Body is found in the Mopan River…is it Canadian Brian Townsend

Brian Townsend

Our last newscast of 2013 brings no good news to family and friends of Canadian national Brian Townsend, missing and believed murdered on Christmas Eve. Reports early this afternoon suggested that his body had been found, but tonight Benque Viejo Police investigators are unable to confirm if that body, found by Guatemalan authorities four days ago, is that of Townsend. According to official reports, Guatemalan authorities found a body floating in the Mopan River on Friday, two days after Townsend was reported missing. The body was decomposed and there was no identification, so it was immediately buried on the Guatemalan side of the river. But there is now speculation that the body could be that of Townsend, dumped by his abductors. Investigators are working with their Guatemalan counterparts for the purpose of identification, but until that is done, Officer Commanding the Benque Viejo Police Formation Dinsdale Thompson would not feed speculation that the body is that of the Canadian.

Dinsdale Thompson, O.C., Benque Viejo Police

Dinsdale Thompson

“So far we have not found any body, and it is not true that we have any confirmation of any body having been found. However, we have since morning contacted the Guatemalan authorities who confirm that in Guatemala close to the Melchor area in the river, they found a body which was decomposed on December twenty-seventh, 2013. So far what they have done when they discovered the body is that they went ahead and buried the body, having no type of identification because of the advanced stage of decomposition it was in at the time. So they have buried the body, we have contacted them and they have confirmed that yes, there is a body. However, we cannot confirm whether it is Brian, the Canadian gentleman who went missing so far. Our next step from here…first, we have met with the Guatemalan Police right here in Benque Viejo. Next step, we have already contacted the Ministerio Publico in Flores, and we are trying to get photos that they took and maybe clothing that they have confirmed that they took picture of. So we’re still looking at that, but that’s the next step from here. We’re going to work along with the Ministerio Publico to see if we can get photos and anything else from there. The next step as well is that we have contacted and are working along with Brian’s son, just to clear or to see whether we can continue working with the Canadian Embassy in Guatemala, if we have any type of hindrance, so they can assist us in moving forward with getting more information, getting more assistance diplomatically in that area.”

Thompson says within the next day or two investigators are hoping to have some conclusive information and to make some determination of the identity of the body through photographs. Currently the only link between the body found and Brian Townsend is that Guatemalans have confirmed that the dead person was bald. Authorities have confirmed that Police are searching in the immediate area for any sign of Townsend’s pickup truck or the men suspected of abducting and killing him.