A Scot has been found dead alongside her organised crime investigator husband. Dawn and Andrew Searle were discovered in France, where they moved after retiring.
They were found in Les Pesquiès, south of the commune of Villefranche-de-Rouergue, on Thursday afternoon, and French detectives are now investigating.
Officers probing their deaths have said they could have been murdered by a crime gang from the United Kingdom. Here is everything we know so far.
Who are they?
Dawn and Andrew Searle were both in their 60s. Dawn, who was also known as Dawn Kerr, was a project manager originally from Musselburgh, near Edinburgh.
He was originally from West Sussex but spent years working in Scotland, latterly at a major bank in Edinburgh. He worked with the Serious Fraud Office and police for at least 20 years.
His job saw him investigating organised crime groups involved in financial crimes such as money laundering, including ‘sanctions screening’ – checking individuals and groups who might be barred from dealing in the UK.
The bans could be in place due to their links to drugs traffickers, rogue nations, or terrorist groups. It’s believed Mr Searle would have been brought to the attention of organised crime gangs throughout the world due to his job
A graduate of Liverpool John Moores University, in Liverpool, he also worked for Edinburgh-based firm Standard Life. He then worked for Barclay’s Bank, in the capital.
He had a job in the financial crime assurance arm, before retiring and moving to France in 2015. He posted his work history on his LinkedIn account.
He wrote: “Responsible for the delivery of significant improvements in AFC [Anti-Financial Crime] capability, developing effective operating models within a Group structure.”
He also revealed on his account how this meant he was involved in “sanction screening and monitoring, AFC Intelligence and Anti-bribery & Corruption”.
Where were they found?
It’s believed they were killed inside their home, which has a swimming pool and includes a two-bedroom flat they advertised online and rented out to guests.
They called it ‘Andrew and Dawn at home’ (Chez Andrew and Dawn) gite – the French word for a furnished holiday home – and it was surrounded by thick woods.
The isolated property is situated away from the centre of the hamlet of Les Pesquiès, which is around two-and-a-half miles south of the commune of Villefranche-de-Rouergue, in the south of France.
The hamlet, which has around 100 residents, is just over 350 miles south of Paris and a little over 150 miles north of the French border with Andorra to the south.
What have police said?
French detectives are probing the possibility they were murdered by “criminals from the United Kingdom”. A source said: “A criminal enquiry has been launched and the fear is that the couple were murdered.
“They were very fit, and very popular locally, but there is a theory that they were being pursued by criminals from the United Kingdom.
“This is currently the prioritised line of enquiry, because Mr Searle was once involved in the fight against organised crime and terrorism.”
Police and prosecutors have not officially released the name of the Searles, but at least three neighbours confirmed they were the victims.
Other motives being pursued by police are that it was a burglary gone wrong, or that they may have been murdered due to links to terrorism or a rogue state.
What are neighbours saying?
One said: “Andy and Dawn were lovely – hearing about this is extremely distressing. They were extremely friendly, and always out and about. What has happened has caused a lot of fear.”