Mexico police trace Ottawa man's last days

Mexican authorities are hoping information from a car's global tracking device and video footage from bank machines provide clues in the murder of Ottawa-area businessman Daniel Dion.

Guerrero state investigators are tracing GPS co-ordinates from Dion's rental car in the days before it ended up burned in a ditch. They are also combing through video footage from ATM cameras along the highway as they wait for autopsy results.

The Carleton Place businessmandisappeared outside Acapulco last month, and his remains were found in the trunk of his burned-out rental car. Dion ran a business that manufactured "eco" purses out of recycled materials as part of an inmate rehabilitation program in Mexico.

Police are still investigating the crime, but his family insists the 51-year-old man was executed.

Police are becoming frustrated as witnesses who claim to have seen Dion moments before he was abducted now seem reluctant to talk for fear of reprisals.

Tourism dwindling

Meanwhile, incidents like these seem to be eroding tourism in an area that was once a popular destination for Canadian travellers.

"When I started, we used to have even groups going to Acapulco, but over the years it's been declining and declining," said Ottawa travel agent Pietro Pilotti. "For me it's almost zero right now."

Pilotti said Mexico still offers great vacation packages but the fear of danger is scaring tourists away.

Xavier Rosado, an economics reporter in Acapulco, said international tourism now accounts for justnine per cent of the local economy less than half of what itwas five years ago.

"This is going to be a big impact for tourism due to this image of insecurity and violence that is being projected throughout the world," he said.