Canadian 'executed' in Mexico, sister claims

The family of Daniel Dion, whose body was found in the trunk of his burned-out rental car in Mexico,is awaiting forensic test results before bringing his remains back to Canada.

Dion, 51, was from Sherbrooke, Que., but lived near Ottawa in the town of Carleton Place and had been missing for more than one week.

His credit card was used after he went missing, butJohanne Dioninsistsher brother'skilling was not random. "My brother was executed," she said.

And his daughter, Catherine-Elizabeth Dion, believes her father may have known the people who killed him.

She says her mother told her that two days before he disappeared an article about his business was published in an Acapulco newspaper in which he criticized the lack of help he was getting to expand his business.

Family launched own search for Dion

Dion ran a business that manufactured "eco" purses out of recycled materials as part of an inmate rehabilitation program in Mexico.

"He was talking about this project ... who was getting in his face and how he wasn't getting the help that he needed to make the project bigger, and then he disappeared," Catherine-Elizabeth Dionsaid.

She saidthe work wasn't dangerous but in recent weeks her father seemed more worried than usual. "They had more kidnappings, shootings that were occurring," she said.

Daniel Dion phoned home the night of Friday, Oct. 22, but the family heard no news from him after that.

Family members travelled to Mexico last week to help with the search and were providing DNA samples to police over the weekend.

It was Dion's brother and nephew who discovered his body in the trunk of the rental car on the side of the highway in Chilpancingo, 115 kilometres north of Acapulco.

His daughtersays they are still trying to piece together what happened in the hours leading up to Dion'sdeath. So far, they believe he went back to his hotel on Friday night, "then on Saturday morning somebody went there, they kidnapped him and then on Sunday they killed him and they burned him in his car."

According to a Foreign Affairs official, police in Mexico said only there was a "crime against Dion," but they revealed no details.

Dion aware of risks in Mexico, says colleague

Meanwhile, Joe Bennett, a St. John's businessman who had recently launched a venture with Dion to import lumber from Mexico to Newfoundland, said the spectre of violence was something they discussed.

"We had registered some concerns about the violence in Mexico when we met with him in Ottawa about three or four weeks ago," Bennett told CBC News on Monday.

"He was just saying at that time, you know, you had to be aware of your surroundings and what was going on down there to stay safe," Bennett said.

Bennett said he was in touch with Dion by email or Skype as many as five times a day. His last email from Dion arrived late Friday night.