

The relationship with the male suitor didn't last but the friendship endured even as Schart moved to Mexico about eight years ago to pursue a slower-paced life.

Shulman said Schart was fun to be around and a great travel companion. 

"She was always laughing and giggling. She had the same love of travel that I had," Shulman said. "She was fun and talkative and insightful ... we were always able to talk to each other about everything."

Global Affairs Canada has said consular officials are providing assistance and support to the family and are in touch with local authorities. 

The office of Mexico's attorney general in Queretaro said it could not comment beyond what had been released by police.

Mexican police said Thursday that they were investigating and "the crime will not go unpunished."

Schart's family has started a GoFundMe to cover transportation and funeral costs.

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Mob in Mexico brutally beats suspected kidnapper to death hours before Holy Week procession

A mob in the Mexican tourist city of Taxco has brutally beat a woman to death because she was suspected of kidnapping and killing a young girl, rampaging just hours before the city's Holy Week procession

TAXCO, Mexico -- A mob in the Mexican tourist city of Taxco brutally beat a woman to death Thursday because she was suspected of kidnapping and killing a young girl, rampaging just hours before the city’s famous Holy Week procession.

The mob formed after an 8-year-old girl disappeared Wednesday. Her body was found on a road on the outskirts of the city early Thursday. Security camera footage appeared to show a woman and a man loading a bundle, which may have been the girl's body, into a taxi.

The mob surrounded the woman's house Thursday, threatening to drag her out. Police took the woman into the bed of a police pickup truck, but then stood by — apparently intimidated by the crowd — as members of the mob dragged her out of the truck and down onto the street where they stomped, kicked and pummeled her until she lay, partly stripped and motionless.

Police then picked her up and took her away, leaving the pavement stained with blood. The Guerrero state prosecutors’ office later confirmed the woman died of her injuries.

“This is the result of the bad government we have,” said a member of the mob, who gave her name as Andrea but refused to give her last name. “This isn't the first time this kind of thing has happened,” she said, referring to the murder of the girl, “but this is the first time the people have done something.”

“We are fed up,” she said. “This time it was an 8-year-old girl.”

The mayor of Taxco, Mario Figueroa, said he shared residents' outrage over the killing. Figueroa said a total of three people beaten by the mob — the woman and two men — had been taken away by police. Video from the scene suggested they had also been beaten, though The Associated Press witnessed only the beating of the woman.

The state prosecutors' office said the two men were hospitalized. There was no immediate information on their condition.

In a statement issued soon after the event, Figueroa complained he did not get any help from the state government for his small, outnumbered municipal police force.

“Unfortunately, up to now we have not received any help or answers,” Figueroa said.

The Good Friday eve religious procession, which dates back centuries in the old silver-mining town, went off as planned Thursday night.

People crowded Taxco's colonial streets to watch hooded men walking while whipping themselves or carrying heavy bundles of thorns across their bare shoulders in penitence to emulate the suffering of Jesus Christ carrying the cross.

But the earlier flash of violence cast a pall over the already solemn procession, which draws thousands to the small town.

Many participants wore small white ribbons of mourning.

“I never thought that in a touristic place like Taxco we would experience a lynching,” said Felipa Lagunas, a local elementary school teacher. “I saw it as something distant, in places far from civilization ... I never imagined that my community would experience this on such a special day.”

Mob attacks in rural Mexico are common. In 2018, two men were torched by an angry crowd in the central state of Puebla, and the next day a man and woman were dragged from their vehicle, beaten and set afire in the neighboring state of Hidalgo.

But Taxco and other cities in Guerrero state have been particularly prone to violence.

In late January, Taxco endured a days-long strike by private taxi and van drivers who suffered threats from one of several drug gangs fighting for control of the area. The situation was so bad that police had to give people rides in the back of their patrol vehicles.

Around the same time, the bullet-ridden bodies of two detectives were found on the outskirts of Taxco. Local media said their bodies showed signs of torture.

In February, Figueroa's own bulletproof car was shot up by gunmen on motorcycles.

In Taxco and throughout Guerrero state, drug cartels and gangs routinely prey on the local population, demanding protection payments from store owners, taxi and bus drivers. They kill those who refuse to pay.

Residents said they have had enough, even though the violence may further affect tourism.

“We know the town lives off of Holy Week (tourism) and that this is going to mess it up. There will be a lot of people who won't want to come anymore,” said Andrea, the woman who was in the mob. “We make our living off tourism, but we cannot continue to allow them to do these things to us.”

Associated Press writer Mark Stevenson in Mexico City contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

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