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Vancouver Sun
3 days ago
- Vancouver Sun
Canadian man who disappeared after going swimming in Mexico washes up dead
A 31-year-old Canadian man has been found dead at Mexico's Zicatela Beach in Puerto Escondido. Braydon Bretzer was reportedly with American citizen Chris Ankele when the pair were last seen swimming in the water on Sunday, May 25, according to Mexican publication Ahora Oaxaca Noticias . Authorities said witnesses saw a current pulling them away and they drifted out to sea before disappearing, Daily Mail reported . Ankele has been missing since Sunday, Mexican publication Milenio reported . Search and rescue efforts began later that evening . Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. The beach is a well-known surfing spot, per travel website Lonely Planet's review of the location. 'Nonsurfers beware: the waters here have a lethal undertow and are not safe for the boardless, or beginner surfers either,' the site warns. According to authorities, Zicatela is not suitable for swimming, 'especially during swells, which cause dangerous currents and waves up to three meters high,' local publication El Tiempo reported . In a statement to National Post, Global Affairs Canada spokesperson Charlotte MacLeod said the agency 'is aware of the death of a Canadian citizen in Mexico' and 'extends its deepest condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.' 'Consular officials are in contact with local authorities and are providing consular assistance,' said MacLeod, adding that no more information can be disclosed at this time due to privacy considerations. On May 26, Puerto Escondido Lifeguards said there were two people missing at sea in a social media post. They cautioned beach-goers against walking along Zicatela Beach and said to avoid getting into the water. Videos shared by the account on Instagram showed white-capped waves slamming down onto the shore. A post shared by SalvavidasLifeguard PuertoEscondido (@salvavidas_lifeguard_puertoesc) The Municipal Government of San Pedro Mixtepec said a search for the tourists was underway in the area, in a post on Facebook on May 27 around noon. It urged 'tourist service providers to stay informed about the weather conditions.' It also said that locals should 'avoid entering the sea' and listen to instructions from lifeguards. Later on May 27, Mexican publication El Tiempo reported that the body of Bretzer was found at the beach. A video circulating online showed the moment his body was located by a search team, per Daily Mail . Local authorities said search efforts for Ankele are ongoing. Graeme Bouvier organized a GoFundMe on behalf of the Bretzer family. 'Braydon's sudden passing has left a deep hole in the hearts of all who knew and loved him,' says the webpage. 'Braydon lived life to the fullest. He had a contagious energy, and a heart that made space for everyone. He was loved by many — he made people feel seen, valued, and cared for.' Bouvier did not immediately respond to National Post's request for comment. Funds are being raised to help support Bretzer's family, going towards costs such as travel and memorial expenses. On May 30, more than $20,000 had been donated. The family said that excess funds will go to charities that Bretzer loved, such as Street Cat Rescue Program Inc., the webpage says. A LinkedIn page for a Canadian man from Saskatoon with the same name as Bretzer shows that he was working as a marketing consultant. He attended Athabasca University, earning a bachelor's of business degree in 2016. In his bio, he said his interests included soccer, basketball, golf and hiking. Another interest he listed was travelling, having been to '25 countries and counting.' He also said he was a 'huge cat guy.' Under a section for water activities, the Canadian federal government's travel advisory for Mexico states: 'Coastal waters can be dangerous. Riptides are common and powerful waves make swimming and water sports dangerous. Several drownings occur each year. Many beaches don't have warning flags to indicate unsafe conditions and they don't always have lifeguards on duty.' There have been other fatalities at the popular Puerto Escondido beach. In April, Miguel Angel Robles, 22, drowned there, Daily Mail and news site reported . In 2019, Brazilian bodyboarder and kitesurfer Rafael Piccoli died while surfing the waves during a large swell, Surfline reported . He reportedly hit the bottom of the ocean floor, which knocked him unconscious before he drowned. Similarly, in 2021, Spanish surfer Oscar Serra also died while surfing after reportedly falling from a top wave and hitting the bottom of the sea, per Duke Surf . In 2023, 33-year-old Romanian tourist Andra Kitsu drowned, The U.S. Sun reported . Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .
Calgary Herald
3 days ago
- Calgary Herald
Canadian man who disappeared after going swimming in Mexico washes up dead
A 31-year-old Canadian man has been found dead at Mexico's Zicatela Beach in Puerto Escondido. Article content Article content Braydon Bretzer was reportedly with American citizen Chris Ankele when the pair were last seen swimming in the water on Sunday, May 25, according to Mexican publication Ahora Oaxaca Noticias. Authorities said witnesses saw a current pulling them away and they drifted out to sea before disappearing, Daily Mail reported. Article content Article content Ankele has been missing since Sunday, Mexican publication Milenio reported. Search and rescue efforts began later that evening. Article content Article content The beach is a well-known surfing spot, per travel website Lonely Planet's review of the location. 'Nonsurfers beware: the waters here have a lethal undertow and are not safe for the boardless, or beginner surfers either,' the site warns. According to authorities, Zicatela is not suitable for swimming, 'especially during swells, which cause dangerous currents and waves up to three meters high,' local publication El Tiempo reported. Article content In a statement to National Post, Global Affairs Canada spokesperson Charlotte MacLeod said the agency 'is aware of the death of a Canadian citizen in Mexico' and 'extends its deepest condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.' Article content 'Consular officials are in contact with local authorities and are providing consular assistance,' said MacLeod, adding that no more information can be disclosed at this time due to privacy considerations. Article content On May 26, Puerto Escondido Lifeguards said there were two people missing at sea in a social media post. They cautioned beach-goers against walking along Zicatela Beach and said to avoid getting into the water. Videos shared by the account on Instagram showed white-capped waves slamming down onto the shore. Article content Article content View this post on Instagram A post shared by SalvavidasLifeguard PuertoEscondido (@salvavidas_lifeguard_puertoesc) Article content The Municipal Government of San Pedro Mixtepec said a search for the tourists was underway in the area, in a post on Facebook on May 27 around noon. It urged 'tourist service providers to stay informed about the weather conditions.' It also said that locals should 'avoid entering the sea' and listen to instructions from lifeguards. Article content Article content Later on May 27, Mexican publication El Tiempo reported that the body of Bretzer was found at the beach. A video circulating online showed the moment his body was located by a search team, per Daily Mail. Article content Graeme Bouvier organized a GoFundMe on behalf of the Bretzer family. Article content 'Braydon lived life to the fullest. He had a contagious energy, and a heart that made space for everyone. He was loved by many — he made people feel seen, valued, and cared for.' Bouvier did not immediately respond to National Post's request for comment.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Yahoo
London scientist dismembered in Colombia was lured into trap through Grindr
A scientist found dismembered in Colombia was the victim of a honeytrap through the gay dating app Grindr, police believe. The mutilated remains of Alessandro Coatti, a 38-year-old Italian who worked in London, were discovered scattered across the coastal city of Santa Marta on April 6, two days after he was reported missing. Investigators had originally suspected the molecular biologist may have been killed in a case of mistaken identity between warring drug clans. Colombian police, however, now believe that Coatti, a tourist with no links to organised crime, was the victim of a gang targeting foreigners looking for dates online. The Italian was reportedly lured to an abandoned house in the San José del Pando neighbourhood after messaging someone over Grindr, a popular dating app designed for LGBT people. The gang's plan had been to incapacitate Coatti using a drug colloquially known as 'Devil's Breath' (scopolamine) and then rob him, according to sources first reported in El Tiempo, a Colombian newspaper. Scopolamine is a drug that can be used to treat motion sickness but in larger doses, it can disorient and incapacitate users, and even paralyse victims. What happened remains unclear but post-mortem examinations concluded that Coatti was killed by blunt-force trauma. The gang is said to have dismembered his body after his death to trick investigators into believing it was a gangland-style hit as a warning message to rivals. At least four people, including a woman, were allegedly involved in the scheme and had been identified by authorities, El Tiempo reported. A group of children stumbled across a suitcase on the side of the road leading to the Sierra Nevada football stadium containing Coatti's severed head and arms. His mutilated torso was discovered by police in a bag after locals in the Minuto de Dios neighbourhood reported a rotting smell coming from a stretch of the Manzanares river. Other remains of Coatti are still missing. Police have carried out a string of raids in Santa Marta and have seized three mobile phones in connection with the case. The city authorities have offered a £10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of his killers. Coatti, known as Ale to friends, had worked for the Royal Society of Biology (RSB) for eight years as a senior policy officer. The Italian, originally from Ferrara in northern Emilia-Romagna, had emigrated to London and left the RSB at the end of last year to volunteer in Ecuador and travel through South America. He arrived in Santa Marta on April 3 and disappeared the following day. Col Jaime Ríos Puerto, the commander of the Santa Marta police, confirmed Coatti had no criminal record and was not the subject of any threats. Sandra Lovato, Coatti's mother, shared that the last message she ever received from her son was on Mother's Day, five days before he went missing. 'Hi Mum, I want to come back. I love you, so much,' it read. Ms Lovato has shared several tributes to her son on Facebook, including highlighting his work in teaching children English in Ecuador. 'I miss you so much, I can't breathe. I miss you, I miss you so much,' she wrote in another post. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
World Leader Stunned After ‘Donald Duck' Revokes His Visa
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Tuesday that he is no longer welcome to visit the U.S., local reports said. He claimed at a Cabinet meeting at Casa de Narino—the presidential palace in Bogotá—that President Donald Trump revoked his visa, using the nickname 'Donald Duck' for his counterpart. 'I can't go anymore because I think they took away my visa,' Petro said, according to a report in the newspaper El Tiempo. The comment seemingly explained why he was not present for a meeting of the International Monetary Fund on Monday in Washington, D.C. 'I didn't need a visa, but oh well. I've seen Donald Duck several times, so I'm going to see other things,' he added, seemingly throwing shade at Trump. The remarks come as Colombian Foreign Minister Laura Sarabia prepares for a trip to New York to speak before the United Nations Security Council, the Bogotá City Paper reported. Colombia's first leftist president will now be replaced for official business by the minister of finance, Germán Avila, who is already in Washington, D.C. this week. The international snub follows Trump threatening 'decisive retaliatory measures' against Colombian government officials who refused to let a couple of U.S. Military flights packed with migrants land on Jan. 26. Although the measures were later suspended following diplomatic negotiations, Petro's remarks suggest that sanctions may have already been enforced against him. In January, Trump announced a series of 'retaliatory measures' on Truth Social, which included 25 percent emergency tariffs, a travel ban, and the immediate revocation of visas for Colombian government officials and their allies and supporters. Just hours after Trump announced steep tariffs on Colombia as punishment for not accepting American deportees, Petro clapped back with his own retaliatory measures. He announced that he had told his 'foreign trade minister to raise import tariffs from the U.S. by 25%'—matching Trump's promised tariffs. The Colombian president did not clarify exactly when his travel visa was suspended. But his last visit to the States was in Sept. 2024 when he attended a climate conference in Chicago and the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the Daily Mail reported. Amid his clash with Trump in January, an old video of Petro resurfaced online thanks to American MAGA accounts, accusing him of infidelity with a transgender woman. The viral footage allegedly shows Petro walking hand in hand with transgender newscaster Linda Yepes during a trip to Panama. Petro, who is married to philanthropist Verónica Alcocer, has not denied being the man seen in the video, The Hindustan Times reported. Back in April 2023, Joe Biden hosted Petro at the White House; however, Colombia's relationship with the U.S. has changed under the current administration. A spokesperson from the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, speaking to BLU Radio, declined to confirm the accuracy of Petro's statement, citing confidentiality regulations. They emphasized that 'visa records are confidential under U.S. law' and noted that there has been 'no formal notification of a visa revocation.' The Daily Beast has reached out to the Trump administration for comment.
The Guardian
23-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Colombian ex-minister accuses President Petro of drug use and vanishing act
A prominent Colombian politician and former minister has accused the country's president, Gustavo Petro, of being a drug addict who allegedly went awol during an official visit to France. In a damning letter to the South American leader, the former foreign minister Álvaro Leyva painted a dire picture of his one-time boss and ally, later publishing the text on his official X account. When he joined Petro's cabinet, shortly after his historic 2022 election, Leyva recalled having high hopes for his administration believing Colombia's first leftwing president could become a 'regional leader and global hope'. However, Leyva said he had subsequently witnessed scenes that had caused him 'unease and bewilderment', citing the president's supposedly poor punctuality, incoherent statements and the pointless trips he allegedly made. Most sensationally, the ex-minister claimed he had witnessed unspecified 'embarrassing moments' involving Petro such as when – during a 2023 trip to France – Colombia's president allegedly 'disappeared' for two days. 'It was in Paris that I was able to confirm that you had a drug addiction problem … Your recovery, sadly, has not taken place,' wrote Leyva, who was once close to Colombia's leftist leader despite being of the right and served under him for nearly two years. Petro, who has denied such claims in the past, hit back at his former ally on social media, although he stopped short of denying the accusation. Writing on X, where he is known for his lenthy and sometimes late-night posts, Petro criticized the press and said he had better things to do than spend time with his foreign minister while visiting the French capital. 'Isn't Paris full of parks, museums, bookstores, more interesting than the letter's writer, to spend two days in? Almost everything in Paris is more interesting. Don't I have daughters and granddaughters in Paris who are far more interesting than the writer?' Petro wrote. Leyva's letter sparked a political firestorm in Colombia, with newspapers stamping his claims across their homepages. Writing in El Tiempo, the journalist Juan Sebastián Lombo Delgado, said that never before in recent Colombian history had a key ex-member of the government publicly questioned 'the faculties' of his former boss. Congresswoman Katherine Miranda told the same newspaper the 'grave' accusations would be irrelevant 'if we were talking about any old person – but we are talking about the head of state'. In 2023, after similar allegations from a Colombian journalist, Colombia's president responded: 'The only thing I am addicted to is a morning coffee.' Earlier this year Petro claimed cocaine – a drug Colombia produces more of than any other country – was 'no worse than whiskey' and was only illegal because it was made in Latin America. Cocaine production has soared since he took office nearly three years ago. According to the UNoffice on drugs and crime there was a 53% potential increase in cocaine production during 2022 with cocaine production reaching 2,664 metric tons. The claims came as Petro again locked horns with Donald Trump, with whom he had a very public falling out earlier this year over deportation flights. The row between Petro and Trump began at 3.41am local time in Colombia, on 26 January, when the former took to X to condemn the US's treatment of Colombian migrants and announce he would not allow US planes to land in his country. Trump responded swiftly and ferociously, threatening visa restrictions and tariffs unless Petro backed down, which he quickly did. On Tuesday, Petro said he believed the US had now 'taken away' his visa and claimed he could no longer travel there. 'I've already seen Donald Duck numerous times so I'll go see other things,' he added sarcastically.
