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Warning: This article discusses suspected suicideand may be upsetting to some readers.
Dawn and Andrew Searle, originally from Scotland, were discovered dead at their gîte in the rural village of Les Pesquiés, a two-hour drive north-east of Toulouse, on Thursday.
Neighbours came across Dawn Searle, 56, lying in her pyjamas in the grounds of the country home she had shared with her husband for the past 10 years.
The mother-of-two is believed to have suffered a head wound and was found with her jewellery scattered around her body.
Detectives have launched a murder investigation after Andrew and Dawn Searle, a retired British couple, were found dead in grisly circumstances at their luxury gîte in south-west France on February 6, 2025, local time.
Gendarmes are understood to have found Andrew Searle, 62, shortly afterwards hanging inside the home reportedly with a gag stuffed inside his mouth.
The circumstances of their deaths have prompted speculation that the pair died in a case of murder-suicide.
However, British friends of the couple, living in the nearby town of Villefranche-de-Rouergue, where they married in 2023, insisted that their relationship was harmonious and they were financially secure.
One couple, who were often invited by the Searles for annual get-togethers with other expatriates at their home in the secluded village, questioned what motive either could have for taking their own lives.
Counter-fraud specialist
The couple, in their 60s, and who did not wish to be identified, said: “Us Brits, who knew Dawn and Andy very well, are certain this is not a murder-suicide because of financial difficulties or anything like that.
“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.”
Andrew Searle had worked as a counter-fraud specialist at Barclays before retiring approximately 10 years ago. Dawn Searle was the mother of Callum Kerr, 30, a former Hollyoaks star and Netflix actor.
The pair regularly rented out part of their home to holidaymakers and Andrew is understood to have occasionally undertaken freelance work for bespoke clients.
Questions have been raised whether he was targeted by criminals for his former role investigating financial crime.
Another British couple who knew the Searles, said: “Life was good, why would they want to kill themselves?
“There was never any suggestion whatsoever of financial or material difficulties – as local business people they always paid us on time.”
This photograph taken in Villefranche-de-Rouergue, southwestern France, on February 7, 2025, shows the house of the British couple Andrew and Dawn Searle, who were found dead on February 6, 2025. Photo / AFP
‘Thousands of questions’
Andrew Searle’s 86-year-old father, Fred Searle, from Littlehampton, West Sussex, said the family have “thousands of questions and very few answers”.
The former British Army major said he needed time to gather his family and flew to Toulouse on Saturday, the Sunday Times reported.
Prosecutors investigating the couple’s violent deaths previously said they are considering it as a possible murder-suicide.
A forensic pathologist who arrived by helicopter and carried out an initial examination of the bodies the day after the incident found no traces of gunshot or stab wounds, local newspaper La Dépêche du Midi reported.
A post-mortem examination is expected to be opened in Montpellier on Monday.
