COPS believe the killer of a British couple found dead at their home in rural France were caught on camera before the murder.
The bodies of Andrew and Dawn Searle, who were both in their 60s, were discovered in Les Pesquiès, south of Villefranche-de-Rouergue, on Thursday.
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Andrew was a former financial investigator involved in the battle against organised crime, leading to fears that gangsters arranged a professional hit late at night and disappeared unseen.
But – despite its rural location – the hamlet is surrounded by police and road video surveillance cameras that operate 24 hours a day.
There are also private devices belonging to neighbours of the Searles who often leave their properties empty.
An investigating source said on Saturday: “It would be absolutely impossible to get in or out without being filmed.
“The likelihood is that a car was used, but even if someone managed to get across the countryside on foot, they were definitely caught on camera at some point.”
Specialist officers appointed by prosecutors have already started examining days of footage in a radius of at least five-miles around the suspected murder scene.
Gendarmes are also making house-to-house enquiries, and collecting all footage available.
“Criminals can take all kind of precautions to disguise their activitities, but cameras are everywhere,” said the source.
“We’re not dealing with open countryside – Villefranche-de-Rouergue is a well policed municipality and cameras play a huge part in the fight against crime.”
Initial examinations of the bodies showed no knife or bullet wounds but Dawn is said to have been found with a head injury surrounded by scattered jewellery.
No weapons were found at the scene and there have been no arrests in connection with the suspected crime.
Dawn’s son Callum Kerr is a Scottish actor and country singer who starred in Hollyoaks and Netflix‘s Virgin River.
He is best known for playing PC George Kiss in the Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks between 2020 and 2021 and he most recently starred in the latest series of Virgin River.
On Friday the 30-year-old actor-turned-singer who lives in Nashville released his latest single, according to his Instagram.
He had previously shared a joyous photo from his mother’s wedding to Andrew in September 2023.
It showed the mother and son hand-in-hand as he walked her down the aisle wearing a traditional Scottish kilt.
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In the post, Callum wrote: “Not many people can say they walked their own mother down the aisle. What a pleasure!! I love you, Mum.”
“Congrats to Dawn and Andy on their wonderful wedding day and here’s to a tremendous life together for the happy couple.”
He has not spoken publicly about the couple’s deaths.
Dawn and Andrew had moved to France from Scotland a decade ago after Andrew retired.
He spent his working career involved in the “fight against organised crime and terrorism”, according to a French investigating source.
They 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.
“It may well be that gangsters with a score to settle are behind these killings.”
Andrew’s LinkedIn professional profile said he was: “Responsible for all Anti-Financial Crime matters in the UK & Europe function – providing an investigation service for the Group.”
This included taking on major money-laundering syndicates in countries where sanctions have been imposed, such as Russia.
Andrew, originally from West Sussex, worked in the financial crime assurance arm of Barclay’s Bank in Edinburgh, and at Standard Life, which is also based in the Scottish capital.
After living together in Scotland, he and Dawn moved to France where they renovated the run-down property that became their beloved home and holiday let.
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Advertised on the official Aveyron tourist website under the headline “At Andrew and Dawn’s”, the online ad read: “2 bedroom apartment (6-8 people) fully furnished and equipped with swimming pool offering plenty of privacy.
“A beautiful apartment in the beautiful countryside, offering privacy and tranquility.”
On Saturday, the property and surrounding land remained sealed off by investigators.
Jean-Sébastien Orcibal, the mayor of Villefranche-de-Rouergue, said the “deaths were clearly a homicide,” and not a “burglary gone wrong,” as had been speculated earlier.
He said a neighbour found the bodies at around 12.20pm on Thursday, after they did not arrive to walk their dogs together as planned.
A forensic doctor working for the judicial authorities in Montpellier arrived at the site by helicopter on Thursday, and is likely to release autopsy results on Monday.
The Searle’s house included a two-bedroom flat designed for paying guests.
There is a swimming pool outside, and then thick woods which put the house in an isolated position, away from the centre of the hamlet, where around 100 people live.
Nicolas Rigot-Muller, the Rodez prosecutor, is in charge of the investigation, with judicial police and gendarmes supporting him.
Rigot-Muller said: “Both died a violent death – all leads are being examined.”
Villefranche-de-Rouergue is in the Aveyron department – the French version of a county.
It is full of British expats, and holiday home owners from the UK.
Another local source said the couple “had numerous friends locally and further afield including in Britain, and often organised dinner parties.”
He added: “They both loved the countryside, and were very happily settled.
“They were very proud of their house, which is situated well away from other buildings in the hamlet”.
A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: “We are supporting the family of a British couple who died in France and are liaising with the Local Authorities.”
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