At the time of their deaths, Dawn and Andrew Searle appeared to be the very picture of marital bliss.
Having tied the knot in September 2023, with Dawn’s Hollyoaks actor son Callum Kerr walking her down the aisle, the retired couple continued their seemingly idyllic life in the small French hamlet of Les Pesquies, close to the picturesque, Medieval town of Villefranche-de-Rouergue.
Dawn and Andrew, who were 56 and 62 respectively, were popular members of the local community, with neighbours remembering them as “lovely” and “very nice”. Tragically, the couple were found dead at their home by a neighbour on Thursday, February 7, with French authorities stating that the deaths “were clearly a homicide”.
Days later, however, the circumstances surrounding Dawn and Andrew’s brutal deaths remain unclear. As Andrew’s grieving 88-year-old father, Fred Searle, put it: “We’ve got thousands of questions and very few answers.” In an update today, prosecutor Nicolas Rigot-Miller said this morning: “It’s very open. It’s far too early for me to say anything, we have to keep our eyes peeled. We’re not favouring any direction at the moment.”
Murder-suicide rumours
It’s been reported that Dawn, who had sustained a head wound, appeared to have been beaten to death, with jewellery found scattered around her lifeless body, which lay naked by the front door. Andrew was found hanged in a room inside, a gag having been placed in his mouth.
The terrible discovery was made at approximately 12.20pm on Thursday, after the Searles failed to turn up for a dog walk with their neighbours as planned. Prosecutor Nicolas Rigot-Muller previously stated that both Andrew and Dawn had died a “violent death. When asked whether this could be a murder-suicide case, Rigot-Muller replied: “It’s being considered.”
Two other British couples who were close friends with the Searles have been keen to shut down rumours of a murder-suicide, describing themselves as “certain” this was not the case. As previously reported by the Mirror, these Brit expats, in their late 60s and living in a nearby village, said: “Us Brits, who knew Dawn and Andy very well, are certain this is not a murder-suicide. We saw them last at Christmas, they were absolutely normal. Life was good, why would they want to kill themselves?”
Mayor Jean-Sébastien Orcibal has also asserted that the Searles’ deaths were “clearly a homicide” and not a ‘family tragedy’ – suggesting that officials don’t believe the couple took their own lives or each others.
Financial situation
The two couples who spoke with the Mirror previously also hit back at reports the couple had been experiencing financial difficulties after local sources claimed it had taken Andrew more than a year to settle a bill of several thousand euros. The former corruption investigator was also spotted looking tearful back in December amid issues with his UK pension.
The expats, who were guests at Andrew and Dawn’s wedding, revealed: “They weren’t flashy by any means, but they were definitely comfortable and had it good out here. They were always travelling – they recently went to a family wedding in Goa, they went to South America for their honeymoon.
“Dawn’s son Callum had a baby and Dawn went over there for that. And [she] had just come back from Scotland because her dad’s funeral was at the end of January. They were also still working – Dawn was a project manager, and Andy still did some freelance work.
“[And] they have a gite [holiday home] connected to the main house which they rented out and it was occupied most of the time which gave them a good income on the side.” The couple married in 2023, with Dawn’s son Callum, a former Hollyoaks star, walking her down the aisle.”
CCTV footage taken the day before the bodies were discovered shows Andrew buying a chocolate bar and two Euro Lottery tickets from a tobacconist. It was on that same day that two neighbours reported seeing Andrew having a heated phone call.
Retired council worker Antoine Da Silva described seeing father-of-two Andrew hurrying through the sleepy village, appearing to look “very worried” while on the phone with his dad, Fred.
Burglary gone wrong
It’s believed the way the Searles’ bodies were found would indicate that the couple may have been attempting to escape when they were killed by an unidentified intruder or intruders. Speaking with French publication La Dépêche, a source close to the investigation shared: “The wife’s body was first discovered, completely naked, in front of the door of the house.
“Around the unfortunate woman, jewellery was found scattered, testifying to a great disorder. In the house, the husband’s body was discovered hanging with a gag stuck in his mouth.”
Mayor Orcibal has previously stated that this was not a case of “burglary gone wrong”, as had been previously speculated by investigators. Investigators have also revealed that no weapons were found at the scene of the crime, and no bullet or knife wounds were found in an initial examination of the bodies, as per a source close to the investigation.
Hitman theory
One line of inquiry is that Andrew and Dawn could have been murdered by British criminals due to Andrew’s career as a financial investigator, specialising in crime and terrorism. Andrew, who was originally from West Sussex, spent more than 20 years working with police and the Serious Fraud Office in the fight against organised crime.
This included work in the field of “sanctions screening” – the process of checking individuals and groups who may be banned from dealing in the UK on account of their links with rogue nations, terrorist groups and drug traffickers. It’s thought this would have brought Andrew to the attention of networks operating across the globe.
A source previously said: “A criminal enquiry has been launched, and the fear is that the couple were murdered. They were very fit, and very popular locally, but there is a theory that they were being pursued by criminals from the United Kingdom. This is currently the prioritised line of enquiry, because Mr Searle was once involved in the fight against organised crime and terrorism.”
The source continued: “It may well be that gangsters with a score to settle are behind these killings.”
Potential enemies
Those who knew the couple in life remember them as being very well-liked in the local area, with no indication that they had any enemies. One neighbour, Dominique Loubière, told the Mail Online: “We knew them well. They had dogs and sometimes we went for walks with them. They got along well with everyone. When we arrived, they introduced us to the neighbours. They were very nice.”
Shopkeeper Isabelle Palazy, from the nearby town Villefranche de Rouergue, also said: “They were a lovely couple, always happy and chatting and they spoke reasonably good French.”
The investigation into the deaths of Mr and Mrs Searle remains ongoing. A spokesperson for the UK’s Foreign Office stated: “We are supporting the family of a British couple who died in France and are liaising with the local authorities.”
It’s expected the autopsies will take place today (Monday, February 10) as investigators continue to look for clues at the couple’s isolated countryside property, which is surrounded by thick woodland. At the time of writing, nobody has been arrested in connection with the deaths of Andrew and Dawn, while the circumstances under which they met their horrifying ends remain mysterious.
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