Mexican official: Canadian killed by driver during robbery

Barbara McClathie Andrews (Photo: Barbara McClathie Andrew’s Facebook account)

MEXICO CITY – The head prosecutor in the Mexican state of Yucatan says a Canadian photographer was slain by a hired driver who robbed her and tossed her body by a roadside.

Yucatan state Attorney General Ariel Aldecua said Monday that Barbara McClatchie Andrews had hired the driver to take her from the resort of Cancun back to Merida, the colonial city where she lived. The Canadian was found strangled Friday outside Merida.

Aldecua said the motive appears to have been robbery.

According to McClatchie Andrews’ website, her work had appeared in National Geographic. She supported a non-profit gallery in Merida, Galeria In La’Kech.

Merida is home to many foreigners and has largely been spared the violence plaguing many other parts of Mexico.