A young Canadian woman was found dead at a Mexican resort just one day after arriving with her boyfriend for vacation.
23-year-old bank worker from British Columbia, Kiara Agnew, and her 26-year-old hockey player boyfriend, Ryan Friesen, excitedly boarded a plane bound for Mexico. Both were eager to celebrate Kiara’s upcoming birthday in the warmth of the Mexican sun, far from the cold of their Canadian winter. Little did they know that this trip would lead to a tragic turn of events.
The couple checked in at the luxurious Grand Sunset Princess Resort in Playa del Carmen, south of Cancun. They had been planning this dream vacation since Christmas, looking forward to leaving their everyday lives behind and experiencing the magic of Mexico together.
However, just days before Kiara’s twenty-fourth birthday, the unimaginable happened. Kiara was found lifeless in their resort room, with signs of violence marking her once vibrant body. The joyful birthday celebration they had been looking forward to would never come to pass.
The local authority, the Secretariat of Public Security in Solidaridad, was come no time in launching an investigation into Kiara’s shocking death. They soon arrested a suspect, none other than Kiara’s friend, Ryan Friesen. He was detained as a person of foreign origin in connection with homicide murder.
A photo was then released by the Secretariat of Public Security, showing the suspect with his face blurred, the Canadian government’s Global Affairs department confirmed that Friesen had indeed been arrested in connection with Kiara’s untimely demise.
Charlotte MacLeod, a spokesperson for Global Affairs, said, “Officials are providing consular assistance to the families and are in contact with local authorities,” however, no further information could be disclosed, due to privacy considerations.
As prosecutors in Quintana Roo, the same district where the hotel was located, continued to work on the case, both Kiara’s and Ryan’s families were left devastated by the tragic news.
Kiara’s aunt, Katlyn Levesque, spoke to the Toronto Star about her niece’s excitement about the trip and the impact of her death on their family. “She has been counting down to this trip. It is shocking. We want to know what happened. She was a beautiful, wonderful person inside and out. It’s unfair that she was robbed of her chance to experience life to the fullest.”
Levesque confirmed that both families had been in touch and were trying to come to terms with the tragedy. She said, “They want to find out what happened as much as everybody else.”
In Dawson Creek, the community that Kiara called home, her colleagues at the Lake View Credit Union mourned her passing
A Facebook post from the bank read, “All at Lake View Credit Union are mourning the loss of our teammate and friend, Kiara Agnew. This is a devastating tragedy and loss for our community. We send our love and faith to all others who have been impacted.”
At the time of Kiara’s death, she and Ryan had been together for about eighteen months, and their love story was cut tragically short but what was meant to be a celebration of life and love in a beautiful paradise turned into a harrowing mystery, leaving behind a heartbroken family and a community in shock, all struggling to understand how such a vibrant young woman’s life could be stolen so suddenly and unexpectedly.
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