{"id":43038,"date":"2025-02-08T06:52:17","date_gmt":"2025-02-08T11:52:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/investigations-continue-after-two-brits-die-in-france\/08\/02\/2025\/"},"modified":"2025-02-08T06:52:17","modified_gmt":"2025-02-08T11:52:17","slug":"investigations-continue-after-two-brits-die-in-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/investigations-continue-after-two-brits-die-in-france\/08\/02\/2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Investigations continue after two Brits die in France"},"content":{"rendered":"

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An investigation into the death of a British couple in France is continuing, after their bodies were discovered by a neighbour on Thursday.<\/p>\n

The pair, named on Friday as Andrew and Dawn Searle, moved to south west France from Scotland about a decade ago.<\/p>\n

The local mayor, Jean-S\u00e9bastien Orcibal, told French television<\/a> that the deaths were “clearly a homicide”.<\/p>\n

The prosecutor in charge of the investigation, Nicolas Rigot-Muller, told the BBC autopsies would take place on Monday, adding: “Investigations are currently taking place.”<\/p>\n

The couple’s bodies were found at about 12:20 on Thursday at their home in the hamlet of Les Pesqui\u00e8s, in a rural area north of the city of Toulouse.<\/p>\n

The discovery was made by a neighbour, who went to check on them when they failed to turn up for a planned dog walk.<\/p>\n

The area around their detached house has been sealed off while investigations take place, and local police have called in expert help Toulouse.<\/p>\n

Forensics officers spent Thursday searching the scene of the crime, with a helicopter, a drone, criminal investigation technicians and a forensic doctor deployed to the site.<\/p>\n

No criminal case has been opened so far, and police say there is no preferred theory about how the couple died.<\/p>\n

Mr Orcibal, who represents the Villefranche-de-Rouergue area, told BBC News the cause of the death was still unclear. He had earlier dismissed speculation the deaths were due to a burglary “gone wrong”, and said “no knife was found”.<\/p>\n

Mr Orcibal also said the couple had become “very well integrated” in the village and used to regularly invite neighbours, many of them fellow expats, for a drink.<\/p>\n

The mayor added that Mr and Mrs Searle had got married in the summer of 2023, and that Mr Searle had worn a kilt for the wedding.<\/p>\n

Mrs Searle is the mother of actor and country musician Callum Kerr.<\/p>\n

He has appeared in Netflix’s Virgin River and played PC Kiss in Hollyoaks.<\/p>\n

He has also released a number of country songs.<\/p>\n

Mr Kerr walked his mother down the aisle as she married Mr Searle at the ceremony in France.<\/p>\n

On social media, he said: “Not many people can say they walked their own mother down the aisle. What a pleasure. I love you mum.”<\/p>\n

According to his LinkedIn page, Mr Searle had worked in financial crime prevention at companies including Standard Life and Barclays Bank during his career.<\/p>\n

Mrs Searle grew up in Eyemouth in the Scottish Borders, and Mr Searle was originally from England.<\/p>\n

The couple – who were in their 60s – lived in Musselburgh, near Edinburgh, before they moved to Les Pesqui\u00e8s, which is south of Villefranche-de-Rouergue.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the UK’s Foreign Office said: “We are supporting the family of a British couple who died in France and are liaising with the local authorities.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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An investigation into the death of a British couple in France is continuing, after their bodies were discovered by a neighbour on