TORONTO (CP) - The mysterious death of a Canadian in Mexico left a grief-stricken family desperate for answers Wednesday, but doubtful that any were forthcoming given conflicting reports and last year's botched investigation into the slaying of a Canadian couple also vacationing in the country.
While the family of Adam DePrisco was led by police to believe that the'-year-old was the victim of a hit-and-run early Sunday after exiting an Acapulco nightclub, the doctors who cared for the man in a Mexican hospital before he died Monday night said it was clear he "was beaten."
"The doctors were the ones who told my aunt that he was beaten, that his injuries didn't indicate that it was a hit-and-run accident," Luisa Pannozzi, DePrisco's cousin, said from the Toronto-area home where family gathered to mourn.
Late Wednesday, an Acapulco city official contradicted the version of events offered by police and state authorities.
The official, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of his safety, said witnesses had seen night club staff and taxi drivers severely beating DePrisco.
The conflicting accounts of how the Woodbridge, Ont., man died, and the yet unsolved murders of fellow Woodbridge residents Domenic and Nancy Ianiero in Cancun last February, have left DePrisco's parents fearful that the truth will never be known.
Pannozzi said they're calling on Ottawa to play a role.
"We don't need to have this keep happening, people need to know that Mexico is unsafe," said the 23-year old. "What my family is trying to do is get that message out... they do believe the Canadian government has a role."
The head injuries DePrisco sustained were so severe that his best friend and travel companion, Marco Calabro, didn't immediately recognize him, said Pannozzi.
Calabro, thinking that the body he saw lying in a pool of blood outside the club was not his friend's, frantically ran back to the hotel in search of DePrisco.
When Calabro returned to the club, DePrisco had already been taken to hospital and "trucks with water were washing away the blood in front of the club.... they were washing it all away," said Pannozzi.
Among the legion of criticism surrounding the Ianiero case was that hotel staff at the posh resort where the couple was brutally slain had been ordered to clean up the blood almost immediately after the bodies were found.
Mexican officials leading the investigation into DePrisco's death said Wednesday that, at this point, "everything appears to indicate that he was run over on the road."
"The family isn't satisfied (with that explanation) and so we'll be speaking with the police officers as well," said Jesus Aleman del Carmen, assistant attorney general for the state of Guerrero.
"Other scenarios may arise" during the investigation, said del Carmen, who added it was Calabro who said his friend may have been hit by a car.
Calabro said that wasn't how events transpired.
"When I went back to my resort I had a phone call telling me that Adam got hit by a car, and hurry up and go to the hospital," said Calabro.
"After that, I put two and two together, and it's not true. The doctor's even admitted it wasn't true."
Ianiero family lawyer Edward Greenspan, who has on several occasions called on Ottawa to pressure Mexican officials into conducting a proper investigation, said DePrisco's death "has compounded the issue for the Canadian government."
"I propose to write the Canadian government to say, enough," said Greenspan. "There's a lot that can be done at a political level, in terms of bringing the pressure to bear."
A Foreign Affairs spokesman called DePrisco's death a matter of "national concern," but added that "the investigation into the deaths of Canadians abroad is the sole responsibility of the local authorities."
"We will be following up with the authorities regarding the investigation into the death," said Rejean Beaulieu.
DePrisco had been dancing with a local woman early Sunday when the club's bouncer grabbed him and removed him from the club, said Pannozzi.
"(Marco) went in the direction that the bouncer was laughing and pointing to, and he saw a body off near the front of the hill," she said.
The coroner's office has advised the family it would take possession of the body after its scheduled arrival in Toronto Thursday evening, said Pannozzi, who is in the process of making funeral arrangements.
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