Third Canadian found dead in Mexico

January 10, 2007

Adam DePrisco, a 19-year-old from Woodbridge, Ontario, was found dead in Acapulco, Mexico on Saturday.

The family of the young man are still looking for answers after Mexican authorities said that he was hit by a car after leaving a nightclub. The family believes that the young man was beaten to death. Marco Calabro, a friend who went to Mexico with DePrisco, also believes that he was beaten to death.

Calabro and DePrisco were in a nightclub on Saturday, and DePrisco was dancing with a Mexican woman. The woman's boyfriend became upset. The Canadian men were urged to leave the nightclub. Not long after, Calabro found his friend lying on the road bleeding from his head.

DePrisco died in a Mexican hospital on Monday evening.

"The pain in my heart is not just for my nephew; it's for any Canadian -- you go out to have a good time and this is what happens," Claudio Pannozzi, his uncle, told CTV News. "When you think Mexico, think twice."

DePrisco is the third Canadian who has recently died in Mexico, after Nancy and Domenic Ianiero, a couple also from Woodbridge, who were stabbed to death at a luxury resort hotel near Cancun, also a popular vacation destination.

Mexican officials came under fire shortly after the Ianiero case last February. They are currently investigating the case of Adam DePrisco. Talk radio shows in Canada are even suggesting the Canadian federal government ban Canadians from going to Mexico.

It is not yet known when DePrisco's body will be returned to Canada.