The Scots expat who was found dead alongside her husband in France made appointments for work on the house she shared with her husband just before their tragic deaths.

The body of Dawn Searle, 56, was found with blunt force trauma injuries while partner Andrew, 62, was found hanged at the home they shared in Villefranche-de-Rouergue, a rural hamlet close to Toulouse, reports the Mirror.

Dawn, a former project manager, is said to have made appointments for a sweep to clean the chimneys of her home in France. In the days leading up to her death, she’d also been seeking help from staff at a local fireplace shop. The person who served her said: “Dawn said she felt a little sick, she had the flu, but her mood was very good, smiley”.

Their bodies were found last week. (Image: Phil Harris)

Other staff at the local shops said they saw the couple spending their Sundays teaching their neighbours and friends English. The pair were also said to banter about the two countries’ rugby rivalry, and even enjoyed a plate of fish & chips every month.

Trbutes with flowers and candles are being left outside their home. A note offering therapy to the traumatised residents is also visible. According to prosecutor, Dawn died after sustaining a head wound they believe was caused by multiple blows from both blunt and sharp objects.

Andrew didn’t have any signs of defensive wounds, with cops pursuing the murder-suicide theory, believing a marital dispute may have led to their “violent deaths”. However, local prosecutor Nicolas Rigot Muller added is just one of their current lines of enquiry.

They are also investigating whether the deaths are linked to a “financial motive or the deceased’s past”. Andrew worked for a number of leading financial institutions as a fraud investigator.

The couple moved to France around a decade ago and it is now understood Mr Searle had financial difficulties with a rental business he set up in Les Pesquies which folded in December 2023, with no accounts filed, according to publicly available documents, reported the Mail.

The couple were well liked in the villlage. (Image: Getty Images)

CCTV footage captured Mr Searle buying a chocolate bar and two Euro Lottery tickets from a tobacconist the day before the couple’s lifeless bodies were discovered. Two neighbours said they saw Andrew having a heated phone call on Wednesday. Antoine Da Silva, a retired council worker, told how he saw the dad-of-two hurrying through the village and looking “very worried” while taking a call with his dad Fred.

However, close friends of the pair have also said they had been living a “happy” and “comfortable” life in the rural countryside north of Toulouse. Two British couples, close friends of the Searles, were last night keen to put down the suggestion of suicide.

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